Southampton Council Tax 2026

How to read this stock pattern

Band D is a poor description of the largest group in Southampton's housing stock. The dominant group is Band A, where the statutory charge is two-thirds of the Band D rate, while the reference band describes a different part of the valuation list. The £1,927.33 stock-weighted figure is therefore the more representative area-level comparison. It does not predict an individual bill, because discounts, exemptions and the property's actual valuation band still determine liability.

This is a two-band centre rather than a single-band market. Bands A and B together contain 65.3% of dwellings, so neither band should be presented as a complete account of the area. The stock-weighted result combines both groups and the smaller tails into one comparable measure. The table shows where that mean comes from and prevents the distribution being flattened into an overconfident "typical property" claim.

Southampton falls in the lower quarter of the South East stock-weighted ordering, below the regional median of £2,511.00. Its Band D figure may sit elsewhere in the national table, but applying the local stock mix produces a cheaper regional comparison. That difference is precisely why both measures are shown. Neither replaces an address-level bill, which depends on the property's valuation band and any applicable reductions.

Closest housing-stock shape: Cannock Chase

Cannock Chase is the closest full-distribution match for Southampton. The profiles are close rather than identical: 5.4% of dwellings would need to shift between valuation bands for their published shares to align. The comparison therefore tests the whole ladder, not just the largest band.

Four largest band differences

• The largest separation is at reference Band D: its share is 8.8% in Southampton and 12.3% in Cannock Chase. The familiar benchmark represents a larger slice of the peer's housing stock.
• Another material separation is lower on the ladder at Band A: Southampton has 33.1% of dwellings there, against 30.6% in Cannock Chase. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
• Another material separation is lower on the ladder at Band C: Southampton has 21.3% of dwellings there, against 19.2% in Cannock Chase. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
• A smaller distinction is an upper-band difference at Band E. Cannock Chase records 4.3% of dwellings there, compared with 2.9% in Southampton, so the peer carries more of its stock at that higher rung.

How the wider profile compares

Show every band direction

• Band A leans toward Southampton
• Band B leans toward Southampton
• Band C leans toward Southampton
• Band D leans toward Cannock Chase
• Band E leans toward Cannock Chase
• Band F is closely balanced
• Band G is closely balanced
• Band H is closely balanced

This sequence is read from the lowest published band to the highest.

Other close England matches for Southampton: Portsmouth (6.1% redistribution distance); Dudley (6.4% redistribution distance); Ipswich (6.4% redistribution distance); Birmingham (6.8% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Cannock Chase stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.