Southwark Council Tax 2026
London, England · 150,530 domestic properties
According to MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27, Southwark's Band D Council Tax is £1,967.26 for 2026-27, the 310th highest of 350 UK billing authorities (higher than 11% of them) and 16% below the UK average of £2,337.00. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Isles of Scilly, Lambeth, Hillingdon, Cardiff, then Windsor & Maidenhead, Newham. Closest published housing-stock shapes include South Norfolk, Cherwell, South Gloucestershire, Teignbridge.
How we calculate this rank & percentile
We compare every UK billing authority with a published 2026-27 Band D rate (350 in total). Rank is one plus the number with a higher charge, so equal charges share a rank. Percentile is round(authorities with a lower charge ÷ 350 × 100). The UK average is the simple mean of every council's Band D rate in our coverage set. Because the rank spans all three nations, it compares what each authority charges, not what each charge buys. English bands rest on 1991 property values in eight bands, A to H, while Scotland uses its own 1991 thresholds and Wales revalued to 2003 values with a ninth band. An English Band D home is therefore not the same property profile as a Welsh or Scottish one. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Isles of Scilly, Lambeth, Hillingdon, Cardiff, then Windsor & Maidenhead, Newham. See our methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
- £1,967.26
- Band D charge · 2026 statutory
- Among the lowest in the UK
- +4.76%
- year-on-year vs £1,877.90
- Middle-half rise
- -15.8%
- vs UK avg £2,337.00
- £3,934.52
- Band H · 18/9 of Band D
Nearest published Band D rates sit with Isles of Scilly, Lambeth, Hillingdon, Cardiff, then Windsor & Maidenhead, Newham. Closest published housing-stock shapes include South Norfolk, Cherwell, South Gloucestershire, Teignbridge. Open Isles of Scilly for the closest published Band D on the same vintage.
Southwark · year-on-year Band D
What changed for Southwark
Southwark's Band D Council Tax rose from £1,877.90 (2025-26) to £1,967.26 (2026-27). Among 350 billing authorities by percentage rise, it ranks 232.
How to read this Band D change
This is a change in the published Band D charge, not advice about household bills. Precepts, discounts, and banding decide the amount you pay.
See UK year-on-year changesSouthwark bands A-H schedule
Per-band charge 2026
Southwark's nearest Band D charges nationwide
Southwark is 310th of 350 on the national Band D list at £1,967.26. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Isles of Scilly, Lambeth, Hillingdon, Cardiff, then Windsor & Maidenhead, Newham. The six closest published 2026-27 rates, led by Isles of Scilly, ignore geography on purpose, so a map neighbour is not mistaken for a charge twin. Read the difference column as a pound gap; cross-check the London ranking further down when you care about local neighbours, and the stock-weighted average when you care what most of Southwark's 150,530 dwellings actually pay. Closest published housing-stock shapes include South Norfolk, Cherwell, South Gloucestershire, Teignbridge.
| Council | Band D | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Isles of Scilly | £2,047.96 | +£80.70 |
| Lambeth | £2,047.11 | +£79.85 |
| Hillingdon | £2,045.46 | +£78.20 |
| Cardiff | £2,013.18 | +£45.92 |
| Windsor & Maidenhead | £1,952.62 | −£14.64 |
| Newham | £1,944.23 | −£23.03 |
Band A–H charge table (2026/2027)
| Band | Annual Charge | Monthly | Sole occupant (−25%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,311.51 | £131.15 | £983.63 |
| B | £1,530.09 | £153.01 | £1,147.57 |
| C | £1,748.68 | £174.87 | £1,311.51 |
| D | £1,967.26 | £196.73 | £1,475.45 |
| E | £2,404.43 | £240.44 | £1,803.32 |
| F | £2,841.60 | £284.16 | £2,131.20 |
| G | £3,278.77 | £327.88 | £2,459.08 |
| H | £3,934.52 | £393.45 | £2,950.89 |
England 1991 valuation ranges (Band A–H)
- Band A: Up to £40,000 (1991 valuation)
- Band B: £40,001 to £52,000
- Band C: £52,001 to £68,000
- Band D: £68,001 to £88,000 (reference band)
- Band E: £88,001 to £120,000
- Band F: £120,001 to £160,000
- Band G: £160,001 to £320,000
- Band H: Over £320,000
Source: MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27 (area Band D) + statutory England band ratios documented in our methodology. Monthly figure is the annual charge / 10 (most councils use 10 monthly instalments). The sole-occupant column applies the statutory 25% single-person discount, payable when only one adult lives in the property.
What Southwark's 150,530 properties actually pay
Southwark's housing stock peaks below the reference point, in Band B, which covers 38,050 of 150,530 dwellings (25.3%). A Band B home is charged at seven-ninths of the Band D rate, which is why the typical bill here lands under the headline figure. It takes 3 bands — B, C, D — to cover half the stock, a wider spread than most authorities show. 57.8% of dwellings on the England valuation list here are banded below D.
Weighting each band's statutory charge by the number of properties in it gives a stock-weighted average of £1,907.23 per dwelling, £60.03 (3.1%) below the £1,967.26 Band D headline, because most of the stock sits in bands charged at less than the Band D rate. On that measure Southwark is 288th of 318 authorities with published stock counts, against a £2,269.00 average. That places Southwark 27th of the 33 billing authorities in London, below the regional median of £2,261.38.
How to read this stock pattern
Southwark's largest property group sits in the lower half of the valuation ladder rather than at the Band D reference used in national tables. Its modal Band B charge is seven-ninths of the Band D rate, and 57.8% of the published stock lies below D. The headline alone does not show how often each band occurs. The stock-weighted amount applies the full distribution for an area-level comparison, while remaining an average rather than a household quotation.
Southwark has a broad valuation-band profile: the largest 3 groups are needed before the cumulative share passes half of the stock. No single band dominates the local picture, which makes a one-band headline especially incomplete. The weighted result is useful for comparing this authority with peers, but the spread across 8 published bands matters just as much. A broad mix also means the area-level mean is less representative of any one household than it is in a concentrated council.
Southwark falls in the lower quarter of the London stock-weighted ordering, below the regional median of £2,261.38. 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: Colchester
Colchester is the closest full-distribution match for Southwark. The profiles are close rather than identical: 4.4% 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 appears in the upper part of the ladder at Band E. Southwark places 14.3% of dwellings there versus 10.8% for Colchester, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.
- Another material separation sits at lower Band A, where Colchester holds 11.1% of its stock and Southwark holds 8.8%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
- A smaller distinction sits at lower Band B, where Colchester holds 26.7% of its stock and Southwark holds 25.3%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
- A smaller distinction sits at lower Band C, where Colchester holds 24.4% of its stock and Southwark holds 23.7%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
How the wider profile compares
Colchester is more concentrated across Bands A to C in aggregate, by 4.4% of its stock. Southwark's closest match is therefore achieved despite the peer carrying more homes below the reference band.
Southwark carries 4.3% more of its stock in Bands E and above than Colchester. The extra upper-tail weight is small enough for this to remain the nearest peer, but large enough to distinguish the two areas.
Both profiles peak in Band B, so the peer match agrees on the most common valuation group as well as the full-distribution distance. The band-by-band gaps above show why a shared mode does not make the profiles interchangeable.
Band G is the most stable point in the comparison, with shares of 3.1% and 3.0%. Reading that near-match beside the largest gaps prevents the peer label from hiding where the two published distributions actually agree.
Show every band direction
- Band A leans toward Colchester
- Band B leans toward Colchester
- Band C leans toward Colchester
- Band D is closely balanced
- Band E leans toward Southwark
- 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 Southwark: South Norfolk (5.2% redistribution distance); Cherwell (5.5% redistribution distance); South Gloucestershire (5.9% redistribution distance); Teignbridge (6.1% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Colchester stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.
| Band | Properties | Share of stock | Annual charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 13,220 | 8.8% | £1,311.51 |
| B | 38,050 | 25.3% | £1,530.09 |
| C | 35,750 | 23.7% | £1,748.68 |
| D | 28,520 | 18.9% | £1,967.26 |
| E | 21,590 | 14.3% | £2,404.43 |
| F | 7,950 | 5.3% | £2,841.60 |
| G | 4,620 | 3.1% | £3,278.77 |
| H | 830 | 0.6% | £3,934.52 |
Property-stock source, rounding and weighting notes
Property counts: VOA, Council Tax: stock of properties 2025 (Table CTSOP1.0_SUP, as at 9 September 2025), Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts are published rounded to the nearest 10, so shares are approximate and may not sum to exactly 100%. The stock-weighted average is our calculation: each band's 2026/2027 charge multiplied by its property count, divided by the total. It is a mean across the whole stock, not a bill any individual household receives.
Authorities charging a similar average across their stock
These are the closest authorities to Southwark on the stock-weighted measure, which is a different ordering from the Band D neighbours above because it accounts for how each area's properties are banded.
- Knowsley£1,915.02
- Blaenau Gwent£1,914.79
- Erewash£1,914.11
- Tower Hamlets£1,903.60
- North Lincolnshire£1,902.06
Southwark's nearest year-on-year movers
Southwark moved Band D from £1,877.90 to £1,967.26 (+4.76%, competition rank 232nd of 350). The closest published movements sit with Amber Valley, Barnet, Adur.
- Amber Valley4.77%
- Barnet4.77%
- Adur4.76%
- Chesterfield4.76%
- Newham4.76%
- North East Lincolnshire4.76%
How Southwark compares in London
Among the 33 billing authorities in London, Southwark's 2026-27 Band D charge of £1,967.26 ranks 26th of 33, higher than 21% of them (£122.74 below the London average of £2,090.00). Its nearest-charged neighbours in the region:
| Region rank | Council | Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| 24th | Lambeth | £2,047.11 |
| 25th | Hillingdon | £2,045.46 |
| 26th | Southwark | £1,967.26 |
| 27th | Newham | £1,944.23 |
| 28th | Tower Hamlets | £1,837.78 |
Regional rank out of 33 London billing authorities by 2026-27 Band D charge (1 = dearest). See the full UK ranking or the complete directory.
Questions answered from Southwark's data
These answers use Southwark's £1,967.26 Band D rate, the England statutory multipliers, and the VOA stock mix (modal Band B, 57.8% below D).
Is Southwark Council Tax above the UK average?
Southwark's 2026-27 Band D rate is £1,967.26, 15.8% below the UK average of £2,337.00. It has competition rank 310th of 350, with equal charges sharing a rank. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Isles of Scilly, Lambeth, Hillingdon, Cardiff, then Windsor & Maidenhead, Newham.
Which councils have charges closest to Southwark?
The closest published Band D rates are Isles of Scilly (£2,047.96), Lambeth (£2,047.11), Hillingdon (£2,045.46), Cardiff (£2,013.18), Windsor & Maidenhead (£1,952.62), Newham (£1,944.23). The comparison table above shows the six nearest authorities and the exact difference from Southwark.
What is the average Council Tax bill in Southwark?
Across Southwark's 150,530 domestic properties, the stock-weighted average charge is £1,907.23 for 2026-27. That is £60.03 below the £1,967.26 Band D rate, because the most common band here is Band B (25.3% of the stock) and 57.8% of dwellings are banded below D. Closest published housing-stock shapes include South Norfolk, Cherwell, South Gloucestershire, Teignbridge. Property counts are from the VOA 2025 stock release; the weighting is our calculation.
How did Southwark Council Tax change for 2026-27?
Band D moved from £1,877.90 to £1,967.26, a 4.76% rise. Its competition rank by annual increase is 232nd of 350; the closest movements include Amber Valley, Barnet, Adur.
Advice boundary for Southwark
They are not personalised advice - expand a question for the figure that matches the tables above for the 2026-27 vintage, then follow the methodology or gov.uk links for a binding bill on a specific property.
Council Tax figure, precept and liability disclaimer
Council Tax charges shown on this page are derived from the published England Band D dataset and statutory England band ratios. They are intended as informational guidance, not as a personalised tax statement or legal advice. Your actual bill depends on your property's assigned band and on any discounts or exemptions that apply to your household. Southwark's Band D already includes the borough charge plus the Mayor of London's GLA precept for capital-wide services. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Isles of Scilly, Lambeth, Hillingdon, Cardiff, then Windsor & Maidenhead, Newham. Closest published housing-stock shapes include South Norfolk, Cherwell, South Gloucestershire, Teignbridge. For a binding figure consult your Southwark Council Tax bill or the official gov.uk Council Tax service. Figures published in 2026 reflect the 2026/2027 financial year only.
UK tools, directories and band challenge
- Compare councils side-by-side →
- Browse all UK councils →
- Band D national rollup →
- Challenge your band guide →
Charges shown for Southwark are the area Band D and statutory band multiples, including the GLA precept. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Isles of Scilly, Lambeth, Hillingdon, Cardiff, then Windsor & Maidenhead, Newham.