Swale Council Tax 2026
South East, England · 67,530 domestic properties
According to MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27, Swale's Band D Council Tax is £2,405.65 for 2026-27, the 185th highest of 350 UK billing authorities (higher than 47% of them) and 3% above the UK average of £2,337.00. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Amber Valley, Oadby & Wigston, Hertsmere, Worcester, then Charnwood, St Helens. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Swindon, Havant, Worthing, Folkestone & Hythe.
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 Amber Valley, Oadby & Wigston, Hertsmere, Worcester, then Charnwood, St Helens. See our methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
- £2,405.65
- Band D charge · 2026 statutory
- Above the UK average
- +4.33%
- year-on-year vs £2,305.72
- Lower-quarter rise
- +2.9%
- vs UK avg £2,337.00
- £4,811.30
- Band H · 18/9 of Band D
Nearest published Band D rates sit with Amber Valley, Oadby & Wigston, Hertsmere, Worcester, then Charnwood, St Helens. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Swindon, Havant, Worthing, Folkestone & Hythe. Open Amber Valley for the closest published Band D on the same vintage.
Swale · year-on-year Band D
What changed for Swale
Swale's Band D Council Tax rose from £2,305.72 (2025-26) to £2,405.65 (2026-27). Among 350 billing authorities by percentage rise, it ranks 271.
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 changesSwale bands A-H schedule
Per-band charge 2026
Swale's nearest Band D charges nationwide
Swale is 185th of 350 on the national Band D list at £2,405.65. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Amber Valley, Oadby & Wigston, Hertsmere, Worcester, then Charnwood, St Helens. The six closest published 2026-27 rates, led by Amber Valley, 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 South East ranking further down when you care about local neighbours, and the stock-weighted average when you care what most of Swale's 67,530 dwellings actually pay. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Swindon, Havant, Worthing, Folkestone & Hythe.
| Council | Band D | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Amber Valley | £2,407.69 | +£2.04 |
| Oadby & Wigston | £2,406.85 | +£1.20 |
| Hertsmere | £2,405.83 | +£0.18 |
| Worcester | £2,405.81 | +£0.16 |
| Charnwood | £2,405.64 | −£0.01 |
| St Helens | £2,403.38 | −£2.27 |
Band A–H charge table (2026/2027)
| Band | Annual Charge | Monthly | Sole occupant (−25%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,603.77 | £160.38 | £1,202.83 |
| B | £1,871.06 | £187.11 | £1,403.30 |
| C | £2,138.36 | £213.84 | £1,603.77 |
| D | £2,405.65 | £240.57 | £1,804.24 |
| E | £2,940.24 | £294.02 | £2,205.18 |
| F | £3,474.83 | £347.48 | £2,606.12 |
| G | £4,009.42 | £400.94 | £3,007.07 |
| H | £4,811.30 | £481.13 | £3,608.48 |
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 Swale's 67,530 properties actually pay
Swale's housing stock peaks below the reference point, in Band C, which covers 17,940 of 67,530 dwellings (26.6%). A Band C home is charged at eight-ninths of the Band D rate, which is why the typical bill here lands under the headline figure. Bands B and C between them account for 51.1% of the stock. 66.5% 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 £2,208.77 per dwelling, £196.88 (8.2%) below the £2,405.65 Band D headline, because most of the stock sits in bands charged at less than the Band D rate. On that measure Swale is 176th of 318 authorities with published stock counts, against a £2,269.00 average. That places Swale 56th of the 64 billing authorities in South East, below the regional median of £2,511.00.
How to read this stock pattern
Swale'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 C charge is eight-ninths of the Band D rate, and 66.5% 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.
This is a two-band centre rather than a single-band market. Bands B and C together contain 51.1% 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.
Swale 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: Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight is an exceptionally close stock-shape match for Swale: moving 2.8% of dwellings between valuation bands would make the two published distributions align. That is a stricter comparison than sharing a modal band, because all published bands contribute to the distance.
Four largest band differences
- The largest separation is lower on the ladder at Band C: Swale has 26.6% of dwellings there, against 24.6% in Isle of Wight. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
- A smaller distinction sits at lower Band B, where Isle of Wight holds 25.6% of its stock and Swale holds 24.6%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
- A smaller distinction is an upper-band difference at Band E. Isle of Wight records 10.0% of dwellings there, compared with 9.1% in Swale, so the peer carries more of its stock at that higher rung.
- A smaller distinction is lower on the ladder at Band A: Swale has 15.4% of dwellings there, against 14.6% in Isle of Wight. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
How the wider profile compares
Swale has the stronger combined lower-band tilt: Bands A to C account for 1.8% more of its stock than they do in Isle of Wight. The nearest match still leaves that bottom-of-ladder difference visible.
Isle of Wight carries the heavier upper tail across Bands E and above, exceeding Swale's combined share there by 1.5%. Total-variation distance counts those absolute band gaps without assuming they offset the lower-band pattern.
Swale and Isle of Wight do not even peak in the same valuation band: the peer's largest group is Band B. Their total-variation match is therefore built from offsetting shares across the ladder, not from one identical headline category.
Band H is the most stable point in the comparison, with shares of 0.2% and 0.2%. 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 Swale
- Band B leans toward Isle of Wight
- Band C leans toward Swale
- Band D is closely balanced
- Band E leans toward Isle of Wight
- 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 Swale: Swindon (3.2% redistribution distance); Havant (3.2% redistribution distance); Worthing (3.6% redistribution distance); Folkestone & Hythe (4.3% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Isle of Wight stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.
| Band | Properties | Share of stock | Annual charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 10,380 | 15.4% | £1,603.77 |
| B | 16,590 | 24.6% | £1,871.06 |
| C | 17,940 | 26.6% | £2,138.36 |
| D | 12,230 | 18.1% | £2,405.65 |
| E | 6,130 | 9.1% | £2,940.24 |
| F | 2,830 | 4.2% | £3,474.83 |
| G | 1,310 | 1.9% | £4,009.42 |
| H | 120 | 0.2% | £4,811.30 |
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 Swale 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.
- Torbay£2,212.95
- Cheltenham£2,210.64
- Stockton-on-Tees£2,207.55
- Braintree£2,206.51
- Charnwood£2,204.59
Swale's nearest year-on-year movers
Swale moved Band D from £2,305.72 to £2,405.65 (+4.33%, competition rank 271st of 350). The closest published movements sit with City of London, Staffordshire Moorlands, Nuneaton & Bedworth.
- City of London4.36%
- Staffordshire Moorlands4.36%
- Nuneaton & Bedworth4.34%
- Fenland4.31%
- Uttlesford4.31%
- Rotherham4.30%
How Swale compares in South East
Among the 64 billing authorities in South East, Swale's 2026-27 Band D charge of £2,405.65 ranks 47th of 64, higher than 27% of them (£69.35 below the South East average of £2,475.00). Its nearest-charged neighbours in the region:
| Region rank | Council | Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| 45th | Ashford | £2,410.16 |
| 46th | Gravesham | £2,408.24 |
| 47th | Swale | £2,405.65 |
| 48th | Hart | £2,400.02 |
| 49th | Southampton | £2,381.48 |
Regional rank out of 64 South East billing authorities by 2026-27 Band D charge (1 = dearest). See the full UK ranking or the complete directory.
Questions answered from Swale's data
These answers use Swale's £2,405.65 Band D rate, the England statutory multipliers, and the VOA stock mix (modal Band C, 66.5% below D).
Is Swale Council Tax above the UK average?
Swale's 2026-27 Band D rate is £2,405.65, 2.9% above the UK average of £2,337.00. It has competition rank 185th of 350, with equal charges sharing a rank. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Amber Valley, Oadby & Wigston, Hertsmere, Worcester, then Charnwood, St Helens.
Which councils have charges closest to Swale?
The closest published Band D rates are Amber Valley (£2,407.69), Oadby & Wigston (£2,406.85), Hertsmere (£2,405.83), Worcester (£2,405.81), Charnwood (£2,405.64), St Helens (£2,403.38). The comparison table above shows the six nearest authorities and the exact difference from Swale.
What is the average Council Tax bill in Swale?
Across Swale's 67,530 domestic properties, the stock-weighted average charge is £2,208.77 for 2026-27. That is £196.88 below the £2,405.65 Band D rate, because the most common band here is Band C (26.6% of the stock) and 66.5% of dwellings are banded below D. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Swindon, Havant, Worthing, Folkestone & Hythe. Property counts are from the VOA 2025 stock release; the weighting is our calculation.
How did Swale Council Tax change for 2026-27?
Band D moved from £2,305.72 to £2,405.65, a 4.33% rise. Its competition rank by annual increase is 271st of 350; the closest movements include City of London, Staffordshire Moorlands, Nuneaton & Bedworth.
Advice boundary for Swale
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. This area Band D is a two-tier total for Swale: district charge plus county, police, fire where separate, and the average parish precept across the district. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Amber Valley, Oadby & Wigston, Hertsmere, Worcester, then Charnwood, St Helens. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Swindon, Havant, Worthing, Folkestone & Hythe. For a binding figure consult your Swale 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 Swale are the area Band D and statutory band multiples, already including county, police, fire and average parish precepts where they apply. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Amber Valley, Oadby & Wigston, Hertsmere, Worcester, then Charnwood, St Helens.