Waltham Forest Council Tax 2026
London, England · 111,080 domestic properties
According to MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27, Waltham Forest's Band D Council Tax is £2,386.96 for 2026-27, the 193rd highest of 350 UK billing authorities (higher than 45% of them) and 2% above the UK average of £2,337.00. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Cotswold, Harborough, Ribble Valley, High Peak, then Bath & North East Somerset, Hinckley & Bosworth. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Newham, Broadland, Hackney, Rushmoor.
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 Cotswold, Harborough, Ribble Valley, High Peak, then Bath & North East Somerset, Hinckley & Bosworth. See our methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
- £2,386.96
- Band D charge · 2026 statutory
- Near the UK average
- +4.80%
- year-on-year vs £2,277.65
- Middle-half rise
- +2.1%
- vs UK avg £2,337.00
- £4,773.92
- Band H · 18/9 of Band D
Nearest published Band D rates sit with Cotswold, Harborough, Ribble Valley, High Peak, then Bath & North East Somerset, Hinckley & Bosworth. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Newham, Broadland, Hackney, Rushmoor. Open Cotswold for the closest published Band D on the same vintage.
Waltham Forest · year-on-year Band D
What changed for Waltham Forest
Waltham Forest's Band D Council Tax rose from £2,277.65 (2025-26) to £2,386.96 (2026-27). Among 350 billing authorities by percentage rise, it ranks 208.
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 changesWaltham Forest bands A-H schedule
Per-band charge 2026
Waltham Forest's nearest Band D charges nationwide
Waltham Forest is 193rd of 350 on the national Band D list at £2,386.96. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Cotswold, Harborough, Ribble Valley, High Peak, then Bath & North East Somerset, Hinckley & Bosworth. The six closest published 2026-27 rates, led by Cotswold, 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 Waltham Forest's 111,080 dwellings actually pay. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Newham, Broadland, Hackney, Rushmoor.
| Council | Band D | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Cotswold | £2,391.65 | +£4.69 |
| Harborough | £2,389.87 | +£2.91 |
| Ribble Valley | £2,386.50 | −£0.46 |
| High Peak | £2,384.66 | −£2.30 |
| Bath & North East Somerset | £2,383.42 | −£3.54 |
| Hinckley & Bosworth | £2,382.62 | −£4.34 |
Band A–H charge table (2026/2027)
| Band | Annual Charge | Monthly | Sole occupant (−25%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,591.31 | £159.13 | £1,193.48 |
| B | £1,856.52 | £185.65 | £1,392.39 |
| C | £2,121.74 | £212.17 | £1,591.30 |
| D | £2,386.96 | £238.70 | £1,790.22 |
| E | £2,917.40 | £291.74 | £2,188.05 |
| F | £3,447.83 | £344.78 | £2,585.87 |
| G | £3,978.27 | £397.83 | £2,983.70 |
| H | £4,773.92 | £477.39 | £3,580.44 |
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 Waltham Forest's 111,080 properties actually pay
Waltham Forest's housing stock peaks below the reference point, in Band C, which covers 39,220 of 111,080 dwellings (35.3%). 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 64.5% of the stock. 69.2% 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 £2,165.48 per dwelling, £221.48 (9.3%) below the £2,386.96 Band D headline, because most of the stock sits in bands charged at less than the Band D rate. On that measure Waltham Forest is 191st of 318 authorities with published stock counts, against a £2,269.00 average. That places Waltham Forest 21st of the 33 billing authorities in London, below the regional median of £2,261.38.
How to read this stock pattern
Waltham Forest'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 69.2% 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 64.5% 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.
Waltham Forest occupies the middle half of the London stock-weighted distribution, below its £2,261.38 median. The regional result gives more context than a UK-wide rank without turning the difference into a superlative. It also shows that the council's band mix, not only its published Band D rate, determines where it sits among nearby authorities. The remaining distance from the median is an area-level comparison rather than a household saving or premium.
Closest housing-stock shape: Lewisham
Lewisham is the closest full-distribution match for Waltham Forest. The profiles are close rather than identical: 4.0% 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 sits at lower Band A, where Lewisham holds 6.9% of its stock and Waltham Forest holds 4.7%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
- Another material separation is lower on the ladder at Band B: Waltham Forest has 29.2% of dwellings there, against 27.2% in Lewisham. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
- A smaller distinction appears in the upper part of the ladder at Band E. Waltham Forest places 7.6% of dwellings there versus 6.0% for Lewisham, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.
- A smaller distinction is an upper-band difference at Band G. Lewisham records 1.0% of dwellings there, compared with 0.4% in Waltham Forest, so the peer carries more of its stock at that higher rung.
How the wider profile compares
Lewisham is more concentrated across Bands A to C in aggregate, by 0.8% of its stock. Waltham Forest's closest match is therefore achieved despite the peer carrying more homes below the reference band.
Across Bands E and above the combined shares differ by 0.4%. As with the lower bands, this net comparison does not erase any opposing gaps between individual upper bands.
Both profiles peak in Band C, 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 H is the most stable point in the comparison, with shares of 0.0% and 0.1%. 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 Lewisham
- Band B leans toward Waltham Forest
- Band C leans toward Lewisham
- Band D is closely balanced
- Band E leans toward Waltham Forest
- Band F is closely balanced
- Band G leans toward Lewisham
- Band H is closely balanced
This sequence is read from the lowest published band to the highest.
Other close England matches for Waltham Forest: Newham (7.0% redistribution distance); Broadland (8.1% redistribution distance); Hackney (8.8% redistribution distance); Rushmoor (9.2% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Lewisham stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.
| Band | Properties | Share of stock | Annual charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 5,230 | 4.7% | £1,591.31 |
| B | 32,470 | 29.2% | £1,856.52 |
| C | 39,220 | 35.3% | £2,121.74 |
| D | 23,450 | 21.1% | £2,386.96 |
| E | 8,390 | 7.6% | £2,917.40 |
| F | 1,850 | 1.7% | £3,447.83 |
| G | 440 | 0.4% | £3,978.27 |
| H | 30 | 0.0% | £4,773.92 |
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 Waltham Forest 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.
- Neath Port Talbot£2,170.09
- Chorley£2,165.16
- Redditch£2,164.50
- Swansea£2,161.85
- Bury£2,161.13
Waltham Forest's nearest year-on-year movers
Waltham Forest moved Band D from £2,277.65 to £2,386.96 (+4.80%, competition rank 208th of 350). The closest published movements sit with Bexley, Havering, High Peak.
How Waltham Forest compares in London
Among the 33 billing authorities in London, Waltham Forest's 2026-27 Band D charge of £2,386.96 ranks 6th of 33, higher than 82% of them (£296.96 above the London average of £2,090.00). Its nearest-charged neighbours in the region:
Regional high-charge outlier: this authority sits in the costliest fifth of London.
| Region rank | Council | Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| 4th | Richmond upon Thames | £2,486.10 |
| 5th | Havering | £2,424.66 |
| 6th | Waltham Forest | £2,386.96 |
| 7th | Sutton | £2,378.64 |
| 8th | Bexley | £2,366.36 |
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 Waltham Forest's data
These answers use Waltham Forest's £2,386.96 Band D rate, the England statutory multipliers, and the VOA stock mix (modal Band C, 69.2% below D).
Is Waltham Forest Council Tax above the UK average?
Waltham Forest's 2026-27 Band D rate is £2,386.96, 2.1% above the UK average of £2,337.00. It has competition rank 193rd of 350, with equal charges sharing a rank. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Cotswold, Harborough, Ribble Valley, High Peak, then Bath & North East Somerset, Hinckley & Bosworth.
Which councils have charges closest to Waltham Forest?
The closest published Band D rates are Cotswold (£2,391.65), Harborough (£2,389.87), Ribble Valley (£2,386.50), High Peak (£2,384.66), Bath & North East Somerset (£2,383.42), Hinckley & Bosworth (£2,382.62). The comparison table above shows the six nearest authorities and the exact difference from Waltham Forest.
What is the average Council Tax bill in Waltham Forest?
Across Waltham Forest's 111,080 domestic properties, the stock-weighted average charge is £2,165.48 for 2026-27. That is £221.48 below the £2,386.96 Band D rate, because the most common band here is Band C (35.3% of the stock) and 69.2% of dwellings are banded below D. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Newham, Broadland, Hackney, Rushmoor. Property counts are from the VOA 2025 stock release; the weighting is our calculation.
How did Waltham Forest Council Tax change for 2026-27?
Band D moved from £2,277.65 to £2,386.96, a 4.80% rise. Its competition rank by annual increase is 208th of 350; the closest movements include Bexley, Havering, High Peak.
Advice boundary for Waltham Forest
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. Waltham Forest'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 Cotswold, Harborough, Ribble Valley, High Peak, then Bath & North East Somerset, Hinckley & Bosworth. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Newham, Broadland, Hackney, Rushmoor. For a binding figure consult your Waltham Forest 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 Waltham Forest are the area Band D and statutory band multiples, including the GLA precept. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Cotswold, Harborough, Ribble Valley, High Peak, then Bath & North East Somerset, Hinckley & Bosworth.