West Devon Council Tax 2026
South West, England · 27,540 domestic properties
According to MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27, West Devon's Band D Council Tax is £2,705.33 for 2026-27, the 8th highest of 350 UK billing authorities (higher than 98% of them) and 16% above the UK average of £2,337.00. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Wealden, Gateshead, Bristol, Rother, then Newark & Sherwood, Oxford. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Stroud, North Somerset, Teignbridge, Mid Devon.
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 Wealden, Gateshead, Bristol, Rother, then Newark & Sherwood, Oxford. See our methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
- £2,705.33
- Band D charge · 2026 statutory
- Among the highest in the UK
- +5.09%
- year-on-year vs £2,574.29
- Middle-half rise
- +15.8%
- vs UK avg £2,337.00
- £5,410.66
- Band H · 18/9 of Band D
Nearest published Band D rates sit with Wealden, Gateshead, Bristol, Rother, then Newark & Sherwood, Oxford. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Stroud, North Somerset, Teignbridge, Mid Devon. Open Wealden for the closest published Band D on the same vintage.
West Devon · year-on-year Band D
What changed for West Devon
West Devon's Band D Council Tax rose from £2,574.29 (2025-26) to £2,705.33 (2026-27). Among 350 billing authorities by percentage rise, it ranks 119.
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 changesWest Devon bands A-H schedule
Per-band charge 2026
West Devon's nearest Band D charges nationwide
West Devon is 8th of 350 on the national Band D list at £2,705.33. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Wealden, Gateshead, Bristol, Rother, then Newark & Sherwood, Oxford. The six closest published 2026-27 rates, led by Wealden, 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 West ranking further down when you care about local neighbours, and the stock-weighted average when you care what most of West Devon's 27,540 dwellings actually pay. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Stroud, North Somerset, Teignbridge, Mid Devon.
National high-charge outlier: this rate is inside the costliest 10% of the UK corpus, so nearby national peers are a more useful benchmark than the UK average alone.
| Council | Band D | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Wealden | £2,728.43 | +£23.10 |
| Gateshead | £2,715.81 | +£10.48 |
| Bristol | £2,713.68 | +£8.35 |
| Rother | £2,700.95 | −£4.38 |
| Newark & Sherwood | £2,682.10 | −£23.23 |
| Oxford | £2,678.40 | −£26.93 |
Band A–H charge table (2026/2027)
| Band | Annual Charge | Monthly | Sole occupant (−25%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,803.55 | £180.36 | £1,352.66 |
| B | £2,104.15 | £210.42 | £1,578.11 |
| C | £2,404.74 | £240.47 | £1,803.55 |
| D | £2,705.33 | £270.53 | £2,029.00 |
| E | £3,306.51 | £330.65 | £2,479.88 |
| F | £3,907.70 | £390.77 | £2,930.77 |
| G | £4,508.88 | £450.89 | £3,381.66 |
| H | £5,410.66 | £541.07 | £4,058.00 |
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 West Devon's 27,540 properties actually pay
West Devon's housing stock peaks below the reference point, in Band B, which covers 6,760 of 27,540 dwellings (24.5%). 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. 58.8% 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 £2,617.03 per dwelling, £88.30 (3.3%) below the £2,705.33 Band D headline, because most of the stock sits in bands charged at less than the Band D rate. On that measure West Devon is 46th of 318 authorities with published stock counts, against a £2,269.00 average. That places West Devon 4th of the 27 billing authorities in South West, above the regional median of £2,376.53.
How to read this stock pattern
West Devon'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 58.8% 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.
West Devon 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.
West Devon sits in the upper quarter of South West on the stock-weighted ordering, above the regional median of £2,376.53. This narrows the comparison from a UK rank to authorities facing the same broad regional context, while still correcting each one for its different band mix. The placement says the council's average published stock is relatively costly within that peer set; it does not convert the mean into an individual household charge.
Closest housing-stock shape: Mid Suffolk
Mid Suffolk is the closest full-distribution match for West Devon. The profiles are close rather than identical: 3.4% 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 sits at lower Band B, where Mid Suffolk holds 26.8% of its stock and West Devon holds 24.5%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
- A smaller distinction is lower on the ladder at Band A: West Devon has 13.3% of dwellings there, against 11.9% in Mid Suffolk. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
- A smaller distinction sits at lower Band C, where Mid Suffolk holds 22.2% of its stock and West Devon holds 21.0%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
- A smaller distinction appears in the upper part of the ladder at Band E. West Devon places 13.5% of dwellings there versus 12.8% for Mid Suffolk, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.
How the wider profile compares
Mid Suffolk is more concentrated across Bands A to C in aggregate, by 2.0% of its stock. West Devon's closest match is therefore achieved despite the peer carrying more homes below the reference band.
West Devon carries 1.5% more of its stock in Bands E and above than Mid Suffolk. 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 H is the most stable point in the comparison, with shares of 0.3% 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 West Devon
- Band B leans toward Mid Suffolk
- Band C leans toward Mid Suffolk
- Band D leans toward West Devon
- Band E leans toward West Devon
- 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 West Devon: Stroud (3.6% redistribution distance); North Somerset (3.9% redistribution distance); Teignbridge (3.9% redistribution distance); Mid Devon (4.4% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Mid Suffolk stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.
| Band | Properties | Share of stock | Annual charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 3,650 | 13.3% | £1,803.55 |
| B | 6,760 | 24.5% | £2,104.15 |
| C | 5,780 | 21.0% | £2,404.74 |
| D | 4,570 | 16.6% | £2,705.33 |
| E | 3,730 | 13.5% | £3,306.51 |
| F | 1,920 | 7.0% | £3,907.70 |
| G | 1,050 | 3.8% | £4,508.88 |
| H | 80 | 0.3% | £5,410.66 |
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 West Devon 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.
- East Devon£2,634.65
- Rushcliffe£2,631.20
- Cotswold£2,611.02
- Welwyn Hatfield£2,601.52
- Maidstone£2,595.64
West Devon's nearest year-on-year movers
West Devon moved Band D from £2,574.29 to £2,705.33 (+5.09%, competition rank 119th of 350). The closest published movements sit with Bradford, Central Bedfordshire, Hertsmere.
- Bradford5.10%
- Central Bedfordshire5.10%
- Hertsmere5.09%
- Torbay5.09%
- Welwyn Hatfield5.09%
- Bracknell Forest5.08%
How West Devon compares in South West
Among the 27 billing authorities in South West, West Devon's 2026-27 Band D charge of £2,705.33 ranks 3rd of 27, higher than 89% of them (£194.33 above the South West average of £2,511.00). Its nearest-charged neighbours in the region:
Regional high-charge outlier: this authority sits in the costliest fifth of South West.
| Region rank | Council | Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Dorset Council | £2,765.02 |
| 2nd | Bristol | £2,713.68 |
| 3rd | West Devon | £2,705.33 |
| 4th | Mid Devon | £2,656.41 |
| 5th | Teignbridge | £2,643.12 |
Regional rank out of 27 South West billing authorities by 2026-27 Band D charge (1 = dearest). See the full UK ranking or the complete directory.
Questions answered from West Devon's data
These answers use West Devon's £2,705.33 Band D rate, the England statutory multipliers, and the VOA stock mix (modal Band B, 58.8% below D).
Is West Devon Council Tax above the UK average?
West Devon's 2026-27 Band D rate is £2,705.33, 15.8% above the UK average of £2,337.00. It has competition rank 8th of 350, with equal charges sharing a rank. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Wealden, Gateshead, Bristol, Rother, then Newark & Sherwood, Oxford.
Which councils have charges closest to West Devon?
The closest published Band D rates are Wealden (£2,728.43), Gateshead (£2,715.81), Bristol (£2,713.68), Rother (£2,700.95), Newark & Sherwood (£2,682.10), Oxford (£2,678.40). The comparison table above shows the six nearest authorities and the exact difference from West Devon.
What is the average Council Tax bill in West Devon?
Across West Devon's 27,540 domestic properties, the stock-weighted average charge is £2,617.03 for 2026-27. That is £88.30 below the £2,705.33 Band D rate, because the most common band here is Band B (24.5% of the stock) and 58.8% of dwellings are banded below D. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Stroud, North Somerset, Teignbridge, Mid Devon. Property counts are from the VOA 2025 stock release; the weighting is our calculation.
How did West Devon Council Tax change for 2026-27?
Band D moved from £2,574.29 to £2,705.33, a 5.09% rise. Its competition rank by annual increase is 119th of 350; the closest movements include Bradford, Central Bedfordshire, Hertsmere.
Advice boundary for West Devon
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 West Devon: district charge plus county, police, fire where separate, and the average parish precept across the district. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Wealden, Gateshead, Bristol, Rother, then Newark & Sherwood, Oxford. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Stroud, North Somerset, Teignbridge, Mid Devon. For a binding figure consult your West Devon 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 West Devon 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 Wealden, Gateshead, Bristol, Rother, then Newark & Sherwood, Oxford.