Council Tax Increase 2026: The UK Councils That Raised It Most
Aberdeenshire, largest of 2 tied at 10.00% (#1 of 350), is not Shropshire cash #1 at £209.38/yr
Aberdeenshire, largest of 2 tied at 10.00% (#1 of 350), is not Shropshire cash #1 at £209.38/yr. Aberdeenshire cash rank is #14; Shropshire percentage rank is #6. Figures are joined 2025-26 to 2026-27 Band D tables (MHCLG, Scottish Government CTAS, Welsh Government), not a household bill.
- 10.00% Aberdeenshire % #1
- £209.38 Shropshire £ #1
- 350 authorities ranked
Percentage #1 is not cash #1, Band D 2025-26 to 2026-27
Cash rise (£/yr) for the percentage leader and the cash leader among 350 billing authorities
For 2026-27, Aberdeenshire is largest of 2 authorities tied at 10.00% (#1 of 350), about £153.28 more a year. That is not the largest cash rise: Shropshire added £209.38/yr at 9.03%. The ten biggest percentage risers of the 350 UK billing authorities are below, with both the cash and the percentage rise.
Ranking derived from our database of UK billing authority charges for 2026-27, against the 2025-26 charge. Last updated: .
Methodology
This ranking compares the 2025-26 and 2026-27 area Band D columns in the joined national table: MHCLG for England, Scottish Government CTAS for Scotland, and Welsh Government / StatsWales for Wales. Numeric rows are loaded from the database rather than copied into the page. See our full methodology page for source attribution and column lineage.
The top-10 cut ranks the overall published area Band D change. That total can aggregate several precepting components, while annual increase arrangements differ by nation and authority type, so the percentage is not a like-for-like test of a council own-component threshold.
Ranking
| # | Council | Band D 2026-27 | Rise (£/yr) | Rise (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aberdeenshire | £1,686.04 | £153.28 | 10.00% |
| 2 | Moray | £1,731.14 | £157.38 | 10.00% |
| 3 | Argyll & Bute | £1,783.33 | £157.69 | 9.70% |
| 4 | East Dunbartonshire | £1,751.67 | £151.97 | 9.50% |
| 5 | Angus | £1,598.65 | £137.13 | 9.38% |
| 6 | Shropshire | £2,528.18 | £209.38 | 9.03% |
| 7 | Midlothian | £1,816.16 | £149.96 | 9.00% |
| 8 | Perth & Kinross | £1,673.84 | £136.80 | 8.90% |
| 9 | Falkirk | £1,715.09 | £138.32 | 8.77% |
| 10 | Stirling | £1,752.87 | £141.09 | 8.75% |
Findings
The top-ranked percentage record pays approximately £1,686.04 per year for a Band D property, below the £2,337.00 mean across the 350 billing authorities (each counted once, which is not the same as the average household bill). This ranking sorts by percentage increase, not cash or absolute charge, so a tied percentage leader is not the largest cash rise and is not necessarily among the highest-charging councils overall. The gap between the highest-ranked and the tenth-ranked record reflects underlying funding-allocation decisions plus precept stacking from precepting authorities.
England's referendum principles and adult social care flexibility are set annually and vary by authority type; Scotland and Wales use separate arrangements. The page therefore reports the measured national-table change without labeling values above one percentage as a breach.
For deeper analysis of why specific councils sit where they do in the ranking, see the per-council detail pages linked from the table, each surfaces the full Band A-H schedule, the precept disaggregation where available, and the year-on-year trend versus the prior tax year.