Highest Band H Council Tax in the UK 2026-27
Ranking derived from our database of UK billing authority charges for 2026-27. Last updated: .
Methodology
This ranking derives nation-correct Band H charges from the joined 2026-27 Band D 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.
Ranking pages show a top-10 cut; the full distribution is available on the linked council pages. Published area Band D rates can aggregate the council's own component and relevant police, fire, mayoral, parish, or other precepts. Annual increase arrangements differ by nation and authority type.
Ranking
| # | Council | Band H 2026-27 | YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dorset Council | £5,530.04 | 5.12% |
| 2 | Lewes | £5,512.34 | 4.90% |
| 3 | City of Nottingham | £5,510.78 | 3.73% |
| 4 | Rutland | £5,475.16 | 2.49% |
| 5 | Wealden | £5,456.86 | 4.60% |
| 6 | Gateshead | £5,431.62 | 5.33% |
| 7 | Bristol | £5,427.36 | 5.02% |
| 8 | West Devon | £5,410.66 | 5.09% |
| 9 | Rother | £5,401.90 | 5.45% |
| 10 | Newark & Sherwood | £5,364.20 | 3.87% |
Findings
The top-ranked record's Band H charge is approximately £5,530.04 per year, built from a Band D rate of £2,765.02. Band H is not a uniform multiple of Band D across the UK: England and Wales apply the statutory 18/9 (×2.0) ratio, but Scotland's 2017 reform set steeper E–H bands, so a Scottish Band H is 882/360 (×2.45) of Band D, meaningfully higher than the England/Wales ratio at the same Band D level. This ranking computes each council's Band H from its own country's ratio rather than a flat multiplier, which is why some Scottish entries outrank English councils with a similar or higher Band D.
England's referendum principles and adult social care flexibility are set annually and vary by authority type; Scotland and Wales use separate arrangements. The headline area Band D change is therefore not a like-for-like test of one council component.
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.