Smallest Council Tax Increases 2026: The Quietest Band D Rises
Hartlepool had the smallest Band D council tax rise for 2026-27 at 2.47% (~£61.67/yr)
According to the joined MHCLG / Scottish Government CTAS / Welsh Government Band D tables for 2025-26→2026-27, every one of the 350 UK billing authorities raised Band D this release, none cut it. PlainCouncilTax ranks the quietest rises by percentage: Hartlepool leads at 2.47% (about £61.67 a year, to £2,560.20). Cash and percentage both appear because a small % on a large bill can still move a household more than a slightly larger % on a cheap one.
- 2.47% quietest rise
- £61.67 extra /yr
- 0 authorities cut rates
For the 2026-27 financial year, every one of the 350 UK billing authorities in this corpus raised Band D, none cut it. Hartlepool rose the least, by 2.47% (about £61.67 a year), to £2,560.20. The ten quietest rises are below, with cash and percentage, because a small percentage on a large bill can still move a household more than a slightly larger percentage on a cheap one.
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 | Hartlepool | £2,560.20 | £61.67 | 2.47% |
| 2 | Middlesbrough | £2,549.16 | £61.51 | 2.47% |
| 3 | Rutland | £2,737.58 | £66.57 | 2.49% |
| 4 | Merton | £2,146.76 | £52.33 | 2.50% |
| 5 | Doncaster | £2,167.75 | £57.25 | 2.71% |
| 6 | Lincoln | £2,323.08 | £62.10 | 2.75% |
| 7 | Durham | £2,622.15 | £70.98 | 2.78% |
| 8 | Harborough | £2,389.87 | £64.91 | 2.79% |
| 9 | Westminster | £1,049.55 | £30.55 | 3.00% |
| 10 | Wandsworth | £1,028.21 | £30.46 | 3.05% |
Findings
The quietest riser still pays approximately £2,560.20 per year for a Band D property, above the £2,337.00 mean across the 350 billing authorities. This list sorts by the smallest percentage rise, not the lowest absolute charge, see the cheapest Band D ranking for that view, and the biggest increases for the opposite end of the change distribution.
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 interpreting the smallest values as distance from one statutory floor.
For the national release-diff report (nation means, cash risers, and cadence for the next April refresh), see What changed in UK Council Tax.