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Original poster

Council tax bill - is this wild or are yours insanely high too?

440 replies

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 01/05/2026 12:14

My local council took £232 in direct debit today for council tax. I'll be honest, I don't budget to the pound, so was shocked when I saw it and assumed they had wrongly taken off my single person discount. But nope. £232 is what 75% of the council tax charge is for my 3 bed terrace.

WTAF. This feels insanely high.

please don't tell me all about bankrupt councils and adult social care. I've heard it. I know.

My point is how are ordinary people paying these sorts of bills? I'm a single parent of two on a decent wage and it stings.

OP posts:
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Chewbecca · 01/05/2026 12:37

£385pm here.

3 bed, 1 bath house in a nice location.

We could downsize but we our home isn't big and we can't find anything we would want to move to.

Meadowfinch · 01/05/2026 12:34

YANBU. Mine's £235 after 25% taken off. 😮 I try hard not to think about it.

circusrunaways · 01/05/2026 12:29

This is the way it is now, an ageing population costs

MayaLui · 01/05/2026 12:29

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 01/05/2026 12:22

all of us paying for those public sector salaries

The vast majority of Council Tax goes on adult social care, ie care home and domiciliary care fees. It's a knock on effect of having an ageing population where people are living longer and the birth rate is reducing.

The second highest spend is children's social care - child protection, paying for children in care and children with disabilities.

Hardly any of it (proportionally) pays for salaries of council staff.

But fwiw I also pay the same as a single person and it stings even knowing what it pays for.

HoskinsChoice · 01/05/2026 12:27

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 01/05/2026 12:22

all of us paying for those public sector salaries

What does this mean? Do people who work in the public sector not deserve to be paid?

LaurieFairyCake · 01/05/2026 12:27

Well the cost of everything has risen, everything from the cost of the diesel to run the vehicles to the cleaning products, care costs are astronomical now for the elderly - don’t forget a lot of the homes are owned by conglomerates headed by private equity billionaires

Council run care homes are few and far between.

Our council tax is cheap, high density population, live in a flat. Think we’re the second cheapest in the country. Under £200 a month.

Original poster
Notmycircusnotmyotter · 01/05/2026 12:25

Exactly. Government bleat about helping the most vulnerable but pile taxes up. I earn a good salary, I should be comfortable, but I'm barely breaking even.

OP posts:
Whatisthisperihell · 01/05/2026 12:23

You're not wrong council tax really hurt this month. It is so frustrating that central government make these expensive statutory requirements of councils but don't help with funding.

Isekaied · 01/05/2026 12:23

Mine is over £320 a month

Original poster
Notmycircusnotmyotter · 01/05/2026 12:22

all of us paying for those public sector salaries

OP posts:
Sortingmyself · 01/05/2026 12:20

ours has broken into the £300+ bracket now. We are in one of the councils who request a higher increase than 5%...and got it. Probably for their nice fat salaries...🙄

User74939590 · 01/05/2026 12:17

Mine is over £400 a month, yours sounds cheap by that metric!

JHound · 01/05/2026 12:17

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 01/05/2026 12:14

My local council took £232 in direct debit today for council tax. I'll be honest, I don't budget to the pound, so was shocked when I saw it and assumed they had wrongly taken off my single person discount. But nope. £232 is what 75% of the council tax charge is for my 3 bed terrace.

WTAF. This feels insanely high.

please don't tell me all about bankrupt councils and adult social care. I've heard it. I know.

My point is how are ordinary people paying these sorts of bills? I'm a single parent of two on a decent wage and it stings.

It depends on your area / house size doesn’t it?

Mine is a lot lower - but I do live in a one bed and I assume my area has less critical services to provide?

It does sting because I see it, so I share your pain. My income tax stings more though. I think it’s inevitable as we do have services that need funding. You should be closer to your finances though OP!

Original poster
Notmycircusnotmyotter · 01/05/2026 12:16

I hadn't taken notice of it if I'm honest

OP posts:
JugglingMyNuts · 01/05/2026 12:16

Council tax has risen a lot ☹️. Did you not get a bill seen as you were surprised at the amount.

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