25% Council Tax Annual Hike

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Maidenhead and Windsor are set to increase their council tax by 25% this year whilst the big boss also gets a 25% pay rise from £150k/year to £200k/year.

Really bad news as this sets the precedence for other councils to do the same.

Where is the mediation authority that governs what a reasonable increase is? Currently you can't challenge this as if you don't pay you go to court.

Council tax in Windsor and Maidenhead could rise by 25% - BBC News

I don’t begrudge the increase to pay for things like SEN provision or care, because I can’t see an alternative to providing what is needed. But I do feel cross about the eye watering amounts of money being sent to private landlords for ‘emergency accommodation’ or for the housing of people. It’s not a sustainable system and the increasing cost means that nothing else can be paid for. We need more social housing.

Until there is actually more social housing, then private landlords are picking up the slack.

My band B ii greater manchester is more than their band D. In fact band A is only £130 a year cheaper than their band D.

Sounds like they've had very cheap council tax for a long time so now it needs to rise

For an eye watering sum, subsidised by tax payers. Let’s not pretend they’re doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.

There’s greater demand for social care and SEN places. Yet no extra funding. People moan about grass verges being cut less regularly or bins being collected less frequently. Won’t take their dog waste home. Where councils could cut costs they are prevented from doing so by the public.

Of course, but when there is no where else for people to go.... then that is in the situation we are in

It’s also the situation that leads to the closure of libraries, youth centres, swimming pools and all other amenities, because all the money is being hoovered up by the landlords. It’s not a nice way for taxpayers to live and it’s not sustainable. Who knows what the solution is though. If things get bad enough, I wonder if compulsory purchase powers will be used to transfer some of those properties back into public ownership.

The old poll tax made so much more sense

Clearly it didn’t or there wouldn’t have been riots and it wouldn’t have been Thatcher’s downfall.

It does annoy me to not receive basic services so that other people can get an inheritance (social care) or heavily subsidised housing that's way cheaper than I'll ever be able to access, yes.

The cost of children’s residential placements is eye watering now. As are taxis to school. That’s the issue. Not just the increase to numbers. The costs being charged by private contractors.

Who is to say we won’t need care though, provided by the state at some point?

I expect to need care but I don't expect it to be something the state will provide for me. I mean in the sense of, when I get to that point I don't think the state provision will exist, not making a moral judgment. So I do begrudge a bit the fact that we don't force people today to use their assets (houses) - as I'm almost certainly losing out twice.

To address my garden comment, if a massive extension (I'm assuming 2 floors) and granny annex has been put on then their square footage will have increased by quite a bit so they would be paying more. People complain about companies land banking in order to wait until prices go up but it makes no sense that someone living in a semi with a big garden can be paying less that someone in a pokey 2 bed flat. By going off the total square footage of all the rooms and garden it's easily quantifiable as the land registry and planning departments have all the data. Land is limited so people should pay for how much they take up.

Ive unexpectedly needed a taxi on a weekday afternoon before and there isnt one available because they are all doing these school runs.

Maybe people with big gardens should actually get a discount... gardens attract bees and other pollinators. We need more of those. Some people with gardens grow their own produce, and there are schemes where you can let other people use your garden to grow stuff if you don't do it yourself.

People in high rise flats should not be the norm. Gardening is good for the soul.

And how is someone with a garden using more council services? I do think it should be based on a per adult basis... but that didn't go down well in the past.

I think they will have to take more from wealth/assets as time goes on.

So I do begrudge a bit the fact that we don't force people today to use their assets (houses)

Although we do do that.

Care funding thresholds
Around half of the people in the UK who pay for permanent residential care or move into a nursing home receive funding from their local council. The amount of help with care costs you get from social services depends on the value of your assets. The more they are worth, the more you have to contribute.
Following a needs assessment, if your local council thinks that you need to move into a care home to receive the level of care required, they will conduct a financial assessment to look at your assets. This means test will show if you are eligible for financial support.
If you move into a care home permanently, your home will be included in the means test unless your partner still lives there, or a relative in some circumstances.
The thresholds for state-funded care vary from country to country. For example, the upper limit in England is £23,250. If your assets are valued at over this amount in the means test, you will have to pay all care fees yourself. For more information on how to get help with care home fees, click here.
Paying for care home fees completely out of your own pocket is expensive and some people have to sell their homes to afford long-term residential or nursing care. People sometimes consider reducing their assets to get below the threshold and qualify for social care funding.

But are the couple with 2 children on a 2 bed flat using more or less council resources than the the couple in the 4 bed house with 1 child? Shouldn't have to pay more for less, we don't go into Tesco and say 'I'm entitled to pay less for my 4 pint milk than that lady over there as I live in a smaller house' - nope - you use it, you pay for it.
People who earn more already pay in more through their income taxes.

Road drainage, flood protection, trading standards, environmental health, anti-social behaviour initiatives, street litter picking, graffiti cleaning, park maintenance, grass cutting, hedge trimming, maintenance of museums and galleries, road safety measures, cycle networks/active travel, subsidised bus routes, housing rough sleepers, managing substance users, issuing tables and chairs permits, building standards, planning control, economic development? Don’t benefit from any of that stuff going on in your area? That’s without including the big hitters of education and social care.

I find it deeply frustrating that the UK government has approved a 9% council tax increase for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, effective from April 1, 2025, after rejecting the council’s plea for a 25% hike (The Guardian). While a lower increase might seem like a compromise, it still places an unfair burden on residents, especially considering the declining state of Maidenhead’s economy.

Maidenhead town centre is in crisis—shops are shutting down, leaving the high street empty, and with fewer businesses paying corporate tax, the council’s revenue sources are shrinking. The long-stalled construction of the Three UK office, which has been sitting incomplete since 2021, is a wasted opportunity. If it had been properly developed and offered to a tech or pharmaceutical company, it could have brought much-needed jobs and foot traffic to the town (Construction delays: Maidenhead Advertiser).
The high street renovation is moving at a snail’s pace, new apartment developments in the centre remain stagnant with empty retail units, and the whole town feels lifeless. Instead of attracting businesses and revitalizing the local economy, Maidenhead is turning into a ghost town. Yet, rather than addressing the root of the problem, the council is simply increasing council tax to compensate for its failures. This approach feels not just unfair but outright exploitative—residents are being made to pay for poor planning and lack of vision.

• Six English councils granted permission to raise council tax: The Guardian
• Council tax rises could hit up to 25% in some areas: The Sun
• Local economy struggles amid rising council tax: Maidenhead Advertiser

While a lower increase might seem like a compromise, it still places an unfair burden on residents,

though only putting them nearer to the wider England average.

I suppose the question is @MKGP what do you think should happen instead? The rot started at W&M a least a decade ago. Under a different administration. Maybe more people like you need to stand as councillors (plus get elected) and then make sure only good decisions are taken. Presumably you've already got your campaign plans drawn up.

One of the most affluent council areas in the country with one of the lowest council tax rates. Cry me a river.

@boys3 - Ah yes, the “If you don’t like it, run for office” wisdom—because in your world, holding leaders accountable is only valid if you personally hold a council seat. Genius. Using that logic, I assume you also believe you can’t complain about crime unless you become a police officer, or criticize a bad football match unless you’re the coach? No wonder Maidenhead is in decline if this is the intellectual standard we’re dealing with.

And your historical excuse—“The rot started a decade ago”—brilliant! So because past councils were a mess, today’s should get a free pass? By that logic, let’s just give up entirely—maybe we can turn Maidenhead into an open-air museum of bad decisions.

What’s truly pitiful here isn’t me, but the mindset you’re flaunting—this weird, docile acceptance of mediocrity, wrapped in smug condescension. The town’s crumbling, businesses are fleeing, and your big idea is… to mock people who actually give a damn? No wonder nothing changes with people like you applauding failure from the sidelines.

I’ve always assumed that the reason council tax is generally lower in he South East (and quite notably London as well as Windsor etc) is twofold:

• Richer population demand less from council services
• Huge other revenue streams for the council? (more businesses paying higher rates, lots of parking fines etc, lots of new flats and developments popping up all this time which the council charge for and get the developers to fund local services for etc etc)

In additional, I also believe some of our council taxes seem deceptively small.

For instance, we (a London borough) can’t park cars on roads without a big cost. Even a residents permit to park on your own road costs a few hundred a year. Really you should see this as part of council tax - many in other parts of the country are allowed to park for free on their own roads.

Also things like garden waste collection - still free in some council areas I believe? This cost here is big and goes up every year. I believe the justification is that the average person in the borough doesn’t have a garden and therefore it’s a luxury to need garden waste disposal so that’s another £100 or so.

Exactly this. If you don’t want these services AND not wish to pay for them…people can’t have it both ways.