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

[Notmycircusnotmyotter]

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.

There is always loads of stuff about how much the council tax is increasing in national and local media as the end of the financial year approaches so it is a mystery to me why anyone is in the dark about how much their bill is going to be. Council tax used to be my worst bill but it has now been left traillng by the gas, electricity and food costs. At least with the other three you can cut back and shop around a bit to try and mitigate their impact but council tax is non-negotiable. I am not advocating a return of the poll tax but I am incensed that the three working age adults in the house next door to me end up paying £55 each per month (full bill of £167 divided by 3) while I who lve alone and with the 25% reduction pay £134 a month. I know it covers far more than bin collections but they have 2 full size green bins that go out for every collection, whereas I fill a half size green bin every 6 weeks and a half size recycling one every month.

Oh please. Local council salaries are pathetic. And you know public sector workers pay tax too right? Some of those workers can even use punctuation.

Mine has just broken the £200 a month barrier after an 8% rise. I shouldn't moan really as that does include our water.

Well there you have it!

Sell up and buy a little house in a grotty area, something like my 2 bed terrace in Hampshire, band B

For a 3 bed terrace that banding seems high.
Is it in a "saught after" area of Surrey?

Public Sector like a pyramid, bottom (often most important layer) not well paid but higher up you go it’s astonishing… not to mention gold plated pensions, severance and sick pay that third and private sector staff could only dream of. Our local Chief Exec gets paid more than the Prime Minister by a considerable margin…

Band D here £220. Local Council slapping extra charges on 2nd home owners this year and read one couple to be charged over £10k pa for their holiday pad.

Is that over 10 months or 12, @Jenkibuble ?

It may be too late for this year, but I'm really glad I switched to paying over 12 months. Mine (also band B and with single occupier discount) would be £195 if I was still paying over 10 months.

Apart from public transport, our services are pretty reasonable. The bin men are super efficient, the streets seem pretty clean, libraries have reduced hours but not actually closed down (yet!), the open spaces appear to be clear of litter and mowed regularly. I can't speak for play equipment, but I've never heard anyone griping about it.

Mind you, it's one of those places where the residents' association and other groups organise local litter picks and I've picked up the occasional bottle or can that's been dumped and put it in my own bin, so maybe the clean streets aren't all down to the council.

It would probably help to get a balanced view if people felt comfortable listing their council and/or their band, although I quite accept this might be too much to share for some

I am in Runnymede, which has a lower than average age for council residents in England, but also one of the highest average incomes

Band D here is £249/month for 26/27

My 5-bed detached house is Band F, at £292

Looking at the figures people are being expected to pay, I can understand why councils are refusing to put where they rank on the national list on your council tax bill

You can find out the Band D figures here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-tax-levels-set-by-local-authorities-in-england-2026-to-2027

If your council is charging more than average, then publicise this, and persuade people to vote the incumbent councillors out next week

Seems to vary wildly depending on the council. I pay £263/month band D ({without single person discount). It’s a small 3 bed semi.
The roads round here are awful for pot holes so clearly they are spending it on social care with nothing left for the roads which are in a terrible state.

Mines £300 a month (over 12 months) it's extortionate.

Band E here, £325 pm. SE, fairly standard end terraced 3 bed house. Wish ours was as low as yours OP.

Ours is £133 for a tiny two bed terrace, and looking at the state of the town it's hard to see where the money's going. Bin collections are regularly missed, street lamps are always off, roads are full of pot holes. It's miserable living here! I'd rather pay a higher amount but live in an area where the council actually take care of the place.

Is your house in a posh part of London? What is the square footage?

My house is unfit for a dog size-wise and I have to pay £121 on my 75% if that's any consolation.

Mine is £231 for a single 75 year old in a 3 bed bungalow. Personally, I always thought that the community charge ‘poll tax’ was fair. All working adults and pensioners paying their share. But there was outcry from (mostly) young people who had never had to pay it beforehand. I have neighbours in a much larger property, with 3 working adults and a pensioner, who are paying much less than I am, again as the property has not been reassessed following enlargement.

It's social care, the bill is rising and is eye watering. I know of one private operator of childrens care homes getting £21,000 a week to look after one child with complex needs. All funded via the Council. There are many of these children. Social care needs a long term plan but politics is very short term. Sorry not the point of your thread but it explains why council tax is rising and will continue to do until Councils build care homes and run them.

What annoys me is that the government make a big deal of the cost of living struggles people have due to their increased energy and water bills, but council tax has always been and will always be our households biggest bill and we can’t exactly control usage or shop around to lower the cost. They seem to disregard the fact that council tax is a major outgoing for households and has a huge impact on cost of living and far more in my opinion than utility bills!

Yes, mine begins with a 4!

Putting aside care of the elderly, the vast vast majority is paid out due to feckless people failing to bring up their children properly. Police/social services/fire brigade…….

They cost society a fooking fortune.

Oh it hasn't, I just moved from Wandsworth (lowest in the country under long term Tory rule, creeping up now under Labour) to Surrey and hadn't truly registered the difference

Ours is £283, I think it’s disgusting!

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/sep/12/cost-of-place-in-childrens-care-homes-in-england-hits-almost-320000-a-year

The cost of contracting out to private companies for the care of looked after children and other services is what makes me the most angry. We are all being ripped off to a ridiculous degree. I really don't mind paying my fair share for vital public services (ours is 400 plus a month) but I hate lining the pockets of greedy venture capitalists and other opportunists because multiple government's have failed to plan for and implement sustainable long term solutions.

I would be really interested to see the numbers when it comes to investment of all the taxis to SEND provision vs the cost of additional SEND schools. I know it isn't the simple.

And then we do our own 6 bin/bag rubbish arrangements too……we are absolutely robbed.

Wilson/Callaghan economics again...and where did that end up?

No, we should work for free obviously.

If it makes people feel any better, in real terms we’ve actually had year on year pay cuts.