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South East

South East council tax by area (2026/27)

Across South East, the average Band D council tax is £2,475 a year for 2026/27 — £84 above the England average Band D of £2,392. It ranges from £1,953 (Windsor & Maidenhead UA) to £2,756 (Lewes) across 64 billing authorities. South East ranks 4 of 9 English regions. Source: MHCLG, 2026/27.

Source: Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (MHCLG). As of . Updated annually · last updated .

Avg Band D

£2,475

across 64 areas

GCTI (region avg)

104

100 = England average

Region rank

4/9

1 = most expensive region

South East’s average Band D council tax is £84 above the England average Band D of £2,392. The cheapest area is Windsor & Maidenhead UA1,953) and the most expensive is Lewes2,756).

All 64 areas in South East, 2026/27

AreaBand DGCTI
Lewes£2,756115
Wealden£2,728114
Rother£2,701113
Oxford£2,678112
Hastings£2,677112
Eastbourne£2,654111
Isle of Wight UA£2,626110
Reading UA£2,613109
Waverley£2,605109
Woking£2,598109
South Oxfordshire£2,598109
Tandridge£2,595109
Surrey Heath£2,585108
Cherwell£2,583108
Brighton & Hove UA£2,581108
Vale of White Horse£2,577108
West Oxfordshire£2,567107
Reigate & Banstead£2,567107
Elmbridge£2,558107
Adur£2,548107
Guildford£2,547107
Folkestone & Hythe£2,539106
Epsom & Ewell£2,531106
Buckinghamshire UA£2,527106
Spelthorne£2,526106
Sevenoaks£2,522105
Mole Valley£2,520105
West Berkshire UA£2,505105
Maidstone£2,503105
Wokingham UA£2,498104
Runnymede£2,493104
Thanet£2,491104
Arun£2,487104
Mid Sussex£2,474103
Tonbridge & Malling£2,472103
Chichester£2,470103
Dover£2,462103
Worthing£2,456103
Tunbridge Wells£2,446102
Horsham£2,441102
New Forest£2,420101
Canterbury£2,419101
Crawley£2,418101
Slough UA£2,414101
Ashford£2,410101
Gravesham£2,408101
Swale£2,406101
Hart£2,400100
Southampton UA£2,381100
Dartford£2,37599
Milton Keynes UA£2,37299
Winchester£2,36099
Gosport£2,34498
East Hampshire£2,34498
Eastleigh£2,34298
Medway UA£2,32997
Havant£2,32097
Rushmoor£2,32097
Test Valley£2,30696
Portsmouth UA£2,29296
Fareham£2,27195
Bracknell Forest UA£2,26595
Basingstoke & Deane£2,25594
Windsor & Maidenhead UA£1,95382
England average£2,392100

Band D is the standard reference charge (total including county, police, fire and any adult-social-care precepts). The region average is an unweighted mean of member authorities’ Band D charges. Source: Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (MHCLG).

South East council tax — FAQ

What is the average council tax in South East for 2026/27?

The average Band D council tax across the 64 billing authorities in South East is £2,475 a year for 2026/27 — £84 above the England average Band D of £2,392. That is an unweighted mean of each authority's published Band D charge. Source: MHCLG.

Where is council tax cheapest and most expensive in South East?

In South East for 2026/27, Lewes has the highest Band D charge at £2,756 and Windsor & Maidenhead UA the lowest at £1,953 — a difference of £804 a year at Band D. Source: MHCLG.

What is the Gera Council Tax Index?

The Gera Council Tax Index (GCTI) re-expresses each authority’s real 2026/27 Band D charge as a ratio to the England average Band D (£2,391.52), indexed so that 100 = the England average. GCTI = round(area Band D ÷ England Band D × 100). A GCTI of 110 means the Band D bill in that area is 10% above the England average; 92 means 8% below. The national rank orders all 296 English billing authorities by Band D charge (rank 1 = the highest). Both are pure, reproducible re-expressions of the published MHCLG figures shown on the page — anyone can recompute them.

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Method & sources

The Gera Council Tax Index (GCTI) re-expresses each authority’s real 2026/27 Band D charge as a ratio to the England average Band D (£2,391.52), indexed so that 100 = the England average. GCTI = round(area Band D ÷ England Band D × 100). A GCTI of 110 means the Band D bill in that area is 10% above the England average; 92 means 8% below. The national rank orders all 296 English billing authorities by Band D charge (rank 1 = the highest). Both are pure, reproducible re-expressions of the published MHCLG figures shown on the page — anyone can recompute them.

Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3). Source: Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (MHCLG). The region average is an unweighted mean of published per-authority Band D charges. Full methodology.