How much is your council tax going up? Kingston tops table as London boroughs with biggest bills revealed

How much is your council tax going up? Kingston tops table as London boroughs with biggest bills revealed

Residents in Kingston and Croydon will again pay the biggest council tax bills in London, with average demands of almost £2,500 a year, The Standard has established.

Throughout February, many of the capital’s 33 boroughs have been revealing how much their bills will rise from April.

Kingston, which is run by the Lib-Dems, will retain the dubious honour of being London’s most expensive borough by increasing its total band D bill from £2,374 to £2,488.

This 4.99 per cent hike includes a £95.01 increase in the council’s share of bills and an an extra £18.98 for mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan.

Crisis-hit Croydon will remain in second place if it ratifies plans to add a total of £113 to its band D bills, taking them to £2,480, as first reported by the Inside Croydon website.

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Most London councils are expected to seek a near five per cent increase, according to draft budget planning documents.

Councils that have already indicated such plans include Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Havering, Islington, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Richmond, Tower Hamlets and Westminster.

However Tory-run Kensington and Chelsea council is only seeking a four per cent rise in its share of bills - and will also offer 15,000 low-income residents a one-off £50 payment to help with cost of living pressures.

Croydon, which has been in financial crisis since 2020, is also seeking more emergency funding from the Government, this time for £136m for 2025/26.

It has debts of £1.8bn - meaning more than a fifth of its budget will soon be taken up repaying the interest on its debts.

Westminster, under Labour control since 2022, will break the four-figure barrier for the first time but will remain one of the cheapest local authorities in the country with a total band D demand of £1,017.

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Newham was seeking an exceptional 9.99 per cent hike in a bid to prevent itself from going bust.

However Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has only allowed the former Olympic borough to increase its share of bills by nine per cent - which is expected to take its total band D bill to £1,856, up £131.74 on 2024/25. Newham’s full council meeting on February 27 will determine the exact figure.

Haringey, which said it received outer London levels of funding despite inner London levels of need, is to ask the Government for £37m of “exceptional financial support” to cover day-to-day spending and look after vulnerable residents.

In addition, Sir Sadiq Khan has already said he wants his share of bills to increase by four per cent, primarily to provide more funding for the Metropolitan police.

This will increase the mayor’s “precept” from £471.40 to £490.38 for band D bills, a rise of £18.98.

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Taken together, many households will pay in excess of £2,000 a year or £200 a month, as bills are normally paid over 10 successive months.

A total of 15 London boroughs already charge in excess of £2,000 a year for band D bills: Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Brent, Camden, Croydon, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Kingston, Lewisham, Redbridge, Richmond, Sutton and Waltham Forest.

Boroughs almost certain to break the £2,000 threshold for average bills for the first time include Bromley, Greenwich, Hounslow, Merton and Islington.

Bromley, a suburban Tory heartland that set a total bill of £1,949 last year, expects its band D amount to increase by £92.75 to £2,042.

There are concerns that the dire finances of many town halls will see them target the poorest Londoners for the first time, meaning that carers, lone parents and people with disabilities will receive council tax demands.

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Richmond, which set the fourth highest council tax in London in 2024, behind Kingston, Croydon and Harrow, has announced a 4.99 per cent increase in its share of bills.

When added to the mayor’s precept, this will take the total band D bill in Richmond to £2,372.07.

Richmond, which is run by the Lib-Dems, said 60 per cent of its spending went on social care for vulnerable residents.

Greenwich said it had “no choice” but to take the “tough decision” to increase its share of bills by 4.99 per cent. This will add £1.39 a week onto its band D bill - equating to £72.28 a year.

Greenwich leader Anthony Okereke said: “Our draft budget serves as a stark reminder of the financial realities created by decades of underfunding by the previous government. This damage cannot be done overnight.

“The good news is that we’ve received a better financial settlement this year, which will help us continue improving services. We’ve also been successful in finding innovative ways to reduce the costs of temporary accommodation, which have been crippling other councils.”

This is what we know so far about likely council tax bills in each London borough. The table will be updated over the coming weeks as boroughs set their final amounts at full council meetings.

Islington said its likely increase would also amount to £1.39 per week - or £72.28 a year - at band D. When the mayor’s precept is added, its benchmark bill will rise to £2,011.

Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman said the borough was “blazing a trail” by offering free school meals and grants to buy school uniforms to ease the cost-of-living crisis.

Havering said it would increase its share of bills by 4.99 per cent, taking its total band D bill to £2,313.55.

At the same time, it will close three of its 10 libraries - the branches in Harold Wood, South Hornchurch and Gidea Park - to save £288,000 a year.

Hammersmith and Fulham said it set the third lowest council tax in the country but indicated that its bills would rise by 4.99 per cent.

Havering said it had no option because of the increasing cost of adult social care and homelessness.

The council has approved plans to convert offices into temporary accommodation for homeless families.

Haringey said its band D total bill would increase by £100, from £2,107 to £2,207. This is due to its own share of bills increasing by £81.64 on top of the mayor’s precept.

Band D bills in Kensington and Chelsea are expected rise from £1,508.98 to a total of £1,569.46 once the mayor’s “precept” is added.

Some councils also plan to double their charges for second homes.

Each council’s own share of bills is expected to include a 2.99 per cent hike in spending on council services and a two per cent increase in the amount spent on adult social care, which works out in practical terms as a 4.99 per cent rise.