Thousands across Cambridgeshire face £500+ tax rise if discount axed - see how your area ranks

Homes across Cambridgeshire could lose the discount
-Credit: (Image: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)


More than 120,000 households across Cambridgeshire face being hit in the pocket if the Government axes the single-person council tax discount - with some people in Band D properties potentially seeing an increase of more than £580 per year. At present households across the county - including tens of thousands of pensioners - are eligible for a Single Person discount, which knocks 25 per cent off your council tax bill.

Now speculation is mounting that the Government is set to axe the discount as part of its Autumn Budget. Answering questions in Washington last week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer refused to comment ahead of the budget, which is being announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in October.

Figures from the TaxPayers' Alliance, a thinktank, suggest eligible people in Fenland living in Band D properties would face an increase of around £582.78 a year - well above the average for England and the highest in Cambridgeshire. Band D homes in Peterborough that currently receive the discount would see their bill rise by £520.66 - the lowest rise in the county.

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The TaxPayers' Alliance analysis suggests around 43,000 of those eligible for the discount in Cambridgeshire are aged 66+, with just over 20,000 more being lone parents and just under 60,000 categorised as 'other'. You can see more details for your area of the county below (all figures from TaxPayers' Alliance analysis):

How much council tax could increase per year for Band D Cambridgeshire homes eligible for discount if it is axed:

Fenland: £582.78

Huntingdonshire: £580.38

South Cambridgeshire: £575.99

East Cambridgeshire: £566.23

Cambridge: £562.24

Peterborough: £520.66

The precise figures vary by local authority, since each sets its own precepts - but the average increase for a Band D property eligible for the discount in England is £549 a year. People living in the neighbouring county of Rutland face the highest increase in England - at £636.

Households in Nottingham would face the second highest increase if the discount was axed, at £632 per year. A total of 20 local authorities across England would see homes that lost the discount paying more than £600 extra a year.

Approximate number of households eligible or claiming the single-person discount per local authority (and by type):

Peterborough: 30,884 (8,919 aged 66+, 7,368 lone parents with dependent children and 14,597 others)

Huntingdonshire: 25,794 (9,557 aged 66+, 4,229 lone parents with dependent children and 12,008 others)

South Cambridgeshire: 20,976 (8,211 aged 66+, 3,402 lone parents with dependent children and 9,363 others)

Cambridge: 19,308 (5,258 aged 66+, 2649 lone parents with dependent children and 11,401 others)

Fenland: 15,637 (6,360 aged 66+, 2,850 lone parents with dependent children and 6,427 others)

East Cambridgeshire: 12,260 (4,760 aged 66+, 1,970 lone parents with dependent children and 5,530 others)

Estimated potential increase in tax for each Cambridgeshire local authority area if single-person discount is axed:

Peterborough: £16,080,140.65

Huntingdonshire: £14,970,257.24

South Cambridgeshire: £12,081,966.24

Cambridge: £10,855,681.65

Fenland: £9,112,852.68

East Cambridgeshire: £6,941,949.15

The TaxPayers' Alliance analysis said removing the discount for single-person households would represent a £5.4 billion tax increase affecting up to 10.3 million households across the UK. Around £1.9 billion of this tax increase would be on pensioners aged 66 years and older and another £983 million of this tax increase would be on single parents with dependent children."

Speaking to reporters while visiting American president Joe Biden last week, Mr Starmer said: “I’m not going to say before the Budget what we’re going to do. That does not mean that I’m ruling in anything that you might be putting to me, it simply means, like every Prime Minister, we’re not going to reveal what’s in the Budget before we get to it.”

A TaxPayers' Alliance spokesperson said: "While such a change would constitute a simplification of the tax system, it would further increase the tax burden, which is already set to reach an 80-year high by 2028-29."