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There’s lots of things to love about London in April. We’ve got the extra long Easter bank holiday, the reemergence of cherry blossom, the London Marathon and the Boat Race to look forward to, as well as the long-awaited launch of V&A East and the brilliant Brick Lane Jazz Festival. But one thing we don’t love so much is that April is when local authorities across the capital raise their council tax.
That said, residents of one London borough will be glad to know that their bills will go up by a much smaller amount than everywhere else. In the 2026/27 financial year, people in Wandsworth will pay the lowest tax in the whole country.
Wandsworth was among five councils that were granted the power to increase their rates by more than the normal five percent cap, if they so wished. But it has decided not to use that power. The council has confirmed that it’ll increase its council tax by just two percent for the fourth year in a row.
Just as it has done in previous years, Wandsworth plans to freeze its council tax, only increasing the element that is spent on social care. That means that from April 6, average band D households in Wandsworth can expect to pay £1,028.21 in council tax, which is an increase of £30.46. At the moment, the average council tax across the UK is £1,770.
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The borough’s council leader Simon Hogg said: ‘Value for money is at the heart of everything we do. Wandsworth has one of the lowest levels of debt and some of the highest financial reserves in London. This allows us to freeze the main element of council tax, keep more money in your pocket and invest in what matters to you.’
Wandsworth Council’s plans to freeze council tax again will be considered by the its finance committee on February 18, with a final decision expected from the executive on March 4. Most of London’s other boroughs are expected to increase their taxes by 4.99 percent but, due to shifts in government funding to more deprived areas, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, City of London and Hammersmith and Fulham have all been given special permission to inflate their bills by more than that.
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