Council tax band H
Band H is the highest council tax band in England and Scotland, so it comes with the biggest bills. For 2026-27, a band H home in England typically pays £4,783 for the year, with Wales at £4,566 and Scotland at £4,051. Across England and Wales, a home in band H is charged double what a Band D home in the same council area pays. Scotland's ratio works out at roughly 2.45 times the Band D charge.
- of homes in England are band H
- 0.6%
- average band H bill in England, 2026/27
- £4,783
- of Band D in England and Wales
- 18/9
Band H charges across the three nations
Your council starts with Band D, which sits in the middle of the scale, and fixes its charge for that band first. From there, each other band is charged a set fraction of the Band D amount. So whenever your council changes its Band D figure, your band H bill moves with it.
England's figures come from official government statistics, with the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government supplying the rest. What you actually pay is set by your own council, so your bill may sit far higher or lower than these typical figures.
| Nation | Typical Band D bill 2026-27 | Typical band H bill 2026-27 | Band H next to Band D |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | £2,392 | £4,783 | Double |
| Wales | £2,283 | £4,566 | Double |
| Scotland | £1,653 | £4,051 | Roughly 2.45× |
What does a home need to be worth for band H?
Bands don't reflect what your home would sell for now. They rest on its value at a set point in the past, known as the valuation date, and this applies even to homes built after that date.
- England: valued above £320,000 on 1 April 1991, per the GOV.UK banding guidance
- Wales: valued between £324,001 and £424,000 on 1 April 2003, again per the same GOV.UK guidance
- Scotland: valued above £212,000 on 1 April 1991, per the Scottish Assessors
Because those dates are so long ago, the thresholds can seem small when you compare them with prices today. What they really capture is where your home stood against other homes back then, not what it would fetch now.
Does band H top the scale everywhere?
In England and Scotland, it does. Nothing sits above band H in either nation. Wales is different, because one more band exists above it. Homes valued above £424,000 on 1 April 2003 fall into band I, which pays more than band H, under the Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 5.
Band H is also the scarcest category in England. Around 0.2 million homes fall into this band, 0.6% of the total and a smaller share than any other band, based on the official count of homes in each band.
Band H charges council by council, 2026-27
Your council area matters more than anything else. Take England: in Wandsworth, a band H home pays £2,056.42 for the year, whereas Dorset charges that same band £5,530.04.
- England's lowest bills: Wandsworth at £2,056.42, Westminster at £2,099.10 and the City of London at £2,659.12.
- England's highest bills: Dorset at £5,530.04, Lewes at £5,512.34 and Nottingham at £5,510.78.
- Wales's lowest bills: Cardiff at £4,026.36, Caerphilly at £4,165.76 and Newport at £4,176.96.
- Wales's highest bills: Merthyr Tydfil at £5,187.20, Neath Port Talbot at £5,082.78 and Blaenau Gwent at £5,062.52.
- Scotland's lowest bills: South Lanarkshire at £3,597.76, the Shetland Islands at £3,645.36 and Na h-Eileanan Siar at £3,688.48.
- Scotland's highest bills: Midlothian at £4,449.59, Argyll and Bute at £4,369.16 and Stirling at £4,294.53.
All of these are annual figures for 2026-27. If you have your eye on a home in a different council area, look up that council's own band H charge instead of trusting a nationwide figure.
Getting help with a band H bill
A high band doesn't rule out support. If you're on a low income or get benefits, you may be able to get Council Tax Reduction, a scheme run by your council that lowers your bill, as GOV.UK's council tax page explains.
How the averages are worked out
Every average band H figure begins with each nation's official average Band D charge. Band H's share relative to Band D is then applied to that number.
Under the law, band H always pays twice what Band D pays in England and Wales, and about two and a half times Band D in Scotland. That's why these averages are simply the national Band D figure scaled up.