Council tax for 2026/27 · England, Scotland and Wales
Durham council tax 2026/27: a Band D home pays £2,622.15 a year
The cheapest band, A, pays £1,748.10; the dearest, H, pays £5,244.30. 56% of Durham’s 257,340 homes are in Band A.
Band D costs £2,622.15 a year: £262.22 over 10 payments or £218.51 over 12. 9% of Durham’s homes are in this band.
£1k£2k£3k£4k£5k£6k
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Durham, street by band. Walls rise to the yearly charge (one scale for all councils); each house is as wide as its band’s share of homes (all properties on the list at 31 March 2026, Valuation Office Agency). Narrow bands are kept visible.
Too narrow to draw to scale, so shown at a minimum width: Band F 2%, Band G 0.9%, Band H 0.1% of homes.
Every band in Durham
Band
A year
Over 10 payments
Over 12 payments
Homes
£1,748.10
£174.81
£145.68
56%
£2,039.45
£203.95
£169.95
14%
£2,330.80
£233.08
£194.23
13%
£2,622.15
£262.22
£218.51
9%
£3,204.85
£320.49
£267.07
5%
£3,787.55
£378.76
£315.63
2%
£4,370.25
£437.03
£364.19
0.9%
£5,244.30
£524.43
£437.03
0.1%
These are averages for the whole council area, parish charges included: your own bill may be higher or lower depending on your parish. Monthly figures divide the yearly charge, rounded to the penny.
About Durham’s figures
Durham's average Band D is high by English standards: £2,622.15 for 2026/27, the 23rd highest of 296. Yet 144,200 of its 257,340 properties, 56%, are in Band A, where the average charge is £1,748.10, and only 16 English areas have a larger share of homes in that band.
The increase was moderate: £70.98 on the £2,551.17 of 2025/26, or 2.8%, and only six English councils had a smaller percentage rise. Durham's fire precept, £128.12, is the highest in England, matched only by Darlington. Police add £300.74; police and fire together come to £428.86, or 16.4% of Band D.
Parishes matter here. There are 129 of them, and spread over the whole area their precepts amount to £122.18 at Band D, 4.7% of the total; the parish amount on an actual bill depends on the parish. The council's own share is £2,071.11, 79.0% of Band D.
Durham's tax base, the 13th largest in England, reaches 151,633.6 on a Band D basis, and the council assumes 99% collection. After Band A, Band B has 37,250 properties and Band C 32,970; at the top, 280 are in Band H, billed £5,244.30 on average.
The combination is worth noting: a Band D among the dearest in England, applied to a housing stock where more than half the homes are in the lowest band. Durham's Band A average exceeds what five English councils charge at Band D. Darlington, the only other area with the same fire precept and the same police precept, has a Band D of £2,493.83; Durham's is £128.32 higher, and its parish average is far larger than Darlington's £8.10.
Band D is the band the national tables use to compare councils. In Durham it is £2,622.15 a year. Across the 296 councils in England the simple average of Band D is £2,410.97, and 273 of them charge less than Durham.
The dearest Band D in England is Dorset at £2,765.02; the cheapest is Wandsworth at £1,028.21.
Where Durham’s homes sit
The biggest share of homes, 56%, is in Band A. Bands A to C together hold 83% of the 257,340 homes, and bands E to H hold 7%.
Homes are counted as: all properties on the list at 31 March 2026, Valuation Office Agency.
Check your own band
The letter is printed on your council tax bill. To look up any home, use the official services: England and Wales or Scotland. Band by Band cannot tell you the band of an address.