Council Tax bands explained: the values, the bill and who sets them
What a Council Tax band is, the 1991 values behind each band in England, how your bill is worked out from Band D, who sets the bands, and why some are out of line.
Your Council Tax band is a letter, A to H in England and Scotland and A to I in Wales, based on what your home would have sold for on a fixed date: 1 April 1991 in England and Scotland, 1 April 2003 in Wales. Your council charges each band a fixed share of its Band D rate.
This guide covers how the bands work. If you think yours is too high, how to challenge your band has the steps.
The bands in England
| Band | Value on 1 April 1991 |
|---|---|
| A | Up to £40,000 |
| B | £40,001 – £52,000 |
| C | £52,001 – £68,000 |
| D | £68,001 – £88,000 |
| E | £88,001 – £120,000 |
| F | £120,001 – £160,000 |
| G | £160,001 – £320,000 |
| H | Over £320,000 |
What counts is the value on the valuation date, not today's. Wales revalued in 2003 and has nine bands (the Wales guide). Scotland uses 1991 values with lower thresholds (the Scotland guide).
How the bill is worked out
Each council sets a Band D charge every year, and every other band pays a fixed fraction of it:
Illustrative, assuming a Band D bill of £2,280 — your council sets the real figure each year. The ratios are fixed by law and identical in every English authority: Band H always pays twice Band D, and three times Band A. Wales uses the same ratios and adds a ninth band, I, at 21/9; Scotland charges Bands E–H at higher ratios.
So in England a Band H bill is always twice a Band D bill in the same area. Discounts, exemptions and Council Tax Reduction then apply to your own bill. How much a lower band saves works through the numbers.
Who sets the bands
In England and Wales, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). It became part of HMRC on 1 April 2026 and GOV.UK now calls it the Valuation Office; the forms still carry the old name. In Scotland, 14 regional Assessors set the bands. Northern Ireland has no Council Tax: it uses Domestic Rates, which this site doesn't cover.
Why some bands are out of line
England's bands come from a valuation carried out quickly in the early 1990s, largely from outside the properties, and they have never been revalued. An error made then usually stays on the list until someone brings evidence against it. We don't know of an official figure for how many bands are wrong, so we don't quote one.
Cases worth a second look include:
- a street of different house types that all ended up in the same band;
- a house converted into flats, or flats turned back into a house;
- a home banded when it was new, on the strength of its first sale price.
How to check yours
The quickest way is the free check below: it looks up every band at your postcode and picks out the homes most like yours. To do it by hand, look up your band and your neighbours' one at a time on GOV.UK's Check your Council Tax band service; how to check your band covers what to note down.
Every band at your postcode, the homes most like yours, and whether yours looks out of line.
What to do next
If most well-matched homes nearby are a band lower than yours, how to challenge your band takes you through it. If they aren't, leave it: a review can move a band up as well as down (when not to challenge).
- GOV.UK — Challenge your Council Tax band
- GOV.UK — How Council Tax bands are assessed
- Valuation Office Agency (VOA)
Links open on GOV.UK. We explain the rules in plain English; the official guidance is always definitive.
See how your band compares with similar homes.
The check grades the evidence for your postcode, including when a challenge isn’t worth making. It’s free; the £39 challenge is optional.