London’s Council Tax Bill Hits £5bn, Climbing £1.2bn in Five Years

New research has revealed that it’s not just London house prices that have climbed considerably in recent times, with the total paid in council tax by London homeowners and tenants hitting almost £5bn a year – £1.2bn more per year compared to just five years.

Last week it was reported that inflation has surged to a 30 year high and with gas and electricity costs set to climb higher yet, the cost of living has become increasingly difficult for many.

Those living in London already face some of the highest house prices and rental values in the nation, with the capital also home to the highest household expenditure and this squeeze on affordability has no different when it comes to the amount of council tax they pay.

Household council tax costs

The research by Benham and Reeves shows that the average Londoner pays £1,374 in council tax per year, up 26.8% in the last five years,

Richmond is home to the highest council tax cost per property at £2,065 per year while Southwark has seen the largest increase over the last five years at 36.8%.

Total council tax costs

In total, London’s current council tax bill is a huge £4,993,798,878 per year based on the average cost per household and the total number of dwellings across the capital.

Barnet is home to the highest sum of council tax paid on an annual basis, with £258.5m paid across the 146,730 homes in the borough.

Croydon is also home to one of the highest total council tax bills at £252m per year, followed by Bromley (£225m), Ealing (£195m) and Lambeth (£1782m).

But it’s not just the increasing cost of council tax per household that is pushing up this total, in the last five years an additional 150,000 homes have been built within London which has contributed to a £1.2bn increase in the total sum of council tax paid across London.

Tower Hamlets has seen the largest annual increase in council tax costs over the last five years, with the total sum paid per year increasing by 48.6%. Southwark (45%), Barking and Dagenham (41.4%), Lewisham (41%) and Croydon (38.9%) are also amongst the boroughs to have seen the largest uplofts in the total sum of council tax paid.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:

“Council tax is one of the core costs that many homebuyers fail to consider when looking to buy a home and the sum owed each year can differ drastically depending on where you choose to live.

Much like our home insurance or energy bills, it’s also subject to change and the average London homeowner has seen council tax bill increases squeeze their cost of living by a further £300 a year in the last five years alone.

So it’s an important one to consider when it comes to the ongoing affordability of your home, as unlike an expensive phone contract or comprehensive TV package, it can’t be dodged.”

Location	Average Annual Council Tax Cost	Council Tax Cost Five Year Change	Dwelling Stock	Dwelling Stock 5 Year Change	Current Total Annual Council Tax Cost	Total Council Tax Cost – 5 Year Change (£)	Total Council Tax Cost 5 Year Change (%)
Tower Hamlets	£1,156	33.4%	126,103	12,918	£145,761,337	£47,655,862	48.6%
Southwark	£1,167	36.8%	137,472	7,732	£160,406,728	£49,759,266	45.0%
Barking and Dagenham	£1,164	36.5%	76,570	2,656	£89,159,514	£26,084,263	41.4%
Lewisham	£1,217	35.5%	129,366	5,009	£157,486,132	£45,791,162	41.0%
Croydon	£1,547	31.9%	162,717	8,158	£251,775,289	£70,488,401	38.9%
Lambeth	£1,246	33.4%	143,024	5,414	£178,196,933	£49,676,073	38.7%
Greenwich	£1,149	28.2%	117,450	8,847	£134,958,776	£37,608,133	38.6%
Brent	£1,402	30.2%	122,881	6,232	£172,229,262	£46,683,443	37.2%
Newham	£988	25.5%	120,347	10,096	£118,852,484	£32,111,407	37.0%
Redbridge	£1,539	32.0%	105,312	2,605	£162,120,627	£42,298,532	35.3%
City of London	£1,171	19.9%	7,099	793	£8,314,660	£2,156,536	35.0%
Wandsworth	£789	26.8%	149,390	7,811	£117,910,073	£29,816,788	33.8%
Barnet	£1,669	25.9%	154,936	8,206	£258,533,359	£64,090,167	33.0%
Waltham Forest	£1,359	28.7%	104,557	3,273	£142,082,152	£35,100,927	32.8%
Hounslow	£1,405	27.1%	103,544	4,277	£145,439,498	£35,760,382	32.6%
Ealing	£1,421	26.8%	137,113	5,864	£194,834,622	£47,770,118	32.5%
Hackney	£1,020	26.7%	112,205	4,631	£114,406,490	£27,869,982	32.2%
Westminster	£892	27.6%	126,422	4,398	£112,783,057	£27,443,132	32.2%
Harrow	£1,850	26.6%	93,109	3,785	£172,272,951	£41,767,014	32.0%
Bromley	£1,606	28.3%	140,169	2,605	£225,163,918	£52,902,151	30.7%
Hammersmith and Fulham	£1,098	23.0%	90,335	4,700	£99,153,234	£22,762,532	29.8%
Bexley	£1,546	27.5%	98,599	1,735	£152,426,117	£34,992,078	29.8%
Kensington and Chelsea	£1,502	27.3%	88,237	1,316	£132,552,923	£30,016,565	29.3%
Haringey	£1,269	25.1%	110,253	3,374	£139,963,189	£31,536,581	29.1%
Islington	£1,215	24.4%	105,489	3,706	£128,206,273	£28,782,936	28.9%
Merton	£1,499	25.2%	84,916	1,701	£127,324,688	£27,630,621	27.7%
Sutton	£1,605	23.4%	84,126	2,498	£135,060,214	£28,833,616	27.1%
Richmond upon Thames	£2,064	23.7%	85,877	1,583	£177,277,372	£36,655,593	26.1%
Camden	£1,419	21.3%	106,583	3,965	£151,275,126	£31,158,704	25.9%
Kingston upon Thames	£1,945	22.9%	68,255	1,604	£132,768,592	£27,317,379	25.9%
Havering	£1,597	23.8%	102,967	1,694	£164,438,611	£33,823,785	25.9%
Enfield	£1,342	21.9%	126,675	2,204	£170,020,325	£32,976,509	24.1%
Hillingdon	£1,467	17.5%	112,400	4,229	£164,932,276	£29,876,456	22.1%
London	£1,374	26.8%	3,634,497	149,619	£4,993,798,878	£1,216,191,126	32.2%

Data on council tax costs per dwelling sourced from Gov.uk: Live tables on council tax
Data on total dwellings in each borough sourced from Gov.uk: Live tables on dwellings
Total council tax bill and change based on the current average cost of council tax per dwelling (2021/22) multiplied by the total number of dwellings vs five years previous (2016/17)