Council Tax Bands in the East of England 2026/27
Band D rates for the 11 East of England local authorities in 2026/27, with year-on-year change. The region runs from Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire across Cambridgeshire and Essex to Suffolk and Norfolk, split across six police forces (Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and Norfolk) and separate fire authorities. Click any council for the full Band A to H rate table.
Cheapest covered authority
Thurrock
£2,254.68
Most expensive covered authority
Central Bedfordshire
£2,516.16
Essex Police precept 2026/27
£275.31
Band D, Thurrock, Southend and Basildon
East of England Authority Band D Rates 2026/27
| Council | Band D 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Thurrock Council | £2,254.68 |
| Southend-on-Sea City Council | £2,265.17 |
| Peterborough City Council | £2,293.47 |
| Basildon Borough Council | £2,327.24 |
| Luton Borough Council | £2,439.93 |
| Watford Borough Council | £2,446.70 |
| Cambridge City Council | £2,467.02 |
| Ipswich Borough Council | £2,468.25 |
| Bedford Borough Council | £2,471.74 |
| Norwich City Council | £2,503.44 |
| Central Bedfordshire Council | £2,516.16 |
Figures are the area Band D total for the main billing area of each authority, including police, fire, and adult social care precepts. In two-tier shire districts the figure blends the parished and unparished parts of the area, and individual parished addresses pay a small parish precept on top. Source: individual authority 2026/27 council tax schedules and GOV.UK council tax Table 9 (MHCLG, March 2026).
Police and Fire Precepts Across the East of England
The East of England is the most fragmented region on the site for policing. It is split across six forces, and this is a large part of why bills differ from one part of the region to the next.
- Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner covers Thurrock, Southend-on-Sea, Basildon and the rest of Essex. The policing precept for 2026/27 is £275.31 at Band D, up £14.94 (about 5.7%) on the year, with a separate Essex County Fire and Rescue precept of £92.52.
- Bedfordshire Police covers Luton, Bedford and Central Bedfordshire. Its Band D precept for 2026/27 is £297.59, up £18.50 (about 6.6%) on the year after the Commissioner secured Home Office approval to exceed the standard cap.
- Cambridgeshire Constabulary covers Peterborough and Cambridge; Hertfordshire Constabulary covers Watford; Suffolk Constabulary covers Ipswich; and Norfolk Constabulary covers Norwich. Each sets its own precept within the government cap.
Fire is split too, between authorities such as Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and Norfolk. Every household also pays an adult social care precept, which each upper-tier council sets within the government cap. In the two-tier shire areas a bill also combines a county precept and a district precept, so two homes a few miles apart in different districts can pay noticeably different totals.
Why East of England Bills Differ
Across the authorities we track, Band D bills run from £2,254.68 in Thurrock to £2,516.16 in Central Bedfordshire, a spread of £261.48 a year at Band D. Part of that gap is the different police and fire precepts described above; the rest comes from each council's own demand and the adult social care precept it levies. The Thames-side unitary authorities of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea sit at the lower end, while the largely rural unitary of Central Bedfordshire is at the top.
Luton sits at £2,439.93 at Band D for 2026/27, up £119.50 (5.1%) on 2025/26. See the full Luton Band A to H rate table for the monthly figures and band breakdown.
Updated July 2026. Source: individual East of England authority council tax schedules 2026/27, GOV.UK council tax Table 9 (MHCLG, March 2026), the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner precept 2026/27, and the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner precept 2026/27.