Wandsworth charges £1,028.21 a year for a Band D home in 2026-27. Dorset charges £2,765.02 — two and a half times more. But that single comparison hides something more striking: once the full eight-band structure is applied to each authority, Wandsworth's most expensive band comes out barely above Dorset's cheapest.
The eight bands, both ends of the table
Every English council tax bill is a fixed fraction of its authority's Band D rate, set out in the Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 5. Band A pays six-ninths of Band D; Band H pays double. The ratios are the same in every one of England's 296 billing authorities — only the Band D figure underneath them changes.
Applying that ladder to 2026-27's cheapest authority (Wandsworth) and dearest (Dorset), against the national mean of £2,410.97:
| Band | Ratio | Wandsworth | National mean | Dorset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 6/9 | £685.47 | £1,607.31 | £1,843.35 |
| B | 7/9 | £799.72 | £1,875.20 | £2,150.57 |
| C | 8/9 | £913.96 | £2,143.08 | £2,457.80 |
| D | 9/9 | £1,028.21 | £2,410.97 | £2,765.02 |
| E | 11/9 | £1,256.70 | £2,946.74 | £3,379.47 |
| F | 13/9 | £1,485.19 | £3,482.51 | £3,993.92 |
| G | 15/9 | £1,713.68 | £4,018.28 | £4,608.37 |
| H | 18/9 | £2,056.42 | £4,821.94 | £5,530.04 |
Source: gov.uk council tax statistics 2026-27, fetched 31 October 2026. See cheapest and most expensive council tax in England for the full 296-authority Band D ranking this table is drawn from.
Wandsworth's top band costs almost the same as Dorset's bottom one
Read down each column and the gap is what you'd expect — the most expensive band in any one authority is always exactly three times its own cheapest band, because 18/9 is three times 6/9. That holds everywhere: Wandsworth's Band H (£2,056.42) is 3x its Band A (£685.47); Dorset's Band H (£5,530.04) is 3x its Band A (£1,843.35).
Read across the table and the story changes. A Band H property in Wandsworth — the top of the local scale, nominally the borough's most heavily taxed homes — pays £2,056.42. A Band A property in Dorset — the bottom of its local scale — pays £1,843.35. The gap between the two is just £212.87, or 11.5%. The most expensive band a Wandsworth household can be charged costs only a little more than the least expensive band a Dorset household can be charged.
That is a feature of how Band D is set locally, not a statement about the two authorities' housing stock. Band D reflects each authority's own tax base and spending requirement — Wandsworth's is low partly because inner London boroughs combine a large commercial ratings base with historically restrained precepts, while Dorset's is high because it is a rural unitary authority funding adult social care and fire and policing precepts entirely from a residential base with no comparable commercial uplift. The eight-band ratio structure doesn't close that gap; it just gets stretched over a smaller or larger number.
Why the ratios never change but the cash always does
The banding system dates to the 1991 property valuation exercise that assigned every home in England a band from A to H based on its estimated value at that time — not today's value. No home has been revalued since, except where an extension or conversion triggers a reassessment on resale (see does an extension change your council tax band?). What has changed every year since is the cash value attached to Band D, set annually by each billing authority within its own precept.
That split explains why a Band A table alone doesn't tell the full story of what's "cheap" (see the real Band A bills outside London) — a low Band D doesn't mean a low band H, because the ratio to Band D is fixed, but it does mean every band in that authority sits lower in cash terms than the equivalent band almost anywhere else. For the full mechanics of how A-H bands are assigned and reviewed, see council tax bands explained.
Worked examples
8 Balham New Road, Wandsworth (postcode SW12 9PG), a terraced house, last sold for £999,999 in May 2025. 1A Barnes Close, Dorset (postcode DT11 7NG), also terraced, last sold for £240,000 in January 2025. Homecost doesn't hold each property's individual council tax band — only the Land Registry sale record and each authority's published Band D rate — so these are shown as real recorded transactions, not banding claims about the specific addresses.
This is general information about how council tax bands are calculated, not advice on an individual bill. A property's actual band is set by the Valuation Office Agency — check it directly, or speak to a qualified adviser, before acting on it.
Sources used
Figures are drawn from 296 English billing authorities' 2026-27 Band D rates (gov.uk) and HM Land Registry Price Paid transaction data. See cheapest and most expensive council tax in England for the full ranking, or browse more council tax and buyer guides.