In 2026-27, Wandsworth has the lowest council tax Band D bill of any billing authority in England, at £1,028.21. Dorset has the highest, at £2,765.02 — a gap of £1,736.81, as set out in the full ranking of England's cheapest and most expensive council tax areas. But no household actually pays the Band D figure itself; every home is placed in one of eight bands (A to H), and each authority applies the same fixed ladder to its own Band D number, a system explained in full in how council tax bands are set. With the two ends of the national range this far apart, it's worth asking a sharper question than "which area is cheaper": can a Band A home anywhere in England cost more council tax than a Band H home in Wandsworth, the cheapest authority of all?
Checking all 296 English billing authorities' 2026-27 rates against Wandsworth's own Band H figure (£2,056.42) finds the answer is no. Not one authority's Band A charge crosses it. The closest, Dorset, falls £213.07 short — even though Dorset's Band A is already one of the highest in the country.
Why the two ends of the scale can't meet
Every council tax bill in England is set the same way: a billing authority fixes its Band D charge, then every other band is a statutory fraction of it, under the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
| Band | Fraction of Band D |
|---|---|
| A | 6/9 |
| B | 7/9 |
| C | 8/9 |
| D | 9/9 |
| E | 11/9 |
| F | 13/9 |
| G | 15/9 |
| H | 18/9 |
Because every authority's ladder runs from 6/9 to 18/9 of its own Band D, the ratio between any authority's Band A and any authority's Band H depends only on how their two Band D figures compare — the band fractions themselves never change. Band H is 18/9 of Band D and Band A is 6/9 of Band D, so Band H is exactly three times Band A within a single authority (18 ÷ 6 = 3). For a different authority's Band A to beat Wandsworth's Band H, that authority's own Band D would need to be more than three times Wandsworth's £1,028.21 — in other words, above £3,084.63.
No English authority is anywhere near that. Dorset, which has the highest Band D in the country, reaches £2,765.02: £319.61 short of the £3,084.63 line, or 89.6% of the way there.
The ten closest authorities
These are the ten English authorities whose Band A charge comes closest to Wandsworth's Band H (£2,056.42) — none reach it.
| Authority | Band D | Band A | Shortfall vs Wandsworth's Band H |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dorset | £2,765.02 | £1,843.35 | £213.07 |
| Lewes | £2,756.17 | £1,837.45 | £218.97 |
| Nottingham | £2,755.39 | £1,836.93 | £219.49 |
| Rutland | £2,737.58 | £1,825.05 | £231.37 |
| Wealden | £2,728.43 | £1,818.95 | £237.47 |
| Gateshead | £2,715.81 | £1,810.54 | £245.88 |
| Bristol | £2,713.68 | £1,809.12 | £247.30 |
| West Devon | £2,705.33 | £1,803.55 | £252.87 |
| Rother | £2,700.95 | £1,800.63 | £255.79 |
| Newark and Sherwood | £2,682.10 | £1,788.07 | £268.35 |
The pattern holds across the whole list: every one of the ten most expensive Band D authorities in England still sits comfortably below the line that would let its cheapest band outrank Wandsworth's priciest one.
Wandsworth and Dorset's full band ladders
| Band | Wandsworth | Dorset |
|---|---|---|
| A | £685.47 | £1,843.35 |
| B | £799.72 | £2,150.57 |
| C | £913.96 | £2,457.80 |
| D | £1,028.21 | £2,765.02 |
| E | £1,256.70 | £3,379.47 |
| F | £1,485.19 | £3,993.92 |
| G | £1,713.68 | £4,608.37 |
| H | £2,056.42 | £5,530.04 |
Dorset's Band H (£5,530.04) is more than eight times Wandsworth's Band A (£685.47) — the widest gap the two authorities produce between any pair of bands. Their closest pair, as above, is Dorset's Band A against Wandsworth's Band H. The full A-to-H comparison between the two authorities covers every other band pairing in between.
Where most of England actually sits
Wandsworth and Dorset are the extremes, not the typical case. Across all 296 English billing authorities, the mean 2026-27 Band D charge is £2,410.97 and the median is £2,441.46 — both much closer to Dorset's end of the range than Wandsworth's, since London's unusually low boroughs are a small minority nationally. Most English homes sit in authorities charging within a few hundred pounds of that £2,400–£2,450 band, not at either extreme shown here.
Try the tool with a Wandsworth property or a Dorset property to see a real address's band, last sale price and estimated running costs side by side, or browse more council tax and buyer guides.
This is general information about how England's national band system works, not advice on any individual property's banding. If you think your own home is in the wrong band, the Valuation Office Agency handles formal challenges in England — speak to a qualified adviser before acting on your own case.