Where England's band H homes are

By Allison Fisher · 28 October 2026 · Data as at 31 March 2026

Band H, the top council tax band in England, holds 155,210 homes, 0.6% of the list. London accounts for 68,730 of them, 44.3% of the national total, and the South East for another 40,610. Two London boroughs, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea, have more band H homes between them (32,800) than any English region outside London and the South East.

The councils with the most band H homes

Kensington and Chelsea has the highest share, with 17.3% of its homes in band H, ahead of Westminster (13.1%). Outside London the largest count is in Buckinghamshire, with 6,190, though that is only 2.6% of a large council's stock. Elmbridge has the highest share outside London, at 7.5%.

Every council has some

Band H homes are rare in the north but not absent: every one of the 296 English councils has at least a few on its list. The smallest counts are in Adur (10), Barking and Dagenham (10), Crawley (10), Gloucester (10), the Isles of Scilly (10). Across the whole of the North East there are 1,580 band H homes, about one in every 820 homes in the region.

What band H homes are

Detached houses make up 93,810 of England's band H homes, 60.4% of the total. Flats and maisonettes are the next largest group with 24,530, 95.0% of them in London. By size, 48,420 band H homes have six or more bedrooms and 41,520 have five; 7,760 have one or two bedrooms, so a high band does not always mean a large home.

Homes built before 1900 are over-represented. They make up 14.9% of the English list but 35.8% of band H. Homes built from 2016 to 2026 account for 9.7% of band H, close to their 8.4% share of all homes.

Wales has a band above H

Wales has nine bands, so band H there is the second-highest. Welsh band I holds 5,690 homes, 0.4% of the Welsh list, and the largest counts are in Cardiff (1,490) and the Vale of Glamorgan (1,060). The Welsh guide covers the nine-band list, and the notes page sets out the 1991 and 2003 ranges.

Band H by build period

The table sets each build period's share of England's band H homes against its share of all homes. A period whose share of band H is larger than its share of the list is over-represented at the top of the ladder.

Each region's leader

Just below the top, band G holds 916,420 English homes, about 5 times as many as band H. Together, bands G and H account for 4.1% of the English list.

Two boroughs at the top

Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea are the only councils in England where band H holds more than one home in ten: 13.1% in Westminster and 17.3% in Kensington and Chelsea. Both are mostly flats (89.2% and 81.9% of homes), and both have more than 40% of their homes in band F or above. Both have band G as their most common band.

In the three northern regions together, the council with the most band H homes is Cheshire East, with 2,020, 1.0% of its homes.

New homes at the top

Of the homes built in England from 2016 to 2026, 0.7% are in band H, against 0.6% of older homes. That is 15,120 band H homes from the last ten years, a small addition to a band that is still made mostly of older houses. Every council page on this site gives its own band H count, and the region pages list it alongside the share of homes in band F or above.

Smaller homes in band H

Smaller types reach band H too. The English list has 20,180 terraced houses, 9,180 semi-detached houses and 2,240 bungalows in band H. Taken together they make up 20.4% of the band, which shows that type alone does not set the top band: 2.2% of detached houses are in band H, against 0.4% of flats.

Outside the South East

Outside London and the South East, band H never reaches 1% of a region's homes; the highest share is 0.5% in the East of England. Across England, 46 of the 296 councils have 1% or more of their homes in band H, and in 36 the share is below 0.1%.