How bedrooms line up with council tax band
Bands and bedrooms move together, but loosely. In England the middle one-bedroom home is in band A, the middle two-bedroom home in band B, the middle three-bedroom home in band C and the middle four-bedroom home in band E. Yet 37.3% of three-bedroom homes are in bands A and B, and 5.1% are in band F or above.
The counts cover houses, flats and bungalows with a recorded number of bedrooms: 25,465,020 English homes. Three bedrooms is the most common size, at 42.4%.
| Bedrooms | Homes | Band A | Band B | Band C | Band D | Band E | Band F | Band G | Band H | Middle home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | 3,328,740 | 53.2% | 24.2% | 15.4% | 4.6% | 1.8% | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.0% | Band A |
| Two | 7,254,490 | 29.0% | 26.2% | 24.5% | 12.9% | 4.8% | 1.8% | 0.8% | 0.1% | Band B |
| Three | 10,797,310 | 17.5% | 19.8% | 27.9% | 20.0% | 9.6% | 3.5% | 1.4% | 0.2% | Band C |
| Four | 3,203,560 | 3.2% | 4.0% | 9.2% | 21.7% | 29.6% | 19.6% | 11.8% | 0.9% | Band E |
| Five | 642,910 | 1.5% | 2.8% | 5.5% | 9.2% | 16.2% | 23.8% | 34.4% | 6.5% | Band F |
| Six or more | 238,150 | 1.9% | 4.4% | 6.5% | 9.6% | 11.6% | 13.9% | 31.7% | 20.3% | Band G |
Why size and band drift apart
A band reflects a 1991 value, which depended on where a home was as well as on its size. So 7.2% of one-bedroom homes are in band D or above, while 17.5% of three-bedroom homes are in band A.
The regional gap is plain in the middle three-bedroom home: band B in the North East, band D in the South East and band D in London. Across councils, the middle three-bedroom home is in band A in 13 councils and in band G in 3, including Westminster.
Where homes are largest
The highest average number of bedrooms is in Harborough and Rutland, both at 3.05. The lowest is in the City of London, at 1.63, where nearly all homes are flats. England's average is 2.66 and Wales's 2.83.
Large homes are concentrated in the top bands. Of homes with six or more bedrooms, 20.3% are in band H and 31.7% in band G. Of five-bedroom homes, the largest single group is in band G (34.4%).
What this means for reading a council page
Every council page on this site includes a line on how band climbs with size in that council: the band of the middle one-, two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom home. The bedroom counts are those held by the Valuation Office at March 2026 and may not reflect later extensions. They describe the stock, not any single home.
Region by region
The middle band for each size of home, by region. Wales is shown on its own 2003 scale.
| Region | Average bedrooms | 1 bed | 2 beds | 3 beds | 4 beds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North East | 2.68 | Band A | Band A | Band B | Band D |
| North West | 2.68 | Band A | Band A | Band B | Band D |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 2.69 | Band A | Band A | Band B | Band D |
| East Midlands | 2.77 | Band A | Band B | Band B | Band D |
| West Midlands | 2.71 | Band A | Band B | Band C | Band E |
| East of England | 2.74 | Band A | Band C | Band C | Band E |
| London | 2.33 | Band C | Band C | Band D | Band F |
| South East | 2.72 | Band B | Band C | Band D | Band F |
| South West | 2.72 | Band A | Band B | Band C | Band E |
| Wales | 2.83 | Band A | Band C | Band C | Band E |
London's homes have the fewest bedrooms on average, at 2.33, and the highest bands for each size. Wales has the highest average of the areas in the table, at 2.83.
Bedrooms by type of home
Across England, a flat has 1.67 bedrooms on average, a terraced house 2.75, a semi-detached house 2.97, a bungalow 2.36 and a detached house 3.71. The order follows the order of the typical bands in the property-type guide, with bungalows the exception: they have fewer bedrooms than terraced houses on average but sit a band higher.
One-bedroom homes
There are 3,328,740 one-bedroom homes on the English list, 13.1% of those with a recorded bedroom count, and 53.2% of them are in band A. That share ranges from 92.1% in the North East to 11.4% in London.
Four bedrooms and more
Four-bedroom homes are where the bands spread most evenly. Of England's 3,203,560, 21.7% are in band D, 29.6% in band E and 19.6% in band F, while 7.2% sit in bands A and B. Five-bedroom homes cluster higher, with their middle home in band F.
Wales
On the Welsh list the middle one-bedroom home is in band A, the middle two-bedroom home in band C, the middle three-bedroom home in band C and the middle four-bedroom home in band E. Half of Welsh homes with a recorded size have three bedrooms (49.9%), a larger share than in England (42.4%).
Two bedrooms
Two-bedroom homes, 7,254,490 of them, are the second most common size in England. Their middle home is in band B, but they are spread across the lower half of the ladder: 29.0% in band A, 26.2% in band B and 24.5% in band C, with 20.4% in band D or above. A two-bedroom home is therefore almost as likely to be in band A as in band B or C, and which of them it falls in depends on the council more than on the number of rooms.
Six bedrooms or more
At the very top of the size range, England has 238,150 homes with six or more bedrooms. Their middle home is in band G, yet 12.8% of them are in bands A to C, a reminder that the count of bedrooms on the list is only one of the details the 1991 valuations rested on.
Source: Valuation Office Agency (now the Valuation Office, part of HM Revenue & Customs), Council Tax: stock of properties, 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. See how the figures work.