How England's homes are spread across the council tax bands
Band A is the most common council tax band in England: 6,123,220 of the 25,944,800 homes on the valuation list at 31 March 2026 sit in it, 23.6% of the total. Band C comes second with 22.0% and band B third with 19.5%. Put the bands in order and the home halfway along the line, the median, is in band C.
That shape matters when you read any single council. Band D, in the middle of the ladder, holds only 15.7% of English homes. Close to two homes in three (65.1%) are in bands A to C, and bands F, G and H together hold 9.3%.
England, 25,944,800 homes. Valuation Office counts at 31 March 2026.
Band by band
The table counts the homes in each band and then turns to the councils: in how many of England's 296 councils each band is the largest, and in how many the middle home falls in that band.
| Band | Homes | Share | Councils where it is the largest band | Councils where the middle home is in it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band A | 6,123,220 | 23.6% | 94 | 34 |
| Band B | 5,054,230 | 19.5% | 57 | 70 |
| Band C | 5,707,550 | 22.0% | 102 | 115 |
| Band D | 4,075,770 | 15.7% | 39 | 66 |
| Band E | 2,556,650 | 9.9% | 2 | 10 |
| Band F | 1,355,750 | 5.2% | 0 | 1 |
| Band G | 916,420 | 3.5% | 2 | 0 |
| Band H | 155,210 | 0.6% | 0 | 0 |
Band A is the largest band in 94 councils and band C in 102; band B leads in 57 and band D in 39. Only 4 councils have a higher band as their most common one: band E in 2 and band G in 2. No English council has band F or band H as its largest band.
The middle home tells a slightly different story. It sits in band C in 115 councils, in band B in 70, band D in 66 and band A in 34. A council can have band A as its biggest single band while its middle home is in band B or C, because the homes above band A, taken together, outnumber those in it.
The regional pattern
The spread changes a great deal from north to south. In the North East, 67.6% of homes are in bands A and B; in London the figure is 16.7%. At the other end of the ladder, band F and above take 15.5% of homes in the South East and 15.4% in London, against 3.3% in the North East.
| Region | Most common | Middle home | Bands A–B | Band F+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North East | Band A | Band A | 67.6% | 3.3% |
| North West | Band A | Band B | 60.3% | 5.1% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | Band A | Band B | 62.1% | 4.8% |
| East Midlands | Band A | Band B | 58.5% | 5.3% |
| West Midlands | Band A | Band B | 54.5% | 6.6% |
| East of England | Band C | Band C | 34.9% | 10.6% |
| London | Band C | Band D | 16.7% | 15.4% |
| South East | Band C | Band C | 25.3% | 15.5% |
| South West | Band B | Band C | 41.3% | 8.8% |
Five of the nine regions have band A as their most common band, all of them in the North and the Midlands. The East of England, London and the South East lead with band C, and the South West with band B. London is the only region whose middle home is in band D.
The councils at the edges
The highest band A share in England is in Kingston upon Hull, at 65.6%. Band C is most concentrated in Barking and Dagenham (61.5%) and band D in Hillingdon (39.9%). Each council page on this site starts from those comparisons and shows where its homes sit against its region and against England.
What the bands record
A band records what a home would have been worth on 1 April 1991, not what it is worth now, and new homes are placed on the same 1991 scale. Two councils with the same band mix can have very different housing markets today. The bands are also not a measure of size: the bedroom guide on this site shows how loosely the two line up. The ranges for each band, and the reasons England and Wales are kept apart, are on the notes page.
The list also moves slowly. Between March 2025 and March 2026 England added a net 190,520 homes, 0.74% of the stock, so the band shares above change only a little from one year to the next. To set any two councils or regions against each other, use the comparison tool.
One year of change, band by band
Comparing the March 2026 list with the one published a year earlier shows where the net additions landed. Band C gained the most homes, 51,770, while the fastest growth relative to size was in band E, at +1.10%. Band A grew by +0.29%, below the 0.74% for the list as a whole, so its share edges down a little each year.
| Band | March 2025 | March 2026 | Net change | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band A | 6,105,350 | 6,123,220 | +17,870 | +0.29% |
| Band B | 5,018,230 | 5,054,230 | +36,000 | +0.72% |
| Band C | 5,655,780 | 5,707,550 | +51,770 | +0.92% |
| Band D | 4,036,470 | 4,075,770 | +39,300 | +0.97% |
| Band E | 2,528,880 | 2,556,650 | +27,770 | +1.10% |
| Band F | 1,343,610 | 1,355,750 | +12,140 | +0.90% |
| Band G | 911,450 | 916,420 | +4,970 | +0.55% |
| Band H | 154,510 | 155,210 | +700 | +0.45% |
The net figures combine new homes, demolitions, conversions and changes made to the list during the year, so they are not a count of new building. The guide on how new homes are banded uses the recorded build year instead.
The largest councils
The five councils with the most homes show how different the ladder can look within one country: Birmingham has 469,460 homes and its middle home in band B, with 63.5% in bands A and B; Leeds has 380,760 homes and its middle home in band B, with 59.1% in bands A and B; North Yorkshire has 308,570 homes and its middle home in band C, with 37.2% in bands A and B; Cornwall has 289,000 homes and its middle home in band C, with 48.5% in bands A and B; Somerset has 273,500 homes and its middle home in band C, with 42.4% in bands A and B.
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.