Council tax bands in Dorset

Dorset has the third-largest share of homes in the middle bands C, D and E (58.6%), the second-largest share in band D (20.0%) and the third-largest share in band E (15.4%) of the 27 councils in the South West. It also has the second-largest share of homes built from 1965 to 1982 (22.9%).

The homes cluster in the middle bands

The homes in Dorset gather in the middle of the ladder, with band C the largest single band (23.2%). The share in bands A and B, 28.1%, is 15.0 points below the figure for England as a whole. Across the South West it is 41.3%. Ranked by number of homes, the bands run C, D, B, E, A, F, G and H. Within the South West, the band mix closest to this one is that of Wiltshire. Band H, the top band, holds 740 homes.

The 1960s and 1970s built the most

The biggest building periods here were from 1965 to 1982, before 1900 (17.7%) and from 1983 to 1999 (17.5%). Some 14,210 homes were built from 2016 to 2026. The middle home built from 2016 to 2026 is in band D, a higher band than the middle home built before 2016 (band C). Bands A and B take 22.5% of these newer homes and 28.3% of the older ones. Over the year to March 2026 the list grew by a net 1,260 homes (+0.67%). Homes from the three largest building periods share the same middle band, band C. The busiest single year was 2023, with 1,810 homes recorded as built.

Detached houses and terraced houses, almost level

Detached houses (23.0%) only just outnumber the other types in Dorset; in order they are followed by terraced houses (21.1%), bungalows (18.8%), semi-detached houses (17.4%) and flats and maisonettes (16.5%). The list also counts 2,820 caravans, houseboats and mobile homes. The typical home of each type sits in band E for detached houses, band D for bungalows, band C for semi-detached houses, band C for terraced houses and band B for flats and maisonettes. The nearest property-type mix elsewhere belongs to East Devon, followed by North Devon and Teignbridge. The widest gap to the rest of the South West is in bungalows: 6.5 points above the share there (12.3%).

Three bedrooms is the usual size

Three-bedroom homes (41.9%) are the most common size, then two-bedroom (29.1%) and four-bedroom (15.5%). Band climbs with size: the middle home is in band A with one bedroom, band C with two, band D with three, band E with four and band F with five. A detached house here has 3.7 bedrooms on average, a flat 1.7. One-bedroom homes make up 9.2%. Homes here average 2.78 bedrooms, more than the 2.66 for England.

Councils with a similar band mix

By band-mix distance (0 means identical), the councils closest to Dorset are Rother (5.9), East Devon (8.1) and Arun (8.7); the furthest within the South West is Plymouth (76.1).

Compare side by side

Placed in the South West

On the share of homes in band F or above, Dorset comes 6th of the 27 councils in the South West (joint), just behind Bath and North East Somerset and just ahead of Tewkesbury. All South West councils.