Council tax bills are set to rise by more than £70 in half of London boroughs in the latest cost of living blow, the Evening Standard can reveal.
The majority of the capital’s 33 boroughs are planning to increase their share of bills by the maximum 2.99 per cent permitted by the Government.
When the 8.8 per cent hike in London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s share of bills is added, this will increase benchmark Band D bills for a typical household by at least £70 a year in an estimated 17 boroughs.
Three boroughs — Kingston, Richmond and Harrow, where bills will jump by almost £80 — are expected to send out total average bills in excess of £2,000 next month.
Only two boroughs — Hammersmith and Fulham, and Wandsworth — plan to freeze their share of bills for the 2022/23 financial year, though Wandsworth will not make a final decision until later this week.
Homes in Bands A-D are in line to receive a £150 council tax rebate, announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, to offset the cost of rising energy bills. This should be paid automatically in April.
However, more than 850,000 “middle income” London households will not qualify, due to the higher house values in the capital placing their homes in bands E or F, according to Lib-Dem research.
Londoners whose rent is inclusive of bills also face losing out if their landlord chooses not to pass on the rebate.
The increase in council tax bills will hit pockets at the same time as a rise in National Insurance contributions and energy bills, and comes after a 3.8 per cent increase in rail fares and a 4.8 per cent hike in TfL bus and Tube services, which take effect next month.
Charities warned that the rising cost of living will force more people into homelessness.
Osama Bhutta, campaign director of Shelter, said: “Soaring inflation and rocketing bills may be the final straw for many renters struggling to keep a roof over their heads.”
Kingston, which is run by the Lib-Dems, is expected to set the capital’s highest levy. Despite limiting its increase to 1.99 per cent, the total Band D bill will be £2,122.86.
Harrow, which is Labour-led, has proposed the biggest borough cash increase of £47.79. Combined with the Mayor’s Greater London Authority precept, its average bills will increase to £2,042.09 — up £79.72.
Lib-Dem run Richmond is also set to break the £2,000 barrier for the first time with a borough increase of 1.94 per cent, adding £30.94 to average bills that will total £2,021.53.
Mr Khan’s share of Band D bills is increasing by £31.93 to £395.59, primarily to help fund the Met Police and London Fire Brigade. His precept also includes a £20 levy to ease the financial crisis at TfL.
The councils where the total rise is likely to exceed £70 are: Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Brent, Ealing, Greenwich, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hounslow, Islington, Lewisham, Merton, Redbridge, Sutton and Waltham Forest.
Camden and Croydon have yet to set their budgets but are also likely to issue a total demand above £70.
Hackney is to increase its share of bills by 2.99 per cent – a total Band D increase of £68.95, taking bills to £1,671.09.
Croydon is expected to propose the maximum increase but will also slash its support scheme, cutting council tax subsidies for about 15,000 low paid and vulnerable residents.
Conservative-run Westminster will remain the capital’s cheapest council, with a total bill of £864.13. Fellow Tory borough Wandsworth will be second cheapest on £877.37, unless councillors depart from already published proposals.
Hammersmith and Fulham froze its share of the tax and will use council savings and income to fund the cost of adult social care.
Labour leader Steve Cowan said freezing its bills had been “quite a feat”. He said the council was “one of the very few” in the country able to do so.
“This has purely been funded by our programme of ruthless financial efficiency, which has stripped out record amounts of council waste,” he said.
“There is a cost of living crisis and our residents are already stretched. We will not be adding to their bills.”
Many councils have paid millions in covid grants to residents and businesses but borough leaders will have been mindful they face local elections in May.
People living in the suburbs are facing larger rises than those in inner London boroughs, the analysis shows.
Under government rules, a local referendum has to be called if a council wants to increase its share of bills in excess of 2.99 per cent, including one per cent for adult social care.
This maximum is lower than the 4.99 per cent permitted last year – a level that most London councils adopted.
The one-off cost of a referendum is estimated to be £700,000 – plus a further £100,000 to send out amended bills.
Borough |
% borough increase |
Total increase including GLA |
Barking & Dagenham |
2.99 |
£72.26 |
Barnet |
1 |
£45.30 |
Bexley |
2.99 |
£76.27 |
Brent |
2.99 |
£73.14 |
Bromley |
1 |
£45.18 |
Camden |
TBC |
|
City of London |
1 |
£25.13 |
Croydon |
TBC |
|
Ealing |
2.99 |
£70.83 |
Enfield |
1 |
£46.24 |
Greenwich |
2.99 |
£70.09 |
Hackney |
2.99 |
£68.95 |
Hammersmit &Fulham |
0 |
£31.93 |
Haringey |
2.99 |
£75.01 |
Harrow |
2.99 |
£79.72 |
Havering |
2.99 |
£77.67 |
Hillingdon |
1.9 |
£55.49 |
Hounslow |
2.99 |
£71.95 |
Islington |
2.99 |
£70.10 |
Kensington &Chelsea |
1.99 |
£50.87 |
Kingston |
1.99 |
£66.39 |
Lambeth |
2.99 |
£68.65 |
Lewisham |
2.99 |
£73.19 |
Merton |
2.99 |
£72.08 |
Newham |
2.99 |
£64.93 |
Redbridge |
2.99 |
£74.55 |
Richmond |
1.94 |
£62.87 |
Southwark |
2.99 |
£66.74 |
Sutton |
2.99 |
£76.55 |
Tower Hamlets |
1 |
£43.05 |
Waltham Forest |
2.99 |
£76.77 |
Wandsworth |
0 |
£31.93 |
Westminster |
1 |
£36.57 |
