Council tax bills in a major London borough are set to nearly double in a hammerblow to hundreds of thousands of residents.
Wandsworth Council has announced plans to increase the levy for a Band D property by £958 from April 2027.
The record increase - a staggering 94% rise - will take the Tory minority-run borough from having the lowest council tax in the country to around average levels.
The south London council agreed on the planned rise on Tuesday night following what it called a “comprehensive” spending review.
A final decision will not be made until early next year.
It blamed the Labour government’s Fair Funding reforms - which will see spending shifted from affluent parts of London to the North - for reducing Wandsworth’s funding by £84million a year.
The council said that cut was equivalent to the borough’s total combined annual spending on parks, libraries, leisure centres, bin collection and street cleaning.
Wandsworth Council’s deputy leader Peter Graham, who is cabinet member for finance, said it did not take the decision to impose a record council tax rise lightly.
He said: “We promised that we’d be honest with residents.
“Council tax will need to rise unless Government thinks again. And it must think again.
“We do not want to do this, and we do not take this decision lightly, but the scale of the financial pressure facing Wandsworth means additional income is now needed to protect the services people rely on.
“Residents should not be left to carry the cost of an unfair funding system. That is why we are fighting hard at the heart of Government for a fairer deal for Wandsworth, and why we have made a clear case ahead of the Autumn Budget that our borough should not be punished for running efficient services and keeping council tax low.
“Our message to residents is clear: we are on your side, we are making your case, and we will keep fighting for the funding Wandsworth deserves.”
With around 340,000 residents, Wandsworth is one of the capital’s most populous boroughs. It was the Conservative’s flagship London borough for decades, having been under Tory control from 1978 to 2022, when Labour took over, and was famously Margaret Thatcher’s favourite local authority.
After cutting their share of funding, the government has given Wandsworth and four other London boroughs - Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham and the City of London - the power to raise council tax above the usual 5% cap for two years.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said changes are needed to reform an “outdated” council funding system.
A spokesperson said: “We have consulted extensively on reforming the outdated council funding system to ensure money goes where it is most needed, following on from a long-standing consensus...
“We're also protecting councils through transitional arrangements so no area faces a cliff edge.”
The leader of the opposition in Wandsworth, Labour councillor Simon Hogg, called the move “outrageous”.
He said: "Wandsworth Conservatives have decided to double your council tax.
"It's outrageous, it is stunning. People who don't know how to run the council panicking and making you pay the price.
Putney MP Fleur Anderson said the “huge” council tax increase was “very worrying for families across Wandsworth.”
The Labour MP said: “For households already struggling with the cost of essentials, finding an extra £958 a year will be extremely difficult.
“Pensioners, families on low incomes, and people facing financial hardship should not be left wondering how they will pay their bills.
“The Conservatives only very narrowly won the election against a Labour Council who would not have brought in this shocking increase.
“The Conservative-run council should listen to residents and reverse this huge council tax increase.”
One resident from Battersea told The Standard: “It's gonna be a pinch, and I will feel that. I was already worrying about what I'm gonna do to adjust my spending to deal with gas and electricity prices going up again. This on top. Yeah, I'm gonna have to get my spreadsheets out.”
“Wandsworth has been very lucky that it has managed to retain its position as having the lowest council rate in the country for a very long time. And given everything that's going on in the world at the moment, geopolitical tensions, prices are going up everywhere, so I understand."
A mother of two young children from Tooting Bec told The Standard: "There's definitely going to have to be a reallocation of where we're spending money- because we've got increasing cost of childcare, increasing food prices, increasing gas and electricity bills, the housing market's not looking great. So there's not a lot of give.
"There seems to be a lot of finger pointing, but not much compassion from the council. But then obviously they're facing quite a significant cut."
A woman from Tooting added: "It's a huge increase and there's no warning, it's not gradual, it just feels insane. Why? And how can they justify that?
"It needs to be incrementally, they can't double it or whatever just overnight, maybe it is their last resort, but I think there's a lot of people also in London that are not very wealthy, a lot of people already in need of support.”
