Sir Sadiq Khan is to increase his share of council tax bills by just over £20 a year - with the bulk of the extra cash being spent tackling crime, including a new crackdown on mobile phone thefts.
The London mayor plans to increase the amount that every London household pays to City Hall by 4.1 per cent from April.
This means that the “precept” he adds to the bills sent out by the 32 London boroughs will reach £510.51 for a benchmark Band D property from April - up £20.13 on his current demand.
This will be the first time that Sir Sadiq’s share of council tax has exceeded £500 - and will contribute to the year-on-year increase in the size of the bills, which already exceed £2,000 a year in most London boroughs.
Boroughs such as Hackney, Hillingdon and Lambeth are expected to issue council tax bills in excess of £2,000 for the first time.
The total average year-on-year increase in some boroughs - such as Croydon, Havering and Waltham Forest - is expected to exceed £100 once the mayor’s rise is added to the increased council demand, according to research by The Standard.
City Hall says £15 of the mayor’s increase will be given to the Met police, with the £5.13 remainder going to the London Fire Brigade.
The mayor’s precept is lower in the City of London because the council tax paid by its residents helps to fund the City of London Police, not the Met police.
Sir Sadiq has asked the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Met to work on new measures to tackle phone theft, including more enforcement blitzes, pro-active targeting of known offenders and the use of drones.
Police will use e-bikes to pursue suspects in the West End where 40 per cent of all mobile phone thefts occur.
Phone thefts have risen sharply in the capital in recent years, particularly in tourist hotspots. The increase is thought to be driven by growing demand for second-hand phones in the UK and overseas, with many victims never being reunited with their stolen device.
Figures from the Met Police showed a total of 116,655 mobile phones were stolen in the capital in 2024, amounting to 13 phone thefts per hour or 320 each day.
The West End is the worst area in the country for phone thefts, with nearly 18 stolen devices reported each day on Oxford Street.
City Hall said that, if approved, the plans would allow it to offer a record £1.22 billion investment in policing.
This means Londoners could fund the Mayor’s spending budget totalling £1.66 billion. Just over £1 billion would go to policing and crime prevention, £2.9 billion would go to the Home Office, and around £251 million each to Transport for London and the London Fire Brigade.
Sie Sadiq said he was taking the “difficult decision to increase council tax to provide crucial funding for the police.”
He added: “This will help to implement a major crack down on phone theft – with more resources to smash the phone theft gangs – as well as to ensure we can build on the significant progress we’re making to reduce knife crime, gun crime, homicides and burglary in the capital.
“In total, I plan to invest a record-breaking £1.22bn from City Hall on policing so that we can continue building a safer London for everyone.
“I am also delighted that we are moving forward with our plans for the West London Orbital that will improve public transport and deliver economic growth.”
City Hall added that £15 of the council tax rise would generate an extra £60 million for the police to tackle phone theft and enhance neighbourhood policing.
Additional money added to council tax bills by the Mayor is called the GLA (Greater London Authority) precept.
It helps fund services under the Mayor’s responsibility, including the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, and the London Fire Brigade. The precept is collected by London’s boroughs and the Corporation of London.
