Band D is £2,493.67 before any parish precept, £150 above the England average. Full A to H table, the town adding £198.51, and the support scheme that changed.
A band D home in Northumberland pays £2,493.67 in 2026-27 before any town or parish precept. That is £150.67 above the England average of £2,343 for the same basis, according to MHCLG’s council tax levels release, and £126.83 more than the same house paid last year, a rise of 5.4%.
What almost nobody sees is the parish layer on top. Northumberland has 158 parish areas and the spread between them is £198.51 a year at band D. Two identical band D houses, one in Newbiggin by the Sea and one in Wooler, pay £2,692.18 and £2,545.07.
Everything below is from Northumberland County Council’s own 2026-27 papers, checked on 31 August 2026.
The full band A to H table
These are the charges for the six areas with no parish council. Everywhere else, add the parish figure in the next section.
| Band | County council | Adult social care | Northumbria Police | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,260.25 | £259.31 | £142.89 | £1,662.45 |
| B | £1,470.29 | £302.52 | £166.71 | £1,939.52 |
| C | £1,680.33 | £345.74 | £190.52 | £2,216.59 |
| D | £1,890.37 | £388.96 | £214.34 | £2,493.67 |
| E | £2,310.45 | £475.40 | £261.97 | £3,047.82 |
| F | £2,730.53 | £561.83 | £309.60 | £3,601.96 |
| G | £3,150.62 | £648.27 | £357.23 | £4,156.12 |
| H | £3,780.74 | £777.92 | £428.68 | £4,987.34 |
Source: the council’s council tax charges page and its 2026-2027 financial statement (PDF).
There is no separate fire precept in Northumberland, because the county council runs Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service itself. There is no mayoral precept either. The county is part of the North East Mayoral Combined Authority, but MHCLG’s local authority data records the combined authority’s council tax requirement for 2026-27 as zero.
What went up, and by how much
- County council, including adult social care: £2,171.00 to £2,279.33 at band D, up 4.99%. The adult social care element rose by the full 2% the government allows. The council explains in its financial statement that the 2% is calculated on the whole previous-year charge, not on the previous social care element, so the £43.42 added this year is 2% of £2,171 and takes the social care line from £345.54 to £388.96.
- Northumbria Police: £195.84 to £214.34, up 9.4%. The Police and Crime Commissioner describes this as 36p a week for a band D property and says it raises over £7.9m for antisocial behaviour work, new technology and safeguarding.
The Commissioner also claims in the same statement that this “remains, by far, the lowest precept of any Police and Crime Commissioner in England and Wales”. Checked against MHCLG’s local authority table, that is right. Northumbria’s £214.34 is the lowest of 38 police precepts, and the next lowest, West Midlands, is £244.50. The average across all police authorities is £297.
The county council’s budget requirement for the year is £462.43 million.
The parish layer
Band D totals for the main towns, from the council’s parish and town council precept calculation 2026-2027 (PDF):
| Area | Parish share | Band D total |
|---|---|---|
| Newbiggin by the Sea | £198.51 | £2,692.18 |
| Haltwhistle | £174.42 | £2,668.09 |
| Alnwick | £150.94 | £2,644.61 |
| Hexham | £148.35 | £2,642.02 |
| Berwick-upon-Tweed | £139.95 | £2,633.62 |
| Blyth | £135.32 | £2,628.99 |
| Cramlington | £131.34 | £2,625.01 |
| Morpeth | £128.94 | £2,622.61 |
| Prudhoe | £126.59 | £2,620.26 |
| Ashington | £119.76 | £2,613.43 |
| Rothbury | £104.48 | £2,598.15 |
| Corbridge | £94.24 | £2,587.91 |
| Ponteland | £76.84 | £2,570.51 |
| Wooler | £51.40 | £2,545.07 |
| Akeld, Bewick, Cheviotside, Earle, Ewart and Kilham (no parish council) | £0.00 | £2,493.67 |
The full A to H figures for all 158 areas are in that PDF. To work out any other band, apply the fixed proportions: band A is six ninths of band D, B seven ninths, C eight ninths, E eleven ninths, F thirteen ninths, G fifteen ninths and H eighteen ninths.
A parish precept is not capped by the referendum limit that constrains the county council, which is why the year-on-year changes at this level are so uneven. Comparing the 2025-26 and 2026-27 precept columns in the same PDF:
- Widdrington Village went from £2,750 to £8,642, a rise of 214%
- West Allen went from £1,029 to £1,850, up 80%
- North Sunderland went from £22,000 to £34,000, up 55%
- Wylam went from £57,000 to £88,000, up 54%
- Longframlington went from £13,000 to £20,000, up 54%
A few cut. Melkridge went from £5,500 to £5,000, Widdrington Station and Stobswood from £89,250 to £82,590, and Felton from £35,160 to £32,990.
One parish also carries a special expense. North Sunderland is charged £4,119 for play area inspection and maintenance, because the county council provides there a service that the parish provides elsewhere. It is the only special expense in the county.
How to check and challenge your band
Bands are set by the Valuation Office Agency, part of HMRC, on what the property was worth on 1 April 1991, not today. Homes built later are valued at what they would have been worth then.
| Band | Value on 1 April 1991 |
|---|---|
| A | Up to £40,000 |
| B | £40,001 to £52,000 |
| C | £52,001 to £68,000 |
| D | £68,001 to £88,000 |
| E | £88,001 to £120,000 |
| F | £120,001 to £160,000 |
| G | £160,001 to £320,000 |
| H | Over £320,000 |
Look up your own band free at gov.uk/council-tax-bands, and challenge it through the Valuation Office Agency.
Two things to be clear about before you start. You must keep paying the existing bill while a challenge is running. If it succeeds the council refunds the overpayment. And the VOA only handles the band itself. Arguments about whether you are liable at all, whether a property should be chargeable, a refused discount or exemption, a civil penalty or a council tax support decision go to the Valuation Tribunal Service instead, and only after you have raised it with the council first.
Discounts, and the support scheme that just changed
The standard reductions:
- Single person discount, 25%, if you are the only adult resident. Someone working away whose partner or children remain at home still counts as resident there.
- 50% if every resident adult is disregarded, or 25% if all but one is.
- 50% annexe reduction for an annexe occupied by a relative of the person liable for the main dwelling, on top of any other discount. A single occupant of the main house can hold both the 25% and the 50%.
The bigger change is to Council Tax Support, and it took effect in April 2026. After a public consultation the council replaced its working age scheme with an income banded one. Its own bill leaflet puts the consequence plainly: “You may not receive as much Council Tax Support as you have previously received meaning you may have to pay more Council Tax in 2026-27.”
What the council says the new scheme does:
- a simplified income-based calculation, so the discount stops changing every time income does
- no charges for non-dependants
- the capital limit for working age claimants raised to £8,000
- fewer bills and instalment adjustments through the year
Pension age claimants are not affected. They stay on the national scheme, which can cover up to 100% of the bill, with a capital limit of £16,000, and Second Adult Rebate still applies. Details on the council’s council tax support page, and changes of circumstance must be reported in writing within 21 days.
Empty homes and second homes
Northumberland charges the full premiums the law allows, which matters in a county with a holiday coast.
| Situation | Premium | Total payable |
|---|---|---|
| Second home, furnished, no resident | 100% | 200% |
| Empty and unfurnished 1 to 5 years | 100% | 200% |
| Empty and unfurnished 5 to 10 years | 200% | 300% |
| Empty and unfurnished 10 years or more | 300% | 400% |
The premiums do not apply in nine defined cases, including a home being actively marketed for sale or to let for up to 12 months, an unoccupied property waiting up to 12 months after grant of probate, armed forces job-related accommodation, annexes, occupied caravan pitches and boat moorings, job-related dwellings, and seasonal homes where a planning condition prevents year-round occupation or occupancy for more than 28 days at a time. Evidence may be required. The full list is in the financial statement.
For a property-specific figure the council points to My Place, which returns the charge for a given postcode. Council tax enquiries: 0345 600 6400, Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 5pm and Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm.
Related
- Northumberland house prices: what homes actually sell for now, by postcode district
- Northumberland bin collection days
- Parking in Northumberland
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