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Councils that hit the 4.99% cap in both 2024 and 2025
English councils that hit the 4.99% cap in both 2024-25 and 2025-26
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Out of the 317 councils with rates on record for all three years. 43 went above 4.99% in both years — the group that needed special permission from government to do so.
Ranked by the combined 2-year rise. Every council listed here put Band D up by 4.99% or more in both 2024-25 and 2025-26.
How we got this: we take the 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 Band D rates from GOV.UK, work out each year’s rise rounded to 2 decimal places (to match how councils publish it) and keep the councils where both 2024-25 and 2025-26 rises cleared 4.99%. The combined column multiplies the two rises together — it is not the two yearly rises added up.
Most councils are limited to a Band D rise of 4.99% (a 2.99% basic rise plus a 2% extra charge for adult social care). To go higher, they normally have to hold a local vote. A few councils in serious financial difficulty get special permission from government to go above this limit.
This card shows the councils that raised Band D by 4.99% or more in both 2024-25 AND 2025-26. One big rise can follow a one-off change. Two in a row is a longer-term sign of financial pressure — a pattern you only see by comparing all 317 councils year by year.
Most years, most councils raise Band D by well under the cap. Hitting the highest allowed rise in two years in a row shows the council has little room to manoeuvre — and that each year's rise is sitting on top of an already higher bill.
The other card lists councils that went above 4.99% this year. This one narrows that list to councils that pushed to — or past — the cap in BOTH 2024-25 and 2025-26. That is a longer-term sign of pressure, not a one-year response.
Band D council tax rates for 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 are published on GOV.UK. We work out each year's rise and pick out the councils that cleared 4.99% in both 2024-25 and 2025-26.