Council Tax Statistics

Council Tax Bands

The amount of council tax a local authority has to raise equates to approximately a quarter of its total budget. The remainder of a council's budget is made up of its Revenue Support Grant from Central Government, and income from Business Rates. This requirement is then divided between the taxbase, the number of properties for which council tax is due, to arrive at a Band D council tax figure. All other council tax bands are based upon proportions of this Band D figure as shown in Table 1 below, for example a Band A property is liable for 6/9^th, or two-thirds, of the Band D rate.

The council tax band any one property is allocated is based upon its capital value at 1 April 1991.

Table 1 - Council Tax Bands
These band values do not apply in Wales or Scotland

Band	Property value at 1 April 1991	Proportion of Council Tax Band D rate applicable
A	Up to £40,000	6 / 9th
B	£40,001 - £52,000	7 / 9th
C	£52,001 - £68,000	8 / 9th
D	£68,001 - £88,000	9 / 9th
E	£88,001 - £120,000	11 / 9th
F	£120,001 - £160,000	13 / 9th
G	£160,001 - £320,000	15 / 9th
H	Over £320,001	18 / 9th

More details of the city council's finances and budget are available under the Council and Democracy / Finances section of this site.

Council Tax Bands by Area

Take a look at the the following sections on this site that provide supporting information about the housing stock in Stoke-on-Trent:

Property Prices are posted under the Council and Democracy / Statistics category with information provided by HM Land Registry.

Accommodation Types, Tenure, and Rooms and Amenities are posted under the Council and Democracy / Census 2001 category with information provided by the Office of National Statistics.

As outlined in the sections listed above, Stoke-on-Trent has a relatively high proportion of low value terraced properties compared to the regional and national averages, and a low proportion of high value detached properties. This would indicate that the city would have a high proportion of properties at the lower end of the council tax bands compared with other areas.

Across England 26.1% of properties are defined as Band A compared to 32.9% in the West Midlands and 59.4% in the North East.

In Stoke-on-Trent 63.8% of properties are defined as Band A, only the comparable areas of Hull, South Tyneside and Nottingham are higher, and the cities of Blackburn and Leicester are also over 60%.

By contrast only 22.3% of the properties in the neighbouring borough of Staffordshire Moorlands and 45.4% in Newcastle-under-Lyme are defined as Band A.

94.5% of chargeable dwellings in Stoke-on-Trent are in Bands A to C, the second highest proportion in England after Kingston upon Hull with 96.7%.

At the higher end of the scale 18.2% of properties across England are in Band E or above compared to 12.5% in the West Midlands, 6.0% in the North East, and around 30% in London and the South East.

In Stoke-on-Trent 1.8% of properties are in Band E or above. Only the comparable area of Hull has less (0.8%), however the areas of Leicester, Nottingham, South Tyneside, Gateshead, and Tameside all have less than 4%.

By contrast 15.1% of the properties in the neighbouring borough of Staffordshire Moorlands and 9.2% in Newcastle-under-Lyme are defined as Band E or above.

As outlined in the following section, the effect of this difference in mix between areas has a major impact upon the amount of council tax collected by a local authority.

Discounts

A full list of circumstances in which a discount, or total exemption from council tax, is applicable is available under the Council and Democracy / Council Tax section of this site.

If we consider that a 25% discount is applicable for single adult households, and a 50% discount is applicable if the dwelling is no-one's main home:

The amount of these household 'types' existing in an area will considerably affect the amount of council tax liable for collection. Table 2 shows the potential variability of discounts and exemptions.

Table 2 - Single Adult Households and Vacant Household Spaces - Census 2001

	Single Adult Households(*)	Vacant Household Spaces
England	36.5%	3.2%
West Midlands	35.6%	3.1%
Stoke-on-Trent	39.2%	4.5%
Staffordshire Moorlands	29.4%	3.7%
Manchester	50.2%	9.8%
Brighton and Hove	45.4%	3.0%

(*) Single person households plus lone parent households with dependant children.

Council Tax Benefit

Council tax benefit is received by one-quarter of all households in England and almost 50% of households in Band A. 69% of council tax benefit recipients are also in receipt of Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance.

Analysis of council tax benefits for all local authorities in England and Wales is undertaken by the Information and Analysis Directorate of the Department of Work and Pensions.

Council Tax Comparison

Statistics in this section have been gathered from the the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

Details are shown for 354 local authorities in England for the year 2003/04, details for Scotland and Wales are not directly comparable.

Average council tax per dwelling is before council tax benefit but includes reductions due to discounts.

Amounts shown for council taxes (Band D) are for two adults before council tax benefit or discounts.

Stoke-on-Trent's Band D council tax is £1,029 (322^nd highest in England). Easington in County Durham ranks third with £1,272 and Salford 14^th with £1,237, whilst Windsor and Maidenhead rank 344^th with £977 and Wandsworth 353^rd with £584.

The average council tax collected per dwelling in Stoke-on-Trent is only £666 (351^st highest in England). Richmond upon Thames ranks 1^st with £1,392, whilst Kingston upon Hull ranks 352^nd with £630 and Westminster 353^rd with £598.

The 12.3% rise in council tax, including Police precept, in Stoke-on-Trent (2002 to 2003) was the 199^th highest rise in England. Wandsworth, Westminster, Croydon and Ealing all experienced rises in excess of 25%, whilst Knowsley, North Lincolnshire, Redcar and Cleveland, Wolverhampton, Liverpool and St Helens all experienced rises of less than 4%.

Comparison of average council tax per dwelling and band D council taxes

This measure produces the following variations:

Stoke-on-Trent with figures of £666 and £1,029 produces an index of 64.7% (the 348^th highest in England).

Of other comparable areas Burnley (65.9%), Easington (62.6%), Liverpool (64.4%) and Kingston upon Hull (60.8%) have similar indices, whereas Epsom and Ewell (109.8%), Kensington and Chelsea (113.1%), Richmond upon Thames (109.8%), Windsor and Maidenhead (110.0%) operate at the other end of the spectrum.

The neighbouring boroughs of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands have figures of 74.5% and 81.8% respectively.

This generally gives an indication of the nature of the housing stock and occupancy in a local authority area.

Comparison of Council Tax with gross income statistics (Inland Revenue 2001/02)

This measure gives an indication of the relative burden of council tax by local authority area.

The average council tax per dwelling equates to approximately 5.4% of the median (middle) gross income in Stoke-on-Trent (the 310^th highest proportion in England). This compares to over 7.5% in 31 rural district authorities. A ratio of less than 3% is evident in both Wandsworth and the City of Westminster.

The neighbouring boroughs of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands have figures of 6.0% and 6.4% respectively.

Comparison of Council Tax with average property price (HM Land Registry Oct-Dec 2002)

In Stoke-on-Trent the average council tax per dwelling equates to approximately 1.3% of the average property price (the second highest figure observed in a sample of 116 unitary, metropolitan and London authorities). This compares to less than 0.4% in some London boroughs including Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth, Camden, Hammersmith and Fulham and Islington Only the comparable authority areas of Hartlepool, Blackburn, Middlesbrough and Hull have figures above 1.1% on this measure.

Differential rates of house price increases since the introduction of the current council tax bands, based on 1991 property values largely explain the differences on this measure.

For further information please telephone 01782 232695.