Across England, the average B and D council tax in 2026/27 will be £2,392 – an increase of £111 or 4.9 per cent on 2025-26, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.
The figures include all additional charges, including adult social care, parish precepts and costs levied by police, fire and regional authorities where appropriate.
It is the fourth year in a row that the England-wide increase has averaged around 5 per cent.
Residents in the unitary authority of Dorset face the highest average B and D council tax bill in 2026/27, at £2,765.02, while the London borough of Wandsworth has the lowest, at £1,028.21, the data shows.
These figures include all additional charges that are covered by council tax bills, such as parish precepts and levies for police, fire and regional authorities.
Press Association analysis shows the 19 England-based councils run by the Liberal Democrats, either with majority or minority control, imposed the highest average core council tax increases of 5.17per cent.
The median average increase – or midpoint – for Lib Dem-controlled councils is 4.99 per cent.
By contrast, the mean average increase across the 13 Reform-run councils is 4.15 per cent.
The 78 councils controlled by Labour increased bills by a mean average of 4.79 per cent while the 26 Conservative councils pushed up bills by 4.92 per cent.
Zoe Franklin, Lib Dems’ local government spokesperson, said: “The Liberal Democrats now control more councils than the Conservatives because communities are fed up with being taken for granted.
“In many places we have stepped in to find local finances in a dire state, and are cleaning up after years of Conservative financial mismanagement.
“Labour’s refusal to fix the crisis in social care and slow action on Send funding, emergencies the Conservatives failed to address for a decade, puts the future financial stability of local councils at risk.
“Councils of all parties are being forced to make difficult decisions because of chronic underfunding.
“The Government has got to get serious. Liberal Democrats will continue to press for urgent action to tackle the social care crisis and Send funding, before more councils are pushed to the brink.”