Band D in Norwich is £2,503.43 this year, and only £315.26 of it stays with the city council. Every band A to H, who takes what, and the 100% support scheme.
Norwich City Council sends the bill and keeps twelve pence of every pound on it. The rest goes to Norfolk County Council and the Police and Crime Commissioner, both of which put their share up by close to five per cent this year while the city council was capped at just under three.
Every figure here was checked on 2 September 2026 against the councils’ own published figures.
Every band, 2026/27
The city is entirely unparished, so there are no parish precepts and these charges apply across the whole city. From the council’s about council tax page:
| Band | 1991 value | 2026/27 | 2025/26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | up to £40,000 | £1,668.95 | £1,594.39 |
| B | £40,001 to £52,000 | £1,947.11 | £1,860.13 |
| C | £52,001 to £68,000 | £2,225.27 | £2,125.86 |
| D | £68,001 to £88,000 | £2,503.43 | £2,391.59 |
| E | £88,001 to £120,000 | £3,059.75 | £2,923.05 |
| F | £120,001 to £160,000 | £3,616.07 | £3,454.52 |
| G | £160,001 to £320,000 | £4,172.38 | £3,985.98 |
| H | above £320,000 | £5,006.86 | £4,783.18 |
A band D bill rose by £111.84, or 4.68%.
One note on the council’s own table: it prints the 2025/26 band D figure as “£2.391.59”, with a full stop where the comma should be. The correct figure is £2,391.59, which is what we have used above, and it is what the band ratios and the precept arithmetic both confirm.
Where the money goes
Three bodies share a Norwich bill. Only one of them is the council that sends it.
| Body | Band D 2026/27 | Band D 2025/26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk County Council | £1,843.38 | £1,755.63 | +4.998% |
| Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk | £344.79 | £329.85 | +4.529% |
| Norwich City Council | £315.26 | £306.11 | +2.99% |
| Total | £2,503.43 | £2,391.59 | +4.68% |
In percentage terms the county council takes 73.6% of the bill, the police 13.8% and the city council 12.6%. The council’s own shorthand is 74p, 14p and 12p in the pound.
Norfolk County Council agreed its 4.998% increase at its meeting on 17 February 2026, deliberately landing just under the government’s 5% referendum threshold. It splits into a 3% general rise, worth £52.65 at band D, and a 2% adult social care precept, worth £35.10. The county’s band D total breaks down as £1,546.74 general and £296.64 adult social care.
The police precept rose from £329.85 to £344.79, a 4.529% increase, as recorded in the council tax resolution Broadland District Council passed on 19 February 2026, which notes the county and police precepts for the whole of Norfolk.
Norwich City Council proposed its own 2.99% rise, from £306 to £315 at band D, in its budget consultation in December 2025. That works out at £358,000 of extra income across the city, and pays for waste and recycling, environmental health and planning.
The way the bill is presented changed this year. The government now requires billing authorities to show the county council’s charge as a single cash figure with a single percentage, rather than splitting out the adult social care precept as a separate line, so your bill will not look the same as last year’s even where the arithmetic has not changed.
Checking and challenging your band
Bands are based on what a property was worth on 1 April 1991, not today. The Valuation Office Agency sets them, not the council.
Check your band on gov.uk. To challenge it you have to fall into one of four situations, and the council is blunt that there are very few others:
- building work has increased the property’s value
- part of the property has been demolished, or the local area has changed in a way that has reduced its value
- the home has been adapted for someone with a disability
- the use of the property has changed, for example from business to residential
Challenges go to the VOA at gov.uk/challenge-council-tax-band, on 03000 501501 or at ctinbox@voa.gov.uk. Making an appeal does not let you stop paying, but a successful one gets you a refund.
Discounts, and the one Norwich still offers
Norwich keeps a council tax reduction scheme worth up to 100%. Its February 2026 budget confirmed the scheme, and the council notes that only a small number of authorities nationally still allow a full 100% reduction for working-age claimants. If you are on the lowest income in Norwich, you can pay nothing at all.
Beyond that:
- single occupancy: 25% off if you live alone
- disabled band reduction: the property is charged as if it were in the band below, and a band A property still qualifies for a reduction
- annexes: 50% off where a related family member occupies the annexe
- exemptions for students in halls, other qualifying students, under-18s, people who are severely mentally impaired, armed forces in MOD accommodation and people with diplomatic privilege
Norwich has also introduced three local discounts of its own: a care leaver discount, a second home discount for people fleeing the fear of violence, and a single person discount equivalent for households taking in a refugee.
Empty homes and second homes are charged more, not less
This is where Norwich is harder than many districts.
- Second homes get no discount at all. A furnished property that is nobody’s main residence pays the full charge.
- Since 1 April 2025, an unoccupied but furnished property attracts a 100% premium as soon as it becomes unoccupied and furnished, however briefly, on top of the standard charge.
- Empty and unfurnished property gets no discount on vacation either. After one year the premium is 100%. After five years it is 200%. After ten years or more it is 300%.
There are mandatory government exceptions to the empty property and second home premiums, in force from 1 April 2025 and not backdatable, and you have to complete an online form to claim one. An annexe used as part of the main dwelling is not subject to the empty property premium, and nor is a home left empty because the owner is living in Ministry of Defence accommodation for work.
The figures on this page come from Norwich City Council’s About your Council Tax 2026-27 booklet and its council tax pages. Payment questions go to revenues@norwich.gov.uk or the payment hotline on 0800 021 7784.
More Norwich local information: bin collection days, parking in Norwich and roadworks and travel.
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