Council Tax Across the North East

Council tax, Band D, 2026/27

£2,197–£2,716

Sunderland to Gateshead — find yours by postcode.

Every council in the North East side by side for 2026/27 — what each charges, how much of it is police and fire, and where Middlesbrough actually sits.

Or pick your council

Middlesbrough’s bill is often said to be high.

Every council in the North East, cheapest to dearest

The Band D charge for 2026/27, and roughly what that is a month over 10 instalments. Every other band is a fixed fraction of this: Band A is two-thirds, Band H is double.

#	Council	Band D	A month
1	Sunderland	£2,197.14	£219.71
2	South Tyneside	£2,434.43	£243.44
3	North Tyneside	£2,461.77	£246.18
4	Darlington	£2,493.83	£249.38
5	Newcastle upon Tyne	£2,542.19	£254.22
6	Redcar and Cleveland	£2,544.48	£254.45
7	Middlesbrough	£2,549.16	£254.92
8	Hartlepool	£2,560.20	£256.02
9	Stockton-on-Tees	£2,589.83	£258.98
10	Northumberland	£2,596.94	£259.69
11	County Durham	£2,622.15	£262.22
12	Gateshead	£2,715.81	£271.58

The average across all 12 councils is £2,525.66 at Band D. This is the standard area charge for each council; a few streets pay small extra levies, and your own bill also reflects any discounts or support you receive.

Worth knowing

Why this page says £2,549.16 and the Middlesbrough bill page says £2,548.05

Both are right, and the difference is £1.11 at Band D. The government’s comparison figure averages the parish precepts across the whole borough, because that is the only way to put every council on one line. Most Middlesbrough homes are in the unparished area and pay no parish precept, so their actual Band D is £2,548.05. Homes in Nunthorpe and in Stainton and Thornton pay their parish precept on top. The “What’s My Council Tax?” tool has the exact figures for each.

Every band is a fixed fraction of Band D

Band D is the reference point in law and every other band is a set proportion of it, unchanged since 1993. Band A pays two-thirds of Band D and Band H pays double. That is why one figure per council is enough to work out any band.

The rise this year was the adult social care precept

Middlesbrough’s 2 per cent increase for 2026/27 was entirely the ring-fenced adult social care precept — £41.52 of a Band D bill. The council set no general increase on top of it.

This is the charge, not your bill

What you actually pay depends on your band and on any discount or support you get — a single-person discount takes 25 per cent off, and full-time students and some others are not counted at all. If your household changed, tell the council: it is not applied automatically.

Police and fire

Police and fire are separate bodies with their own budgets. They are billed with your council tax but they are not the council’s money and the council does not set them. Middlesbrough is in the Cleveland force area, so £432.19 of a Band D bill here is Cleveland Police and Cleveland Fire Brigade. Northumbria is £319.45 and Durham £428.86. Northumberland is the odd one out at £214.34 because it runs its own fire and rescue service inside the county council, so its fire cost sits in the council’s share rather than here.

Check your band or see how it’s spent

The government release every figure on this page comes from.: Council tax levels set by local authorities in England, 2026 to 2027

About these tools

Town Tools builds free, public tools for Middlesbrough and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.