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Exclusive: Wandsworth Council in south London is preparing England’s biggest ever council tax rise, which could be as much as 160 per cent, PoliticsHome understands.
If proposals under internal discussion go ahead, the rise will be much larger than the previous record set by Worcestershire Council last year when the Labour government granted it special permission to introduce a 9 per cent hike.
Wandsworth, which is Conservative-run after Labour lost control in May, currently has one of the lowest council tax rates in the country, with residents paying around 0.1 per cent of the value of the property they live in per year.
However, historically low levels of council tax combined with growing pressure on its finances have forced the council to prepare a record-breaking increase.
London MPs have warned that recent reforms to how central government distributes funding to local authorities will leave councils in the capital like Wandsworth particularly exposed to rising costs.
The government argues that the changes are needed to rebalance funding towards areas with higher deprivation so that it is “truly based on need”. As a result, many London boroughs are set to see their grant funding decrease, with Wandsworth’s projected to fall by around 40 per cent.
Westminster, which like Wandsworth was permitted to raise council tax above five per cent without a referendum for the next two years to raise more revenue, recently warned that it would have to raise council tax by up to 200 per cent to keep spending at current levels.
The Wandsworth tax rise is expected to be implemented in April 2027 if it goes ahead, with the rate then being frozen for the rest of the term, PoliticsHome understands.
Local Conservatives stress that residents in the south London borough would still pay one of the lowest council tax rates in the country even if the unprecedented rise goes ahead.
While Wandsworth council tax could increase by 160 per cent, residents will see a lower overall increase to their bills. This is because around half of their total bill is made up of separate tax that goes to the Mayor of London and isn’t affected by rises introduced by the council.
Both the council and the Conservative Party declined to comment.
Local authorities across the country are grappling with rising costs, driven in large part by spending on vital services including adult social care and homelessness.
A spokesperson for London Councils, which represents local government in the capital, told PoliticsHome “it is now almost impossible” for councillors in London “to protect frontline services for their communities” because “funding from central government remains wholly insufficient to meet these growing demands”.
Wandsworth Labour leader Simon Hogg, who ran the council until May 2026, said: “It beggars belief that Wandsworth Conservatives are planning Britain’s biggest ever council tax increase.”
“The Conservatives are pretending the council has run out of money so they can bring in austerity policies. They’ve already cut domestic abuse services, scrapped the youth bus and axed new council homes for 400 local people,” he told PoliticsHome.
Earlier this year, the council announced cuts to some schemes in a bid to save money, warning that tax would rise by up to 230 per cent without any fall in spending.