Households could be facing much steeper council tax bills next month (Image: GETTY)
Most households in England will be facing the highest possible rise in their council tax bills too. It comes alongside a number of other tax changes, potential benefit cuts and price increases due in April.
For most, the council tax rise will be a 4.99% increase, which has been the government cap for the last three years as councils wanting to go above this would need special permission or a local referendum to do so.
Some councils have increased their bills to this maximum every year since.
However, six areas were granted a special permission this year and will be allowed to increase their bills by up to 10%.
This includes Bradford, with the highest increase, and Newham councils which are due to increase tax bills by up to 9.99% and 8.99% respectively according to the .
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Windsor and Maidenhead have been allowed to raise bills by up to 8.99%, despite asking for a 25% rise.
Somerset, Birmingham and Trafford are due to increase by 7.4%.
Meanwhile Hampshire is reportedly looking to hold a local referendum so it can push forward its 15% increase.
Elsewhere, 88% of England’s upper-tier authorities are due to impose the maximum 4.99% increase next month according to PA.
On the lowest end of the spectrum, Wandsworth, Lincolnshire and Rotherham are due to rise by 2%, 2.99% and 3% respectively, making up the lowest increases in the top-tier councils according to PA.
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Essex, North East Lincolnshire, Doncaster and Derby are also all sticking below 4% for their increases while Kensington & Chelsea, Sunderland and Wiltshire plan raises at 4%, 4.49% and 4.50% respectively.
Torbay, Nottinghamshire, North Lincolnshire, Barnsley, Coventry, South Tyneside, Stockton-on-Tees, Barnet and Warrington creep closer but manage to stay under the maximum 4.99% rises.
A total of 128 top-tier authorities in England will be raising bills by the maximum 4.99% according to PA.
This includes:
- Barking & Dagenham
- Bath & North East Somerset
- Bedford
- Bexley
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Blackpool
- Bolton
- Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole
- Bracknell Forest
- Brent
- Brighton & Hove
- Bristol
- Bromley
- Buckinghamshire
- Bury
- Calderdale
- Cambridgeshire
- Camden
- Central Bedfordshire
- City of London
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West & Chester
- Cornwall
- Croydon
- Cumberland
- Darlington
- Derbyshire
- Devon
- Dorset
- Durham
- Dudley
- Ealing
- East Sussex
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- Enfield
- Gateshead
- Gloucestershire
- Greenwich
- Hackney
- Halton
- Hammersmith & Fulham
- Hampshire at 4.995% specifically
- Haringey
- Harrow
- Hartlepool
- Havering
- Herefordshire
- Hertfordshire
- Hillingdon
- Hounslow
- Hull
- Isle of Wight
- Isles of Scilly
- Islington
- Kingston-upon-Thames
- Kirklees
- Kent
- Knowsley
- Lancashire
- Lambeth
- Leeds
- Leicester
- Leicestershire
- Lewisham
- Liverpool
- Luton
- Manchester
- Medway
- Merton
- Middlesbrough
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Norfolk
- North Northamptonshire
- North Somerset
- North Tyneside
- North Yorkshire
- Northumberland
- Nottingham
- Oldham
- Oxfordshire
- Peterborough
- Plymouth
- Portsmouth
- Reading
- Redbridge
- Redcar & Cleveland
- Richmond-upon-Thames
- Rochdale
- Rutland
- Salford
- Sandwell
- Sefton
- Sheffield
- Shropshire
- Slough
- Solihull
- South Gloucestershire
- Southampton
- Southend-on-Sea
- Southwark
- Staffordshire
- St Helens
- Stockport
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- Sutton
- Swindon
- Tameside
- Telford & Wrekin
- Tower Hamlets
- Thurrock
- Wakefield
- Waltham Forest
- Walsall
- Warwickshire
- West Berkshire
- West Northamptonshire
- West Sussex
- Westminster
- Westmorland & Furness
- Wigan
- Wirral
- Wokingham
- Wolverhampton
- Worcestershire
- York