Guide to council tax 2026/27

Local authority referendums and increases shown on council tax bills

For 2026/27 any increases in the council tax by Basingstoke and Deane or a major preceptor (for example Hampshire County Council, fire and police) that are equal to or more than the relevant referendum threshold set by the Government, will trigger a local referendum.

Authority	2025/26 Band D Council Tax £	2026/27 Band D Council Tax £	Government Referendum Limit	Increase (£)	Increase (%)
Hampshire County Council (including Adult Social Care)	1,609.83	1,690.11	5%	80.28	4.99
Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and Isle of Wight	275.46	290.46	£15.01	15.00	5.45
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council	146.42	151.42	Higher of £5.01 or 3%	5.00	3.41
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority	87.84	92.84	£5.01	5.00	5.69

Please note that for billing purposes only the percentage increase shown on the bill is rounded to one decimal place. For example, 2.99% will be shown as 3.0%.

Next How much is our share of your council tax?

How much is our share of your council tax?

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's share of council tax pays for a range of local services, including recycling and waste collections, community safety, housing services, street cleaning, maintaining the borough’s parks and play areas, environmental health, licensing, leisure activities, sport, culture and the arts.

Households in the borough living in an area without a parish and town council will pay £151.42 council tax at band D for services provided by the borough council - that is 41p per day.

Those living in rural areas may pay an additional sum to cover the services provided by their town or parish council. If this applies to you, details of the amount your parish council required to be raised through council tax will be shown on your bill.

Previous Local authority referendums and increases shown on council tax bills Next Significant investment in frontline services as part of 10p a week council tax rise for 2026/27

Significant investment in frontline services as part of 10p a week council tax rise for 2026/27

Although your council tax is collected by Basingstoke and Deane, the majority of this money goes to other public service providers such as Hampshire County Council, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and Isle of Wight, as well as parish and town councils.

As a result of carefully managing our finances and an established commercial property and cash investment portfolio, which raises more than double the amount of income as council tax to help pay for our services, we are in a position that few other councils are in. This means we are able to invest in our key frontline services that residents value, despite increased costs and demand for our services.

Listening to the priorities of our residents, businesses and partners as part of their feedback, our budget for 2026/2027 provides additional funding building on significant investment in our services over the past two years.

A key focus is extra funding for targeted action to keep streets clean and parks and open spaces looking their best, including a new dedicated jet washing service, following the success of deep cleaning throughout the town centre and other areas around the borough. Other measures include expanding our use of technology to help respond more quickly and deliver a better experience for residents.

To help fund this, our share of your council tax bill will only increase by 10p per week for the average household as part of a balanced package of measures.

To address a projected budget gap of £1.93M by 2029/30, we will continue to look at new ways of raising additional money to help pay for our services.

These measures mean that we are able to continue to invest in communities across the borough and to spend one of the highest amounts per head on services of all districts, despite having one of the lowest council tax levels in Hampshire.

Alongside our budget for everyday services, our capital programme for the next year will see over £21 million allocated for projects to boost the borough’s communities. This includes projects to improve Basingstoke Leisure Park, protect vital homelessness facilities, improve community centres and invest in sports facilities across the borough.

Previous How much is our share of your council tax? Next Spending on our services

Spending on our services

There are reasons other than inflation why our budget, and therefore the amount required from council tax, has to change such as investment in services. For 2026/27 our council tax requirement is £10,664,889 and this is broken down as shown below:

2025/26 NET £M	Council Plan Priorities (this includes running costs and charges relating to the use of assets, such as buildings and vehicles used to provide services)	2026/27 NET £M
10.98	A borough where we protect, restore, reconnect and enhance our natural environment	11.22
7.13	A council that delivers high-quality services for our residents	7.61
4.69	A place where people can have pride in their communities and the borough	4.34
27.03	Provision for inflation on services (included in council plan priorities for 2026/27)	27.53
49.83	Net cost of services	50.70
	General income and funding
(15.54)	Net income from our property (mostly in rents from commercial buildings)	(15.79)
(6.44)	The interest we get from our investments	(6.64)
(10.65)	Income from grants and contributions	(9.68)
0.60	Contribution (to)/from reserves (money set aside to pay for future service spending on specific items)	1.12
(7.55)	Removal of charges relating to the use of assets, such as buildings and vehicles used to provide services (as these are not charged to council tax)	(9.25)
10.25	Council Tax requirement	10.66

Previous Significant investment in frontline services as part of 10p a week council tax rise for 2026/27 Next Where do we get the money from to fund the services?

Where do we get the money from to fund the services?

The services we provide for the borough are not just paid for by council tax. The total funding is shown below:

Graph showing total spend for council tax 2024/25

Previous Spending on our services Next What this means for a band D council tax payer

What this means for a band D council tax payer

Most of the information given in this guide refers to Council Tax in a band D property in an area without a parish or town council. The total charge for the borough council for a band D Council Tax payer is shown below:

2025/26	Charges	2026/27
£2,009.81	Gross expenditure on services	£1,990.27
(£1,863.39)	Less: income and use of reserves	(£1,838.85)
£146.42	Council Tax requirement (met by Council Tax payers)	£151.42

To find out your Council Tax charge for this year and for previous years visit our webpage

Previous Where do we get the money from to fund the services? Next Capital spending

Capital spending

As well as day-to-day costs, the council also spends money on assets with a lasting value (for example, new buildings, major maintenance work and vehicles). This is known as capital spending.

The table below shows planned expenditure on major schemes included in the council’s capital programme for 2026/27. This investment will create new facilities or improve, or look after, existing ones for the people of the borough.

Capital schemes 2026/27	£M
Allotment Improvements	0.29
Basing View 5G Living Lab	0.62
Basing View Car Parks	0.12
Community Facilities	1.74
Community Infrastructure Fund	0.75
Digital and Transformation	0.30
Environmental and Sustainability	0.42
Home Improvement Financial Assistance	1.94
Investment Property	2.66
Leisure Park Redevelopment	1.50
Low Cost Home Ownership Scheme	0.16
Manydown	0.68
May Place	1.08
Open Space Improvements	0.50
Operational Land and Buildings	1.18
Operational IT, Vehicles, Plant and Equipment	1.35
Parking Improvements	0.85
Play Area Improvements	0.48
Sports Facilities	0.70
The Anvil and Haymarket	0.70
Waste Collection	3.00
Waste Water Treatment Works	0.22
Other schemes (under £0.20M)	0.43
Total	21.67

Previous What this means for a band D council tax payer Next Want to know more?

Want to know more?

If you want to find out more about the council's plans and finances, all are available on our website, by selecting the links below:

The Council Plan - outlining the council's future priorities and plans
The Medium Term Financial Strategy - how the council plans to use its resources to support the Council Plan priorities and plans
The Statement of Accounts - detailing our past financial performance

You can request copies by: