Band D in Ealing is £2,138.53 for 2026/27, up £97.51. Every band A to H, the four things the GLA takes, and why Harrow charges £372.54 more than Ealing does.

A band D home in the Ealing borough is billed £2,138.53 for 2026 to 2027. The council keeps £1,628.02 of it. The other £510.51 goes to the Greater London Authority, and only £22.44 of that is City Hall itself.

The bill went up £97.51, or 4.78 per cent, on last year’s £2,041.02.

This page covers:

  • the full band A to H table for 2026/27, and who takes what
  • what a band D bill really buys, once the levies come off the top
  • how Ealing compares with the five boroughs on its boundaries
  • how to check and challenge your band
  • the discounts, and the empty property premiums that run to 400 per cent

Council tax bands in Ealing, 2026/27

Every figure here is Ealing Council’s own published table for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.

Band 1991 property value Greater London Authority Ealing Council Total 2026/27
A Up to £40,000 £340.34 £1,085.35 £1,425.69
B £40,000 to £52,000 £397.06 £1,266.23 £1,663.29
C £52,000 to £68,000 £453.79 £1,447.13 £1,900.92
D £68,000 to £88,000 £510.51 £1,628.02 £2,138.53
E £88,000 to £120,000 £623.96 £1,989.81 £2,613.77
F £120,000 to £160,000 £737.40 £2,351.58 £3,088.98
G £160,000 to £320,000 £850.85 £2,713.37 £3,564.22
H More than £320,000 £1,021.02 £3,256.04 £4,277.06

Each column adds up exactly. Source: Ealing Council, Council tax bands 2026 to 2027.

Ealing is a London borough, so there is no parish or town council precept anywhere in it, and no police or fire line on the bill. The Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade are both funded inside the GLA share.

The bands themselves are based on what a property would have sold for on 1 April 1991, even if it was built last year.

What went up, and by how much

Two separate decisions produced this year’s rise.

Ealing Council put its own share up 4.99 per cent, from £1,550.64 to £1,628.02 at band D, an increase of £77.38. That is made of two parts: a general increase of 2.99 per cent and an adult social care precept of 2.00 per cent, worth £31.01 at band D. Ealing’s council tax requirement rose from £192.984m to £204.509m, and its tax base from 124,454.4 to 125,617.9 band D equivalent properties.

The Mayor of London put the GLA share up £20.13, from £490.38 to £510.51, which is 4.11 per cent. All of it went to two of the four components:

GLA band D 2025/26 Change 2026/27
Metropolitan Police (MOPAC) £319.13 +£15.00 £334.13
London Fire Brigade £71.72 +£5.13 £76.85
Greater London Authority £22.44 £0.00 £22.44
Transport for London £77.09 £0.00 £77.09
Total £490.38 +£20.13 £510.51

Transport for London’s share and City Hall’s own share were both frozen. The whole increase funds the Met and the fire brigade.

Source: Ealing Council, Your council tax, a guide to what it pays for 2026/27.

Where a band D bill really goes

The headline split is that Ealing keeps 76.1 per cent and the GLA takes 23.9 per cent. That undersells how much of Ealing’s share is spoken for before the council spends anything.

Band D equivalent Share of bill
Ealing services £1,353.24 63.3%
West London Waste Authority levy £130.35 6.1%
Concessionary fares levy £132.07 6.2%
Other levies £12.36 0.6%
Ealing’s share £1,628.02 76.1%
GLA share £510.51 23.9%
Total £2,138.53 100%

£274.78 of a band D bill is levies, paid out to other bodies. The two big ones are waste disposal and the Freedom Pass. Only £1,353.24, 63.3 per cent, funds Ealing Council’s own services.

Across the whole borough, council tax payers provide £204.509m of a gross budget of £1.233bn, which is 16.6 per cent of the council’s income. The single largest income line is the Dedicated Schools Grant at £482.683m. The single largest spending line is children’s services at £539.336m gross, 43.7p in every pound.

Source: Ealing Council’s 2026/27 council tax guide, Tables 1, 2 and 3.

How Ealing compares with the boroughs next door

Ealing sits 17th of the 20 outer London boroughs on band D, and £140.88 below the outer London average of £2,279.41. It is £252.99 below the England average of £2,391.52.

But the borough shares boundaries with five others, and the gaps between them are large enough to notice.

Band D council tax in Ealing compared with its neighbouring boroughs for 2026/27. Harrow is £372.54 dearer, Brent £96.74 dearer, Hounslow £47.03 dearer, Hillingdon £93.07 cheaper and Hammersmith and Fulham £619.02 cheaper.

Borough Band D 2026/27 Difference from Ealing
Harrow £2,511.07 +£372.54
Brent £2,235.27 +£96.74
Hounslow £2,185.56 +£47.03
Ealing £2,138.53 the borough itself
Hillingdon £2,045.46 −£93.07
Hammersmith and Fulham £1,519.51 −£619.02

The eastern boundary is the striking one. Cross from East Acton or Park Royal into Hammersmith and Fulham and the same band D property is billed £619.02 less a year, on identical GLA precepts. Go north from Northolt or Greenford into Harrow and it is £372.54 more.

Figures from MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027, Table 10, using the area average band D that includes every precept. That is the only column comparable between authorities.

How to check and challenge your band

Your band is set by the Valuation Office Agency, not by Ealing Council, and the council cannot change it.

  • Check your band on GOV.UK. It lists every property in England and Wales.
  • Challenge your band through GOV.UK’s challenge service. You need grounds, not just a view that the band is high. The usual ones are that the property has changed, that similar properties nearby are in a lower band, or that you have become the taxpayer within the last six months.
  • Ask for a property to be removed from the list if it is derelict or being structurally altered so that no part of it is habitable, via GOV.UK.

Ealing will also, for a fee of £25 plus VAT, look up its own records for a property’s value as at 1 April 1973, if you submit an online request.

Two warnings before you challenge. A revaluation can move a band up as well as down. And you must keep paying the bill you have while the challenge is considered.

Source: Ealing Council, Council tax bands.

Discounts and reductions

Sole adult discount, 25 per cent

If you are the only adult living in the property, the bill is cut by 25 per cent. It also applies where there are two adults but one of them is disregarded, for example a full-time student or a live-in carer.

Apply through My Account. The council aims to answer within 10 working days, and it warns that a late claim may not be backdated because it may not be able to prove who lived there before.

Council tax reduction

Ealing’s scheme for working-age residents is banded on income rather than means-tested case by case.

  • Savings above £6,000 disqualify you outright.
  • Most households can get up to 80 per cent off.
  • Some can get up to 100 per cent off: single parents with a child under five, people on Carer’s Allowance, PIP, DLA, Attendance Allowance or ESA, people on Universal Credit with limited capability for work or a disabled child or carer element, care leavers under 25, and recipients of Armed Forces Independence Payment.

The lowest income band for 2026/27 runs to £154.18 a week. In that band a protected household pays nothing, and a non-protected household pays 20 per cent of its bill. The awards then step down through eight bands as income rises.

Pension-age council tax reduction is a national scheme set by Parliament, not by Ealing.

Source: Ealing Council, Council tax reduction scheme and its 2026/27 calculation table.

Empty and second homes: the premiums are steep

Ealing charges a premium on properties that sit empty, and the discount for a genuine void is unusually short.

Situation Charge
Unoccupied and unfurnished, first 14 days 100% discount
Unoccupied and unfurnished, up to 1 year 100% of the normal bill
Empty between 1 and 5 years 200% of the normal bill
Empty between 5 and 10 years 300%
Empty over 10 years 400%
Second home or furnished but empty, including short lets 200%

That 14-day window is the one to watch. It runs from the date the property first became unoccupied and unfurnished, not from the date you bought it, so buying an already-empty house does not restart it. A temporary period of occupation of less than six weeks is disregarded when working out when it first became empty.

There are exceptions to the premium, set nationally. They include:

  • homes actively marketed for sale, for 12 months
  • homes actively marketed for let, for 12 months
  • annexes forming part of the main dwelling
  • homes that would be a main residence but for job-related armed forces accommodation
  • properties within 12 months of a grant of probate
  • empty homes requiring or undergoing major repairs or structural alteration, for 12 months You have to claim them, with evidence, to revenuesscanning@ealing.gov.uk, and you must keep paying in full while the claim is checked.

Source: Ealing Council, Empty properties, unoccupied properties and second homes.

Paying, and what happens if you do not

Instalments are due by the first of the month unless you pay by direct debit and have picked another date. You can spread the bill over 12 instalments instead of 10 by asking through My Account.

Miss a payment and you get a reminder. Fail to pay within seven days of it, or pay late more than twice in the year, and you lose the right to instalments and the whole year’s balance becomes due.

If you are getting a discount, exemption or disabled reduction and your circumstances change, you must tell the council within 21 days or you can be fined.

Ealing points people in difficulty to StepChange, free on 0800 138 1111, and asks that you mention the council referred you.

Source: Ealing Council, Your council tax bill explained.

Frequently asked questions

How much is council tax in Ealing for 2026/27?

Band D is £2,138.53. Band A is £1,425.69 and band H is £4,277.06. Ealing Council keeps £1,628.02 of a band D bill and the Greater London Authority takes £510.51.

How much has Ealing council tax gone up?

£97.51 at band D, or 4.78 per cent. Ealing’s own share rose 4.99 per cent, made of a 2.99 per cent general increase and a 2.00 per cent adult social care precept. The GLA share rose £20.13.

Does Ealing have a police and fire precept on the bill?

Not as separate lines. The Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade are funded from the GLA share, which takes £334.13 and £76.85 at band D respectively.

Is council tax cheaper in Ealing than in neighbouring boroughs?

It depends which boundary. Ealing is cheaper than Harrow by £372.54, Brent by £96.74 and Hounslow by £47.03, but dearer than Hillingdon by £93.07 and dearer than Hammersmith and Fulham by £619.02.

How do I get a single person discount in Ealing?

Apply for the sole adult discount through My Account. It cuts the bill by 25 per cent and it also applies if a second adult in the household is disregarded, such as a full-time student.

What does Ealing charge for an empty property?

Nothing for the first 14 days if it is unoccupied and unfurnished, then the full bill for up to a year. After a year the premium starts: 200 per cent of the normal bill up to five years, 300 per cent up to ten years and 400 per cent beyond that. Second homes are charged 200 per cent.

How do I check my council tax band in Ealing?

Look it up on GOV.UK’s council tax band service. Bands are set by the Valuation Office Agency on 1991 values, and Ealing Council cannot change them.

More Ealing local information

Sources

Council tax is set once a year and these are the charges for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. Check your own bill or My Account for what you personally owe.