Norfolk council tax bands 2026-27: what each district charges

Which Norfolk district you move to changes a Band D council tax bill by less than £200 a year. For 2026-27, before parish precepts, Band D runs from £2,311.65 in Breckland to £2,503.43 in Norwich, a gap of £191.78. The parish or town council can add more than that on its own. In Fakenham it adds £318.90. So when you compare two houses, look up the bill for each address, not the district.

The figures on this page cover bills from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. The councils set the 2027-28 charges in February 2027. Band D is the usual comparison point; most Norfolk homes are in a lower band and pay less. Council tax is one of the bills to set up in your first weeks, and our moving to Norfolk checklist covers the others.

For 2026-27, Norfolk County Council raised its Band D charge by 4.998%, or £87.75, to £1,843.38. Of that rise, £35.10 is the 2% adult social care precept. The Police and Crime Commissioner’s share rose 4.53%, or £14.94, to £344.79. The district shares barely moved. Broadland kept its share at £134.91. Norwich raised its share 2.99% to £315.26, adding £9.15, and the other five districts added about £5 each. For a home with no parish precept, Band D went up by between £102.69 in Broadland and £111.84 in Norwich.

What the bill pays for

Council tax is charged on homes, according to the valuation band. Your district council collects one bill and passes most of it on.

Norfolk County Council takes the largest part, £1,843.38 at Band D. It runs schools, roads, social care, libraries and the fire service. Norfolk Fire and Rescue is paid for from the county’s share, so there is no separate fire line on a Norfolk bill. Counties with a separate fire authority show one.

The Police and Crime Commissioner takes £344.79 at Band D. The district council’s own share pays for bins, planning, housing and environmental health, and ranges from £123.48 in Breckland to £315.26 in Norwich. Norwich City Council’s leaflet puts it plainly: of every pound it collects, it keeps 12p, the county gets 74p and the police 14p.

Most addresses outside Norwich also pay a parish or town council precept. It pays for village halls, playing fields, allotments and, in some places, street lighting.

Valuation bands

Bands are based on what a home would have been worth on 1 April 1991. The thresholds are: Band A up to £40,000, Band B £40,001 to £52,000, Band C £52,001 to £68,000, Band D £68,001 to £88,000, Band E £88,001 to £120,000, Band F £120,001 to £160,000, Band G £160,001 to £320,000 and Band H over £320,000.

Each band pays a fixed fraction of Band D. Band A pays six-ninths, B seven-ninths and C eight-ninths. Band E pays 11/9ths, F 13/9ths, G 15/9ths and H twice the Band D rate. On Breckland’s £2,311.65 Band D, a Band A home pays about £1,541 and a Band H home about £4,623.

Norfolk’s homes sit lower in the bands than England’s. The Valuation Office Agency counted 448,150 homes in the county in March 2025. Three in four (74.6%) were in Bands A to C, against 65.2% across England. Band B was the most common, and only 13.1% were in Band D.

The seven districts

The Band D figures below include the county, police and district shares. They leave out parish and town council precepts, which depend on the address. Our methodology page explains how we source figures like these.

Norwich City Council

Band D for 2026-27 is £2,503.43, the highest in Norfolk. It is also the whole bill: Norwich has no parish councils, so nothing is added.

Norwich has the largest district share in the county, £315.26, but the smallest homes. Four in ten are in Band A, which pays £1,668.95. Several suburbs people think of as Norwich are in other districts: Sprowston, Hellesdon and Thorpe St Andrew are in Broadland, and Costessey and Cringleford in South Norfolk.

Broadland District Council

Band D for 2026-27 is £2,323.08 before parish precepts, the second lowest in the county, and it rose less than anywhere else because Broadland froze its own share.

Broadland covers the north and east side of Norwich and out towards the Broads, including Thorpe St Andrew, Sprowston, Aylsham and Wroxham. Parish precepts here range from nothing to £227.68 in Aylsham, which has the highest Band D in the district at £2,550.76. Thorpe St Andrew pays £2,449.89 and Sprowston £2,466.51.

South Norfolk Council

Band D for 2026-27 is £2,368.17 before parish precepts, of which South Norfolk’s own share is £180.00. The average parish or town council adds £114.56 on top.

The district runs south and south-west of Norwich and includes Wymondham, Diss, Hethersett and Long Stratton. Diss has the highest Band D in South Norfolk, £2,624.36. Wymondham pays £2,482.42 and Hethersett £2,464.23.

North Norfolk District Council

Band D for 2026-27 is £2,366.82 before parish precepts.

The district covers most of the north coast and the country behind it, including Cromer, Sheringham, Holt and Fakenham. Fakenham has the highest Band D in the district, £2,685.72. Cromer pays £2,482.56 and Holt £2,478.13. Since 1 April 2025 North Norfolk has charged double council tax on furnished second homes.

Breckland Council

Band D for 2026-27 is £2,311.65 before parish precepts, the lowest in Norfolk. Breckland’s own share is £123.48, up £4.95.

The district covers central and south-west Norfolk, including Thetford, Dereham, Attleborough, Swaffham and Watton. The towns pay much more. Dereham pays £2,523.24 at Band D, the highest in Breckland, and Swaffham £2,514.19, both more than a Band D home in Norwich.

King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council

Band D for 2026-27 is £2,345.61 before parish precepts and special expenses. The borough’s average Band D bill, with those included, is £2,430.13.

King’s Lynn is the main town, and the borough also includes Hunstanton and Downham Market. Of the borough council’s £157.44 Band D share, £67.54 goes to the internal drainage boards, which manage water levels on the low-lying land. Hunstanton pays £2,458.93 at Band D. West Norfolk’s road and rail links run west, to Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands. The borough has charged double council tax on second homes since 1 April 2025.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council

Band D for 2026-27 is £2,386.42 before parish precepts. The borough raised its share by 2.99% to £198.25.

The borough covers Great Yarmouth, Gorleston-on-Sea, Caister-on-Sea and the villages around them. Parish precepts are small here, £27.99 on average, and unparished areas such as Gorleston pay none.

Parish and town council precepts

The precept is what separates two addresses in the same district. It is usually largest in market towns with an active town council, and several Norfolk towns pay more than a home in Norwich. Three Band D bills for 2026-27 show the range.

In Norwich, £2,503.43, with no parish precept.

In Wymondham, £2,482.42. South Norfolk’s figure is lower than Norwich’s, and the town council adds £114.25.

In Aylsham, £2,550.76. Broadland’s figure is well below Norwich’s, but the town council adds £227.68, the largest precept in Broadland, and the bill ends up £47.33 above Norwich.

Each district publishes a table of charges by parish, and most have a postcode search on their website. Use it for the exact address.

New-build homes

The Valuation Office Agency bands a new home by estimating what it would have been worth in 1991. The band on a new build can surprise buyers in either direction. If you think it is wrong, you can challenge it with the VOA through GOV.UK. It costs nothing, but the VOA can move the band up as well as down. Norwich City Council’s guidance lists the other grounds for a banding appeal: building work that raises the value, part of the property being demolished, a change in the local area, an adaptation for a disabled person, or a change in how much of the property is used for business.

Second homes and empty homes

Since 1 April 2025, councils in England have been able to charge up to double council tax on furnished homes that nobody lives in as a main home. Norwich, North Norfolk, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk and Great Yarmouth all charge the full 100% premium, and Breckland has charged it since April 2026. Norwich also charges a 100% premium on homes left empty and unfurnished for a year, 200% after five years and 300% after ten. If you are buying a holiday home or a house to renovate before you move in, ask the district what it will charge before you complete.

Discounts and reductions

A single adult living alone gets 25% off the bill. The discount is not automatic: you have to tell the council.

Homes lived in only by full-time students are exempt. Norwich, with the UEA and Norwich University of the Arts, has many of them.

Council Tax Reduction helps people on low incomes or certain benefits. Each district runs its own scheme, so the rules differ across the county.

If a home has been adapted for a disabled person, the bill may be charged at one band lower.

Checking a band

GOV.UK has a free search that shows the band of any home in England. Check it for every house you are serious about. Moving from Band C to Band D adds one-ninth of the Band D figure: £256.85 a year in Breckland and £278.16 in Norwich.

Verdict

Do not choose a district for its council tax. The seven are within £192 of each other at Band D, and the parish precept, the band and the price of the house matter more. The cheapest bills are in parishes that set no precept, where Band D is £2,311.65 in Breckland and £2,323.08 in Broadland. The dearest are in market towns such as Fakenham, Diss and Aylsham. Our Norwich, King’s Lynn and Great Yarmouth guides, and the rest of our town guides, give the Band D figure for each town.

Plan the move

How we produced this guide

District and parish Band D figures are from each council’s published 2026-27 council tax charges or setting papers: Breckland Council (Full Council, 23 February 2026), Broadland District Council (the current charges1 schedule), South Norfolk Council, North Norfolk District Council, the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk’s explanatory note, Great Yarmouth Borough Council and Norwich City Council. The county and police shares, and last year’s figures used to work out the rises, are from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s council tax tables for 2026-27 (Table 10). The number of homes in each band is from the Valuation Office Agency’s Council Tax stock of properties, 31 March 2025. Second-home premiums are from the councils’ own pages. We checked the figures on 24 September 2026. See our methodology page for how we choose sources.