Londoners are set to pay average council tax bills of £2,000 per year in almost half of all boroughs, newly released projections have shown.
Residents of band D properties will pay that amount, if not higher, from next month in 15 of the 33 boroughs across the capital.
However, it does vary drastically from area to area - with neighbouring boroughs sometimes at opposite ends of the table.
London Councils, the cross-party body representing the capital’s boroughs, said after the budget earlier this month that they were continuing to face a “relentless squeeze”.
The group’s Labour deputy chair, Claire Holland, said: “Overall, we are left with little short-term relief and certainly no long-term solutions to the crisis in council finances.
“The fundamental factors driving this are the fast-rising levels of demand for services and the substantially reduced levels of resources available to us. Boroughs will continue to call for urgent reform of the local government funding system.”
The Government has said that it “recognises councils are facing challenges”, adding: “That is why we announced an additional £600 million support package for councils across England, increasing their overall funding for the upcoming financial year to £64.7 billion — a 7.5 per cent increase in cash terms.”
Here is where householders will be paying the most and least council tax across London.
Which London borough has the highest rate of council tax?
The highest is Kingston in south west London, charging £2,374.32, followed by Croydon (£2,366.91) and Harrow (£2,286.32).
Kingston’s Liberal Democrat leader Andreas Kirsch said his council was “working harder than ever to find even more cost-effective ways of providing the best possible services to residents”.
Eight boroughs were already charging Band D households — used as the benchmark to compare council tax rates — above £2,000: Bexley, Croydon, Harrow, Havering, Kingston, Richmond, Sutton and Waltham Forest.
They have now been joined by residents in Barking and Dagenham, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Lewisham and Redbridge.
Which London borough has the lowest rate of council tax?
The cheapest will be found in Wandsworth, which has frozen its portion of council tax, leaving residents with a standard bill of £961.14.
The second-cheapest Band D bills will be in Westminster (£973.16), followed by Hammersmith and Fulham (£1,386.77).
