Band D in Tonbridge is £2,448.53 in 2026/27, up 3.92%. Full A to H charges for all 28 areas, what each authority takes, and the £74.50 nobody explains.
A band D home in Tonbridge pays £2,448.53 in council tax in 2026/27, up 3.92% on last year’s £2,356.17. Across the borough the band D charge runs from £2,415.40 in West Peckham to £2,553.33 in Wrotham, a gap of £137.93 for the same borough and county services.
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council set the charges at its meeting on 24 February 2026. The full band A to H table is below, taken from the council’s own charges table for 2026 to 2027 and cross-checked against the council tax resolution councillors actually voted on.
What the bill is made of
| Authority | Band D | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kent County Council | £1,758.60 | +3.99% | 71.15% |
| Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent | £285.15 | +5.55% | 11.54% |
| Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council | £230.47 | +3.00% | 9.32% |
| Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority | £99.81 | +5.22% | 4.04% |
| Parish and town councils (average) | £75.62 | +3.21% | 3.06% |
| Borough special expenses (average) | £22.18 | Not published | 0.90% |
| Total (borough average) | £2,471.83 | +4.09% | 100% |
Seven pounds in every ten goes to Kent County Council, and the borough council keeps just over nine pence in the pound. The two authorities that put their charges up most were the police, at 5.55%, and the fire and rescue authority, at 5.22%. The borough’s own increase, 3.00%, works out at £7.35 a year, or £4.85 a week for a band D home.
The £74.50 on a Tonbridge bill that nobody explains
Tonbridge has no parish or town council. Every other part of the borough does, and their precepts appear on the bill as a named line. Tonbridge instead pays the borough council something called special expenses, and the council does not explain what it is anywhere on its council tax pages.
The council tax resolution shows the number. The borough’s basic charge for areas with no special item is £230.47 at band D. For Tonbridge, the borough’s element is £304.97. The difference, £74.50, is Tonbridge’s special expenses charge: the borough recovering the cost of services that parish councils provide for themselves elsewhere.
That is about to change. On the same night it set the tax, the council approved the creation of Tonbridge Town Council, after a community governance review that ran from February 2025 and two public consultations. The detail:
- 18 councillors across six wards: Cage Green and Angel, Higham, Judd, Oast, Trench and Vauxhall
- the change takes effect for electoral purposes ahead of the register published on 1 December 2026
- the parish comes into existence for administrative purposes on 1 April 2027
- the first election is on 6 May 2027, and every four years after that
Full Council has to agree the new town council’s first precept and budget in February 2027. From 2027/28, in other words, a Tonbridge bill will carry a town council line where the special expenses sit now. Whether the total goes up depends on what that precept is set at, and nobody has published a figure.
The borough council itself is abolished on 1 April 2028 and replaced by West Kent Council. The town council outlives it.
Every band, every area
| Part of the borough | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonbridge | £1,632.36 | £1,904.40 | £2,176.47 | £2,448.53 | £2,992.66 | £3,536.76 | £4,080.89 | £4,897.06 |
| Addington | £1,640.40 | £1,913.79 | £2,187.20 | £2,460.60 | £3,007.41 | £3,554.20 | £4,101.00 | £4,921.20 |
| Aylesford | £1,634.47 | £1,906.87 | £2,179.29 | £2,451.70 | £2,996.53 | £3,541.34 | £4,086.17 | £4,903.40 |
| Birling | £1,636.94 | £1,909.75 | £2,182.58 | £2,455.40 | £3,001.05 | £3,546.68 | £4,092.34 | £4,910.80 |
| Borough Green | £1,694.62 | £1,977.04 | £2,259.49 | £2,541.92 | £3,106.80 | £3,671.66 | £4,236.54 | £5,083.84 |
| Burham | £1,627.86 | £1,899.16 | £2,170.48 | £2,441.79 | £2,984.42 | £3,527.03 | £4,069.65 | £4,883.58 |
| Ditton | £1,693.55 | £1,975.80 | £2,258.07 | £2,540.33 | £3,104.86 | £3,669.37 | £4,233.88 | £5,080.66 |
| East Malling & Larkfield | £1,653.98 | £1,929.63 | £2,205.30 | £2,480.96 | £3,032.29 | £3,583.60 | £4,134.94 | £4,961.92 |
| East Peckham | £1,673.19 | £1,952.04 | £2,230.91 | £2,509.78 | £3,067.52 | £3,625.23 | £4,182.97 | £5,019.56 |
| Hadlow | £1,662.54 | £1,939.62 | £2,216.72 | £2,493.81 | £3,048.00 | £3,602.17 | £4,156.35 | £4,987.62 |
| Hildenborough | £1,626.22 | £1,897.24 | £2,168.29 | £2,439.32 | £2,981.40 | £3,523.46 | £4,065.54 | £4,878.64 |
| Ightham | £1,660.66 | £1,937.42 | £2,214.21 | £2,490.98 | £3,044.54 | £3,598.08 | £4,151.64 | £4,981.96 |
| Kings Hill | £1,650.75 | £1,925.86 | £2,201.00 | £2,476.12 | £3,026.38 | £3,576.61 | £4,126.87 | £4,952.24 |
| Leybourne | £1,650.95 | £1,926.08 | £2,201.25 | £2,476.41 | £3,026.74 | £3,577.03 | £4,127.36 | £4,952.82 |
| Mereworth | £1,657.49 | £1,933.74 | £2,209.99 | £2,486.24 | £3,038.74 | £3,591.23 | £4,143.73 | £4,972.48 |
| Offham | £1,641.12 | £1,914.62 | £2,188.15 | £2,461.67 | £3,008.72 | £3,555.74 | £4,102.79 | £4,923.34 |
| Platt | £1,643.07 | £1,916.89 | £2,190.75 | £2,464.59 | £3,012.29 | £3,559.96 | £4,107.66 | £4,929.18 |
| Plaxtol | £1,650.67 | £1,925.77 | £2,200.89 | £2,476.00 | £3,026.23 | £3,576.44 | £4,126.67 | £4,952.00 |
| Ryarsh | £1,635.86 | £1,908.49 | £2,181.14 | £2,453.78 | £2,999.07 | £3,544.34 | £4,089.64 | £4,907.56 |
| Shipbourne | £1,625.34 | £1,896.21 | £2,167.11 | £2,438.00 | £2,979.79 | £3,521.55 | £4,063.34 | £4,876.00 |
| Snodland | £1,645.95 | £1,920.25 | £2,194.59 | £2,468.91 | £3,017.57 | £3,566.20 | £4,114.86 | £4,937.82 |
| Stansted | £1,622.82 | £1,893.28 | £2,163.76 | £2,434.23 | £2,975.18 | £3,516.11 | £4,057.05 | £4,868.46 |
| Trottiscliffe | £1,665.79 | £1,943.41 | £2,221.05 | £2,498.68 | £3,053.95 | £3,609.20 | £4,164.47 | £4,997.36 |
| Wateringbury | £1,688.93 | £1,970.41 | £2,251.91 | £2,533.39 | £3,096.37 | £3,659.34 | £4,222.32 | £5,066.78 |
| West Malling | £1,674.35 | £1,953.40 | £2,232.47 | £2,511.53 | £3,069.66 | £3,627.77 | £4,185.88 | £5,023.06 |
| West Peckham | £1,610.27 | £1,878.64 | £2,147.02 | £2,415.40 | £2,952.16 | £3,488.91 | £4,025.67 | £4,830.80 |
| Wouldham | £1,622.44 | £1,892.83 | £2,163.25 | £2,433.65 | £2,974.47 | £3,515.26 | £4,056.09 | £4,867.30 |
| Wrotham | £1,702.22 | £1,985.92 | £2,269.63 | £2,553.33 | £3,120.74 | £3,688.14 | £4,255.55 | £5,106.66 |
Every area’s band D charge rose by more than 3.8%. Offham rose most, by 4.94%, and Tonbridge and Kings Hill least, by 3.92% and 3.88%. The spread between areas is almost entirely the parish precept: strip out the £230.47 borough charge and Wrotham’s parish takes £179.30 at band D while West Peckham’s takes £41.37.
The four largest parish and town councils publish summarised budgets alongside the tax table. Their band D precepts for 2026/27 are Ditton £165.77, Borough Green £156.46, East Peckham £135.23 and East Malling and Larkfield £101.34.
Checking and challenging your band
Bands are set by the Valuation Office Agency, not the council, and they are still based on what the property was worth on 1 April 1991.
| Band | 1991 value | Band | 1991 value |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Up to £40,000 | E | £88,001 to £120,000 |
| B | £40,001 to £52,000 | F | £120,001 to £160,000 |
| C | £52,001 to £68,000 | G | £160,001 to £320,000 |
| D | £68,001 to £88,000 | H | Over £320,000 |
Check your own band on the VOA’s council tax band lookup. If you think it is too high, contact the Valuation Office Agency rather than the council, which cannot change a band until the VOA tells it to. Keep paying while the challenge runs. If it succeeds, the council refunds the overpayment. If your bill is wrong for some other reason, take it up with the council first and then, if it is not resolved, with the independent Valuation Tribunal.
Discounts, premiums and support
- Single adult: 25% off. The bill assumes two adults. Some people are not counted at all, including full-time students, the severely mentally impaired and school leavers. If nobody in the property is counted, the discount is 50%.
- Empty, uninhabitable and second homes get nothing. No discount at all.
- Empty for a year: a premium on top. Second homes attract a 100% premium from the date they stop being occupied.
- Adapted for a disabled person: a reduced bill. Ask the council.
- Exemptions cover properties occupied only by students, by under-18s or by the severely mentally impaired.
Council tax reduction is for people on a low income with under £16,000 in savings. If your savings are above that, there is a separate second adult rebate for people of state pension age who live with someone on a low income. Both are applied for through the council’s reduction scheme.
Two things the council makes a point of. If you already have a discount you must report any change of circumstances within 21 days, and there is a £70 penalty for not doing so. And it warns that people have been cold-called by companies claiming to represent the council and asking for bank details; the council never asks for payment or personal details that way.
Related
- Tonbridge bin collection days: what the borough’s share of the bill actually buys.
- Parking in Tonbridge: tariffs, permits and the free car parks.
- West Kent Council: the authority that replaces the borough in 2028.
- Tonbridge roadworks and travel.
Sources
- Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, council tax charges 2026 to 2027, and the three documents behind it: the band A to H charges table, the overall requirement and the supplementary information that forms part of the bill.
- Parish precepts over £140,000, 2026/27.
- Council tax charges 2025 to 2026, for the year-on-year comparison.
- Council Tax Resolution 2026/27, Full Council, 24 February 2026, for the borough and parish element by area.
- Tonbridge Community Governance Review and the meeting record, for the town council decision.
- Council tax levels confirmed for 2026-2027 and the council tax reduction scheme.
Last checked 30 August 2026. Charges are for the year beginning 1 April 2026. Your own bill depends on your band, your address and any discount you claim.
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