Band D is £2,240.94 in unparished Colchester and £2,412.07 in Wivenhoe. The full A to H table for all 35 charging areas, and where every pound of the bill goes.
A band D home pays £2,240.94 in the unparished part of Colchester this year. The same band D home in Wivenhoe pays £2,412.07, which is £171.13 more, and none of that gap is the city council. It is the town council precept.
Only three of the district’s 35 charging areas pay the floor rate: unparished Colchester City itself, Layer Breton and Layer Marney. Everywhere else adds a parish or town precept on top.
Where your money actually goes
Colchester City Council collects the bill but keeps about a tenth of it. Four bodies charge, and the county council takes nearly three quarters.
| Who charges it | Band D | Share | Change this year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essex County Council | £1,641.96 | 73.3% | up 3.95% |
| Essex Police | £275.31 | 12.3% | up £14.94, 5.74% |
| Colchester City Council | £231.15 | 10.3% | not published |
| Essex County Fire and Rescue Service | £92.52 | 4.1% | up £4.95, 5.65% |
| Total | £2,240.94 | 100% |
The county figure comes from Essex County Council’s own 2026/27 council tax leaflet. The 3.95% rise is made up of a 1.95% general increase and a 2% adult social care precept, and works out at £1.20 a week at band D. Essex was the only top-tier authority in the east of England not to take the full 4.99% it was allowed.
The police and fire figures were approved by the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel and are published by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner. Together they added £19.89 a year, or 38p a week, at band D.
Colchester City Council does not publish its own share anywhere on its website. The £231.15 above is the balance left once the three published precepts are taken off the council’s own band D total. It checks out at every band: at band A, for instance, £1,094.64 plus £183.54 plus £61.68 plus £154.10 comes to £1,493.96, which is exactly what the council charges.
The one council tax document the city council does link from its bill page is a PDF headed “Colchester Borough Council: your council tax for the year ahead”. It covers 2019 to 2020. Ignore it.
Every band, every parish
| Parish or area | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colchester City (unparished) | £1,493.96 | £1,742.95 | £1,991.95 | £2,240.94 | £2,738.93 | £3,236.91 | £3,734.90 | £4,481.88 |
| Abberton & Langenhoe | £1,523.64 | £1,777.58 | £2,031.52 | £2,285.46 | £2,793.34 | £3,301.22 | £3,809.10 | £4,570.92 |
| Aldham | £1,547.62 | £1,805.55 | £2,063.50 | £2,321.43 | £2,837.31 | £3,353.17 | £3,869.05 | £4,642.86 |
| Birch | £1,547.29 | £1,805.17 | £2,063.06 | £2,320.94 | £2,836.71 | £3,352.47 | £3,868.23 | £4,641.88 |
| Boxted | £1,566.54 | £1,827.63 | £2,088.72 | £2,349.81 | £2,871.99 | £3,394.17 | £3,916.35 | £4,699.62 |
| Chappel | £1,560.03 | £1,820.04 | £2,080.05 | £2,340.05 | £2,860.06 | £3,380.07 | £3,900.08 | £4,680.10 |
| Copford | £1,567.29 | £1,828.50 | £2,089.72 | £2,350.93 | £2,873.36 | £3,395.78 | £3,918.22 | £4,701.86 |
| Dedham | £1,525.19 | £1,779.38 | £2,033.59 | £2,287.78 | £2,796.18 | £3,304.57 | £3,812.97 | £4,575.56 |
| East Donyland | £1,583.41 | £1,847.31 | £2,111.22 | £2,375.12 | £2,902.93 | £3,430.73 | £3,958.53 | £4,750.24 |
| East Mersea | £1,533.20 | £1,788.73 | £2,044.27 | £2,299.80 | £2,810.87 | £3,321.93 | £3,833.00 | £4,599.60 |
| Eight Ash Green | £1,539.20 | £1,795.73 | £2,052.27 | £2,308.80 | £2,821.87 | £3,334.93 | £3,848.00 | £4,617.60 |
| Fingringhoe | £1,522.01 | £1,775.67 | £2,029.35 | £2,283.01 | £2,790.35 | £3,297.68 | £3,805.02 | £4,566.02 |
| Fordham | £1,568.77 | £1,830.22 | £2,091.69 | £2,353.15 | £2,876.08 | £3,398.99 | £3,921.92 | £4,706.30 |
| Great Horkesley | £1,531.27 | £1,786.47 | £2,041.69 | £2,296.90 | £2,807.33 | £3,317.74 | £3,828.17 | £4,593.80 |
| Great Tey | £1,533.20 | £1,788.73 | £2,044.27 | £2,299.80 | £2,810.87 | £3,321.93 | £3,833.00 | £4,599.60 |
| Gt & Little Wigborough | £1,515.01 | £1,767.50 | £2,020.01 | £2,272.51 | £2,777.52 | £3,282.51 | £3,787.52 | £4,545.02 |
| Langham | £1,526.77 | £1,781.22 | £2,035.69 | £2,290.15 | £2,799.08 | £3,307.99 | £3,816.92 | £4,580.30 |
| Layer Breton | £1,493.96 | £1,742.95 | £1,991.95 | £2,240.94 | £2,738.93 | £3,236.91 | £3,734.90 | £4,481.88 |
| Layer de la Haye | £1,536.35 | £1,792.40 | £2,048.47 | £2,304.52 | £2,816.64 | £3,328.75 | £3,840.87 | £4,609.04 |
| Layer Marney | £1,493.96 | £1,742.95 | £1,991.95 | £2,240.94 | £2,738.93 | £3,236.91 | £3,734.90 | £4,481.88 |
| Little Horkesley | £1,540.11 | £1,796.79 | £2,053.48 | £2,310.16 | £2,823.53 | £3,336.89 | £3,850.27 | £4,620.32 |
| Marks Tey | £1,551.03 | £1,809.53 | £2,068.04 | £2,326.54 | £2,843.55 | £3,360.55 | £3,877.57 | £4,653.08 |
| Messing cum Inworth | £1,584.55 | £1,848.64 | £2,112.74 | £2,376.83 | £2,905.02 | £3,433.20 | £3,961.38 | £4,753.66 |
| Mount Bures | £1,515.48 | £1,768.06 | £2,020.64 | £2,273.22 | £2,778.38 | £3,283.54 | £3,788.70 | £4,546.44 |
| Myland | £1,505.99 | £1,756.98 | £2,007.99 | £2,258.98 | £2,760.98 | £3,262.97 | £3,764.97 | £4,517.96 |
| Peldon | £1,515.01 | £1,767.50 | £2,020.01 | £2,272.51 | £2,777.52 | £3,282.51 | £3,787.52 | £4,545.02 |
| Salcott | £1,515.01 | £1,767.50 | £2,020.01 | £2,272.51 | £2,777.52 | £3,282.51 | £3,787.52 | £4,545.02 |
| Stanway | £1,552.28 | £1,810.99 | £2,069.71 | £2,328.42 | £2,845.85 | £3,363.27 | £3,880.70 | £4,656.84 |
| Tiptree | £1,569.39 | £1,830.96 | £2,092.53 | £2,354.09 | £2,877.22 | £3,400.35 | £3,923.48 | £4,708.18 |
| Virley | £1,515.01 | £1,767.50 | £2,020.01 | £2,272.51 | £2,777.52 | £3,282.51 | £3,787.52 | £4,545.02 |
| Wakes Colne | £1,533.95 | £1,789.61 | £2,045.27 | £2,300.93 | £2,812.25 | £3,323.56 | £3,834.88 | £4,601.86 |
| West Bergholt | £1,556.03 | £1,815.37 | £2,074.71 | £2,334.05 | £2,852.73 | £3,371.40 | £3,890.08 | £4,668.10 |
| West Mersea | £1,578.14 | £1,841.16 | £2,104.19 | £2,367.21 | £2,893.26 | £3,419.30 | £3,945.35 | £4,734.42 |
| Wivenhoe | £1,608.05 | £1,876.05 | £2,144.07 | £2,412.07 | £2,948.09 | £3,484.10 | £4,020.12 | £4,824.14 |
| Wormingford | £1,534.55 | £1,790.30 | £2,046.07 | £2,301.82 | £2,813.34 | £3,324.85 | £3,836.37 | £4,603.64 |
Source: Colchester City Council, council tax bands and charges. We checked every row against the statutory band ratios. The table is sound: the only differences are single pennies, which is what you get when four separate precepts are each rounded per band before being added together.
The five biggest parish precepts at band D:
- Wivenhoe, £171.13
- Messing cum Inworth, £135.89
- East Donyland, £134.18
- West Mersea, £126.27
- Tiptree, £113.15
Myland is the cheapest parished area in the district at £2,258.98 at band D, an £18.04 precept.
Checking and challenging your band
Colchester City Council does not set bands and cannot change one. That is the Valuation Office Agency’s job.
- Check your band on the VOA’s council tax band search.
- Challenge a band through the VOA, not the council. The council’s own appeal page points there.
- Appeal liability (whether you should be paying at all) in writing to Council Tax, Rowan House, 33 Sheepen Road, Colchester, CO3 3WG. If you are still unhappy you can go to an independent tribunal.
Keep paying while an appeal runs. The council is explicit that “if you choose to appeal you must continue to pay Council Tax until your appeal is complete”.
Discounts
Single person discount is 25% if you are the only adult living in the property as your main home.
Full-time students pay nothing if everybody in the household is one. If one person is not a student, that person pays but can claim a 25% disregard. To count, the course has to run at least a year and involve at least 21 hours of study a week. University of Essex students need their PRID number to apply.
Disregarded people are ignored when the council counts the adults in a home. The list includes student nurses and apprentices, people who are severely mentally impaired, people in long-term hospital or care home residence, people in prison other than for council tax debt, 18 and 19 year olds still in education where child benefit is still paid, and certain carers.
Local Council Tax Support is capped in Colchester. Every working age household has to pay at least 20% of its bill, so the most anyone of working age gets is an 80% reduction. Entitlement is worked out from net weekly household income in six bands, and you must have less than £6,000 in savings. A single person with no children on £125 a week or less gets 80%; on £375.01 a week the support drops to nothing. Pension age support is a separate scheme.
Empty homes and second homes cost more, not less
Colchester charges some of the steepest empty property premiums available.
| Time empty and unfurnished | Premium | What you pay |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 1 year | none | 100% |
| 1 to 5 years | 100% | 200% |
| 5 to 10 years | 200% | 300% |
| 10 years or more | 300% | 400% |
A property empty for a decade in unparished Colchester therefore runs to £8,963.76 a year at band D.
Two traps in the council’s own wording are worth reading twice:
- The 28-day exemption when a property first becomes empty attaches to the property, not the owner. Buy a house that has already been empty 28 days and you are liable for the full charge from day one.
- The clock runs from when the property became empty, not when you bought it. The council’s example: a property empty since 1 April 2023 is charged the premium from 1 April 2024 even if you only bought it in December 2023.
Second homes, meaning furnished properties that are nobody’s sole or main residence, have carried a 100% premium since 1 April 2025, so they pay double.
There are government exceptions to both premiums, covering armed forces accommodation, annexes, properties actively marketed for sale or let for up to 12 months, probate cases, job-related dwellings, caravan pitches and moorings, seasonal homes that cannot legally be lived in year round, and properties undergoing major structural repair for up to 12 months. You have to claim them, with evidence, by emailing the council.
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