The full A to H table for 2026/27, and the £79.85 band D gap between the Southwark and Lambeth sides of Dulwich. Plus where the £89.36 rise actually went.
Dulwich sits on a borough boundary, and the boundary is worth £79.85 a year at band D. Dulwich Village and East Dulwich are Southwark. West Dulwich and the western half of Herne Hill are Lambeth, and Lambeth charges more in every band.
Below are both full A to H tables for 2026/27, where the increase actually went, and how Southwark compares with the other 32 London boroughs.
The quick answer
- Southwark band D: £1,967.26. Up £89.36 on last year.
- Lambeth band D: £2,047.11. Up £93.16.
- Southwark’s own share rose 4.99%: 2.99% core plus the 2% adult social care precept.
- The GLA share rose £20.13 to £510.51. Almost all of that is the Met Police and the fire brigade. Transport for London’s share did not move.
- Southwark is 26th of 33 London billing authorities, so eighth cheapest, and £100.74 below the London average.
- Check your band at gov.uk. The Valuation Office Agency sets it, not the council.
Which council bills you
- Southwark: Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, Nunhead, Peckham, Camberwell, Denmark Hill and the eastern half of Herne Hill.
- Lambeth: West Dulwich, including Turney Road, Rosendale Road and Thurlow Park Road, and the Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction side of SE24.
SE21 and SE24 both straddle the line, so the postcode district is no guide. SE21 7AD in the Village is Southwark; SE21 8HX and SE21 8LX in West Dulwich are Lambeth. SE24 9HU is Southwark; SE24 0NG is Lambeth. Neither borough has a parish or town council, so there is no parish precept on top in either.
Southwark: the full band table for 2026/27
For 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, from Southwark’s bands and charges page.
| Band | Value on 1 April 1991 | Southwark | GLA | Total | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | up to £40,000 | £971.17 | £340.34 | £1,311.51 | +£59.58 |
| B | £40,001 to £52,000 | £1,133.03 | £397.06 | £1,530.09 | +£69.50 |
| C | £52,001 to £68,000 | £1,294.89 | £453.79 | £1,748.68 | +£79.44 |
| D | £68,001 to £88,000 | £1,456.75 | £510.51 | £1,967.26 | +£89.36 |
| E | £88,001 to £120,000 | £1,780.47 | £623.96 | £2,404.43 | +£109.22 |
| F | £120,001 to £160,000 | £2,104.19 | £737.40 | £2,841.59 | +£129.06 |
| G | £160,001 to £320,000 | £2,427.92 | £850.85 | £3,278.77 | +£148.94 |
| H | over £320,000 | £2,913.50 | £1,021.02 | £3,934.52 | +£178.72 |
Every row of that table adds up, which is not something you can take for granted: several London councils publish a total that does not reconcile with its own component parts. Southwark’s does, in all eight bands.
Lambeth: the full band table for 2026/27
From Lambeth’s bands and rates page, with the 2025/26 figures the council prints alongside them.
| Band | Value on 1 April 1991 | 2025/26 | 2026/27 | More than Southwark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | up to £40,000 | £1,302.63 | £1,364.74 | +£53.23 |
| B | £40,001 to £52,000 | £1,519.74 | £1,592.19 | +£62.10 |
| C | £52,001 to £68,000 | £1,736.84 | £1,819.66 | +£70.98 |
| D | £68,001 to £88,000 | £1,953.95 | £2,047.11 | +£79.85 |
| E | £88,001 to £120,000 | £2,388.16 | £2,502.03 | +£97.60 |
| F | £120,001 to £160,000 | £2,822.38 | £2,956.93 | +£115.34 |
| G | £160,001 to £320,000 | £3,256.58 | £3,411.85 | +£133.08 |
| H | £320,001 and over | £3,907.90 | £4,094.22 | +£159.70 |
The final column is the gap between the two sides of Dulwich, and it is our arithmetic on the two councils’ published tables rather than a figure either one publishes.
Where the £89.36 went
Southwark’s bill has only two parts: the council itself, and the Greater London Authority. Both went up, and by very different amounts.
Southwark’s own share rose from £1,387.52 to £1,456.75, an increase of 4.99%. That splits into 2.99% of core council tax, worth £41.48 at band D, and the 2% adult social care precept, worth £27.75. Those two add back to £69.23, the exact increase in Southwark’s share. The previous year’s figure and the adult social care element both come from the government’s Table 10 of council tax levels for 2026-27.
One warning about the council’s own explanation. Southwark’s budget overview page carries a page date of 2 April 2026, and also says “Our budget for 2024-25”, cites reserves as at 31 March 2023, and gives a 4.99% rise for that year. The 4.99% is coincidentally the same, but the page is two years out of date and should not be read as this year’s statement.
The GLA’s share rose £20.13, or 4.1%, from £490.38 to £510.51. The council breaks it down into four parts:
| GLA component | 2025/26 | Change | 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOPAC, the Metropolitan Police | £319.13 | +£15.00 | £334.13 |
| London Fire Brigade | £71.72 | +£5.13 | £76.85 |
| Greater London Authority itself | £22.44 | no change | £22.44 |
| Transport for London | £77.09 | no change | £77.09 |
| Total | £490.38 | +£20.13 | £510.51 |
So the whole of the GLA increase is policing and the fire service. In percentage terms the fire brigade’s slice rose fastest, by 7.2%, against 4.7% for the police. Transport for London’s £77.09 has not moved.
How the money is worked out
Southwark divides what it needs to raise by its tax base, the number of band D equivalent properties it expects to bill.
- Southwark funding required: £162.4 million
- GLA funding required: £56.9 million
- Estimated tax base: 111,465
That produces £1,456.75 for the council and £510.51 for the GLA. Source. Total spending on services for 2026/27 is budgeted at £432.4 million, of which children’s and adults’ services take £184.0 million.
A small item most residents never see: Southwark also pays £635,320 in 2026/27 towards the London Pensions Fund Authority levy, which covers pension costs for former Greater London Council and Inner London Education Authority staff.
Where Southwark sits among the 33 London boroughs
Ranked on total band D including the GLA precept, from the government’s Table 10, Southwark comes 26th of 33, so eighth cheapest in London.
- Southwark: £1,967.26
- London area average: £2,068. Southwark is £100.74 below it.
- England average: £2,392. Southwark is £424.74 below it.
- Most expensive in London: Kingston upon Thames, £2,609.20.
- Cheapest: Wandsworth, £1,028.21, then Westminster at £1,049.55.
For anyone living near a Dulwich Today boundary, the three neighbours that matter are Lambeth at £2,047.11, Lewisham at £2,237.33 and Southwark itself. Cross into Lewisham east of Nunhead or Honor Oak and the same band D costs £270.07 more than in Dulwich Village.
How to check and challenge your band
Your band comes from the value of your property on 1 April 1991, not what it is worth now, and it is set by the Valuation Office Agency, part of HMRC, rather than by either council.
- Check it: gov.uk council tax band search.
- Challenge it: gov.uk challenge your band. Your band may also change if you alter the property, or if a similar property nearby is rebanded.
- Keep paying while the challenge runs. Both councils say so explicitly. If the VOA agrees, you are rebilled and any overpayment comes back.
Discounts, exemptions and premiums
These are Southwark’s rules. Lambeth’s follow the same statutory framework but the application routes differ.
- Single person: 25% off. You must cancel it within 21 days if someone moves in, or you can be fined £70. Southwark is currently reviewing every single person discount in the borough using Experian and the National Fraud Initiative, so expect a letter if yours is long-standing.
- Students: a household of only students pays nothing. One non-student among students gets 25% off. Full-time means at least 21 hours a week for 24 weeks; under-20s in further education qualify at 12 hours a week.
- Disabled band reduction: if someone in the home needs an extra room or space for a wheelchair, the bill drops to the band below. In band A, it drops by one sixth.
- Second homes: 50% off, but only where an employer requires you to live in the second property.
- Empty property premium, in force in Southwark since 1 April 2025 and in Lambeth since 1 April 2024, and identical in both: empty for 1 year doubles the bill, 5 years triples it, 10 years quadruples it. Properties undergoing major repair can be excepted for up to 12 months, and a home empty pending probate is exempt until probate is granted.
- Council Tax Reduction: a means-tested scheme for low income or benefits, open to owners and renters, working or not, of working or pension age. Apply here.
Also on this site: bin collection days, parking in Dulwich and roadworks and travel.
Figures checked on 24 August 2026 against Southwark Council, Lambeth Council and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Your own bill depends on your band, your discounts and any premium, so always check the bill itself.
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