Bishop's Stortford council tax bands: band D £2,413.91

A Band D household in Bishop’s Stortford pays £2,413.91 in council tax in 2026/27. That is £109.31 more than last year, a rise of 4.7 per cent.

East Herts District Council sends the bill and collects all of it, but keeps £207.03. The rest goes to three other bodies. Below is the full A to H table, who takes what, and which of them actually put its share up.

Bishop’s Stortford council tax 2026/27

Source: East Herts District Council, Council Tax Setting 2026/27, Appendix A, the formal council tax resolution, agreed at Council on 4 March 2026. Band ranges from the council’s Council Tax Bands and Charges page.

Those 1991 values are not a misprint. Every band in England still rests on what the property would have sold for on 1 April 1991, and there has never been a revaluation.

The council’s own website hides this table behind a parish search box that needs JavaScript, which is why it is set out in full here.

Who takes what

Four bodies share a Bishop’s Stortford bill. Only one of them held its charge flat.

Sources: the 2026/27 resolution above, and the equivalent 2025/26 council tax setting report of 26 February 2025.

Three things stand out.

The county council is nearly four fifths of the bill. Hertfordshire raised its share by 4.99 per cent, made up of 2.99 per cent general council tax and a 2 per cent adult social care precept. Its budget was agreed on 17 February 2026.

The police precept rose fastest, at 5.7 per cent. In cash it is £15 a year on Band D.

Bishop’s Stortford Town Council did not raise its charge at all. Band D stayed at exactly £68.69 for a second year. Its total precept actually fell, from £1,232,741 to £1,222,786, because the parish tax base shrank slightly.

East Herts came within 4p of a referendum

The government caps how much a district council can add before it must hold a local referendum. For 2026/27 the resolution states the threshold as “an increase of 3% or more, or £5 per dwelling whichever is the greater”.

Three per cent of last year’s £201.04 is £6.03. East Herts added £5.99. It took the maximum it could without triggering a vote, and stopped four pence short.

How Bishop’s Stortford compares

The county, police and district elements are identical everywhere in East Herts. The only thing that varies is the town or parish precept, and it varies a lot.

Ware is the most expensive parish in the district, £209.78 a year above Bishop’s Stortford on Band D. Sacombe and Wyddial are the cheapest, because neither levies a precept at all.

The sharpest local comparison is Thorley, the parish immediately south of the town. Its Band D bill is £60.74 less than Bishop’s Stortford’s, for the same county, police and district services, because Thorley’s parish precept works out at £7.95 against the town council’s £68.69.

A warning about the county council’s own page

Hertfordshire County Council’s council tax page says its budget for 2026/27 was agreed on 17 February 2026, then labels its Band D figures “2024/25” and “2025/26”. The £1,858.19 it shows is this year’s charge, not last year’s.

It also gives the previous year’s bill as £1,789.87. Subtract the £88.32 increase the same page quotes and you get £1,769.87, which is what East Herts’ 2025/26 resolution records. The figures in the table above come from the two resolutions, not from that page.

Check your band, and challenge it if it is wrong

Your band is set by the Valuation Office Agency, not by the council.

• Look up your property and your neighbours’ on gov.uk/council-tax-bands
• If you think it is wrong, talk to the VOA first. It costs nothing. Call 03000 501501
• To challenge formally, follow the gov.uk process, or write to the Listing Officer, Council Tax East, Valuation Office Agency, Ground Floor, Ferrers House, Castle Meadow Road, Nottingham NG2 1AB
• You must keep paying the bill you have while the challenge is decided

Appeals about the bill rather than the band go to East Herts first. The council has two months to respond. If it rejects your case, or does not answer, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service on 0303 445 8100. A hearing costs nothing unless you hire someone to present it.

Source: East Herts District Council, Council Tax Appeals.

Discounts and reductions

• Single person discount, 25 per cent. Available if you are the only adult aged 18 or over in the property. East Herts is currently running a review of single person discounts, so expect to be asked to confirm your circumstances
• Students. A property occupied entirely by students is exempt. Student nurses and school and college leavers under 20 are disregarded
• Severe mental impairment. A resident who qualifies is disregarded, and a property where everyone qualifies is exempt
• Carers. Discounts exist for both unpaid relatives and professional carers
• Disabled band reduction. If the property has been adapted for a disabled resident, the charge can be cut
• Council Tax Support. A means-tested reduction for people on a low income with little savings. Apply through the council’s Council Tax Support page

You must tell the Revenues team within 21 days if something changes that affects an exemption. Failing to report a change, or giving false information, can attract a £70 penalty for each year involved.

Empty properties and second homes

There is no discount for an empty home in East Herts, and there has not been one since April 2018. The full 100 per cent charge applies from day one, whether the property is unoccupied, unfurnished, being renovated or waiting on a sale.

After two years a premium is added on top.

The premium attaches to the property, not the owner, so buying a long-empty house does not reset the clock. There is a discretion to lift it for up to 12 months where a new owner moves in within a year of purchase. Service personnel posted away and annexes forming part of a main residence are excluded.

A second home that is not your sole or main residence normally attracts the full charge as well, on top of the bill for your main home.

Source: East Herts District Council, Property Discounts - Second Homes, Unoccupied Properties and Annexes. That page sets its table out as the position “from 1 April 2022” and has not been restated since, so check the current position with the council before relying on it for a purchase.

Paying

Bills go out once a year. You can spread them over 10 or 12 monthly instalments, or pay larger amounts at any point. Direct debits adjust automatically each April.

If you cannot pay, contact the council before a reminder arrives. Once a first reminder has been issued and a second instalment is missed, the whole year’s balance becomes due at once.

Also on this site

• Bishop’s Stortford house prices
• Bishop’s Stortford bin collection days
• Parking in Bishop’s Stortford
• East Herts and Broxbourne to merge into one unitary council

Every charge on this page was taken from East Herts District Council’s own council tax resolutions on 26 August 2026. Bills are reset each March for the year starting in April.