Every band A to H for 2026/27, from £1,504.56 to £4,513.68 in the city centre, what each of the 29 parishes adds, and why Danbury pays £154 more than Mashbury.

Chelmsford City Council keeps about a tenth of your council tax bill. Essex County Council takes roughly three quarters of it. And where you live inside the district changes the bill by up to £154 a year for an identical band D house, because 29 of the 30 areas have a parish or town council charging its own precept on top.

The council set the 2026/27 amounts on 25 February 2026. This page has the full band A to H table, what every parish adds, and the discounts, all taken from the council’s own statutory notice on 15 August 2026.

Band A to H in the city centre

These are the charges for the unparished city centre area, where just over 51,000 people live. It is the only part of the district with no parish precept, so it is also the district’s baseline.

Band 2026/27 charge
A £1,504.56
B £1,755.32
C £2,006.08
D £2,256.84
E £2,758.36
F £3,259.88
G £3,761.40
H £4,513.68

Source: Chelmsford City Council’s Council Tax charges for 2026-27 notice.

The four authorities in the bill

At band D, excluding any parish precept, the money splits like this:

Authority Band D 2026/27 Change
Essex County Council £1,641.96 +3.95%
PFCC for Essex, policing £275.31 +£14.94, +5.74%
Chelmsford City Council (average) £234.85 +2.97%
Essex PFCC, fire and rescue £92.52 +£4.95, +5.65%
Total, before parish £2,244.64

Essex County Council’s 3.95% is made up of a 1.95% general increase and a 2% adult social care precept, and the county chose not to take the full 4.99% it was allowed (Essex County Council tax leaflet 2026/27). The police and fire precepts were agreed by the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel on 3 February 2026 (Essex PFCC).

The two biggest percentage rises are the smallest lines on the bill. The one that rose most in cash terms is the county’s.

Note that the £234.85 is described by the council as an average. The city council’s own share is not identical everywhere, because services a parish council provides in one area are provided by the city council in another and charged to that area as a “special expense”. That is why the totals by parish below do not simply equal £2,244.64 plus the parish precept.

What each parish adds at band D

Parish precepts at band D in the Chelmsford district for 2026/27, ranging from nothing in Mashbury to £175.23 in Danbury

The parish tier’s share rose 8.10% on average this year, from £51.38 to £55.54 at band D, against the city council’s 2.97%. These are the published band D parish shares:

Parish Band D share Parish Band D share
Danbury £175.23 Runwell £70.56
Highwood £120.87 Little Baddow £69.03
Little Waltham £111.78 Chelmer £67.14
Great Waltham £111.60 Galleywood £66.87
Broomfield £109.35 Rettendon £61.83
Pleshey £105.84 West Hanningfield £58.59
South Hanningfield £102.42 Sandon £54.63
Great Baddow £99.54 Roxwell £46.71
Writtle £96.57 Stock £43.20
Springfield £92.70 Great & Little Leighs £38.25
Boreham £92.34 Margaretting £36.27
Chelmsford Garden £92.16 Chignal £21.87
Woodham Ferrers & Bicknacre £80.73 Mashbury £0.00
East Hanningfield £77.49
South Woodham Ferrers £76.32
Good Easter £70.83

The full band D charge, by where you live

This is the number on your bill, parish precept included.

Area Band D Area Band D
Danbury £2,389.68 Rettendon £2,306.43
Great Waltham £2,352.96 Little Baddow £2,306.97
Broomfield £2,352.33 Sandon £2,295.54
Highwood £2,359.26 West Hanningfield £2,296.17
Little Waltham £2,359.17 Stock £2,280.60
Springfield £2,350.17 Great & Little Leighs £2,292.75
Pleshey £2,341.44 Margaretting £2,274.57
South Hanningfield £2,340.00 Chignal £2,274.93
Chelmsford Garden £2,330.10 Roxwell £2,260.35
Chelmer £2,323.26 City centre (unparished) £2,256.84
Great Baddow £2,321.82 Mashbury £2,235.60
South Woodham Ferrers £2,319.39
Woodham Ferrers & Bicknacre £2,318.58
East Hanningfield £2,318.04
Galleywood £2,315.88
Writtle £2,312.82
Boreham £2,310.39
Good Easter £2,306.43
Runwell £2,306.79

Danbury is the most expensive place in the district and Mashbury the cheapest, £154.08 apart on an identical band D property. Danbury’s parish council budgeted £432,846 for 2026/27, £420,000 of which is recreation. Mashbury charges nothing at all.

Working out any band, anywhere in the district

The band ratios are fixed nationally, so you can get any band in any parish from its band D figure:

Band Multiply band D by
A 6/9 (0.667)
B 7/9 (0.778)
C 8/9 (0.889)
D 1
E 11/9 (1.222)
F 13/9 (1.444)
G 15/9 (1.667)
H 2

Great Baddow band D is £2,321.82, so band A there is £1,547.88 and band H is £4,643.64. Both match the council’s published table exactly.

The city centre may not stay unparished

The city centre is the last part of Chelmsford without a parish-tier council. The council consulted between 13 October 2025 and 4 January 2026 on creating one, with alternatives including an area committee or a neighbourhood forum. A new parish council would have the power to levy its own precept, and elections would be held in May 2027 (Chelmsford City Life, 13 October 2025).

If it goes ahead, the city centre stops being the district’s baseline and 51,000 households get a new line on the bill.

Checking and challenging your band

Bands were set on what a property was worth on 1 April 1991, not today. Look yours up free on the Valuation Office Agency’s register at gov.uk/council-tax-bands, where you can also see your neighbours’ bands, which is the usual basis for a challenge.

You challenge through the VOA at gov.uk/challenge-council-tax-band, not through the council. The council only bills you; it has no say in the band. Be aware a review can move a band up as well as down. Keep paying while a challenge is open, because a challenge is not grounds to stop.

Discounts, exemptions and support

  • Single occupier: 25% off. If you are the only adult in the property.
  • Students are disregarded, and an all-student household can be exempt.
  • Empty and unfurnished: a discount for a maximum of three months, and only where the property was occupied for at least six weeks beforehand.
  • Council Tax Reduction for people on a low income or benefits.

The empty property rules are the ones that bite. From 1 April 2024, a property empty and unfurnished for 12 months or more pays full council tax plus a 100% premium. At five years the premium rises to 200%, so the bill is three times normal. At ten years it is a 300% premium (discount and charges for an empty property). On a band D house in Danbury, a ten year empty property is billed £9,558.72 a year.

Chelmsford’s Local Council Tax Support scheme is less generous than the headline suggests and has been at the same level since 2014/15. Working age households can get a maximum of 77% of their liability covered, so everyone pays at least 23%. Support is also calculated on the band D charge for your parish regardless of your actual band, so a working age household in a band F or H property gets no extra help for it. Savings of more than £6,000 rule you out entirely.

Pensioners are treated under national rules and can receive up to 100%, and can hold up to £16,000 in savings before entitlement is removed. The council’s 2026/27 report recommended re-adopting the scheme unchanged (LCTS scheme 2026-27). Apply through Council Tax Reduction or call the benefits team on 01245 606400.

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