Band D in the Rugby town area is £2,494.62 for 2026-27, up 4.4 per cent. Full A to H table, all 40 parish rates ranked, and who takes each pound of the bill.
Checked 30 August 2026. A band D household in the Rugby town area pays £2,494.62 in 2026-27, up 4.4 per cent on last year. Only £175.33 of that goes to Rugby Borough Council.
Rugby Borough Council does publish its charges. It publishes them across 41 separate pages, one per parish, ten to a screen, with no way to compare them. This page is the whole thing in two tables.
Band A to H, Rugby town area
| Band | 2026-27 charge |
|---|---|
| A | £1,663.08 |
| B | £1,940.27 |
| C | £2,217.44 |
| D | £2,494.62 |
| E | £3,048.97 |
| F | £3,603.34 |
| G | £4,157.70 |
| H | £4,989.24 |
Source: the council’s own Rugby town area charge page.
Who actually gets your money
Rugby Borough Council keeps 7p in every pound. The county council takes about 76p and the police about 13p. Here is the band D bill taken apart, from the council’s about your council tax bill pages:
| Precepting body | Band D 2026-27 | Rise | Share of bill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warwickshire County Council, including adult social care | £1,903.86 | 4.4% | 76% |
| Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner | £318.71 | 4.94% | 13% |
| Rugby Borough Council | £175.33 | 4.11% | 7% |
| Rugby town area special expenses | £96.72 | 0.57% | 4% |
| Total, Rugby town area | £2,494.62 | 4.4% |
In cash, the county added £80.91 to a band D bill this year and the police added £15.00.
The county’s 4.4 per cent is two increases in one. Warwickshire County Council split it as a 2 per cent adult social care precept and 2.4 per cent for everything else. The social care money is ringfenced for adult social care, which is what the precept mechanism requires.
Note one figure that reads oddly if you go looking for it. The council reports increasing its “relevant basic amount” of council tax from £223.63 to £230.32, a rise of £6.69. That is a statutory average used for referendum tests, not a bill. Nobody in Rugby pays £230.32 to the borough. The doorstep figure is £175.33, plus either the town area special expense or a parish precept.
What the town area special expense buys
Residents of the unparished Rugby town area pay £96.72 at band D towards services the council says benefit the town only:
- parks and open spaces
- cemeteries
- town centre CCTV and management
Parish areas do not pay it. Where a parish provides those things itself, the cost sits in its own precept instead, which is why the parish column below varies so much.
Every area in the borough, cheapest first
Rugby Borough Council publishes a separate charge for each parish, 41 entries in its own search list. We read all of them and were able to pull a full 2026-27 band table for 40. Sorted by band D:
| Area | Band A | Band D | Band H | Parish or town charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copston Magna | £1,598.60 | £2,397.90 | £4,795.80 | None |
| Cosford | £1,598.60 | £2,397.90 | £4,795.80 | None |
| Kings Newnham | £1,598.60 | £2,397.90 | £4,795.80 | None |
| Leamington Hastings | £1,598.60 | £2,397.90 | £4,795.80 | None |
| Stretton Baskerville | £1,598.60 | £2,397.90 | £4,795.80 | None |
| Wibtoft | £1,598.60 | £2,397.90 | £4,795.80 | None |
| Combe Fields | £1,601.79 | £2,402.69 | £4,805.38 | £4.79 |
| Willey | £1,607.15 | £2,410.73 | £4,821.46 | £12.83 |
| Churchover | £1,615.65 | £2,423.48 | £4,846.96 | £25.58 |
| Burton Hastings | £1,616.21 | £2,424.32 | £4,848.64 | £26.42 |
| Clifton-upon-Dunsmore | £1,623.21 | £2,434.82 | £4,869.64 | £36.92 |
| Wolfhampcote | £1,624.93 | £2,437.40 | £4,874.80 | £39.50 |
| Church Lawford | £1,627.77 | £2,441.65 | £4,883.30 | £43.75 |
| Newton and Biggin | £1,629.70 | £2,444.55 | £4,889.10 | £46.65 |
| Cawston | £1,631.01 | £2,446.51 | £4,893.02 | £48.61 |
| Monks Kirby | £1,632.67 | £2,449.01 | £4,898.02 | £51.11 |
| Binley Woods | £1,635.43 | £2,453.14 | £4,906.28 | £55.24 |
| Birdingbury | £1,637.31 | £2,455.97 | £4,911.94 | £58.07 |
| Bourton and Draycote | £1,639.01 | £2,458.52 | £4,917.04 | £60.62 |
| Dunchurch | £1,643.23 | £2,464.85 | £4,929.70 | £66.95 |
| Withybrook | £1,648.73 | £2,473.09 | £4,946.18 | £75.19 |
| Brandon and Bretford | £1,649.60 | £2,474.40 | £4,948.80 | £76.50 |
| Frankton | £1,650.40 | £2,475.60 | £4,951.20 | £77.70 |
| Thurlaston | £1,650.63 | £2,475.95 | £4,951.90 | £78.05 |
| Brinklow | £1,653.44 | £2,480.16 | £4,960.32 | £82.26 |
| Harborough Magna | £1,653.79 | £2,480.69 | £4,961.38 | £82.79 |
| Wolvey | £1,654.64 | £2,481.96 | £4,963.92 | £84.06 |
| Shilton and Barnacle | £1,656.75 | £2,485.13 | £4,970.26 | £87.23 |
| Willoughby | £1,660.35 | £2,490.53 | £4,981.06 | £92.63 |
| Easenhall | £1,661.16 | £2,491.74 | £4,983.48 | £93.84 |
| Ansty | £1,662.13 | £2,493.19 | £4,986.38 | £95.29 |
| Rugby town area | £1,663.08 | £2,494.62 | £4,989.24 | £96.72 |
| Grandborough | £1,665.59 | £2,498.38 | £4,996.76 | £100.48 |
| Pailton | £1,666.17 | £2,499.26 | £4,998.52 | £101.36 |
| Stretton-under-Fosse | £1,671.34 | £2,507.01 | £5,014.02 | £109.11 |
| Wolston | £1,671.89 | £2,507.84 | £5,015.68 | £109.94 |
| Princethorpe | £1,676.22 | £2,514.33 | £5,028.66 | £116.43 |
| Long Lawford | £1,677.21 | £2,515.81 | £5,031.62 | £117.91 |
| Stretton-on-Dunsmore | £1,687.93 | £2,531.89 | £5,063.78 | £133.99 |
| Ryton-on-Dunsmore | £1,694.22 | £2,541.33 | £5,082.66 | £143.43 |
The last column is the local element: each area’s band D figure minus the £2,397.90 that the county, the police and the borough charge everyone in the borough.
Four things that table shows and the council’s own pages cannot.
- Six parishes charge nothing locally. Copston Magna, Cosford, Kings Newnham, Leamington Hastings, Stretton Baskerville and Wibtoft all sit at £2,397.90 at band D, the bare county, police and borough bill.
- The spread across the borough is £143.43 at band D. Ryton-on-Dunsmore is the dearest place to live in Rugby borough for council tax purposes, at £2,541.33.
- Town is not the expensive option. Eight parishes charge more than the £96.72 the Rugby town area pays, including Wolston, Long Lawford and Princethorpe.
- Parish precepts rose faster than anything else this year. The council’s own figure is a 7.11 per cent average increase in the parish element, against 4.4 per cent for the county and 4.11 per cent for the borough.
Bilton, Hillmorton, Brownsover and Newbold on Avon do not appear anywhere on the council’s list of parish charges. That list covers every parished area in the borough, so those neighbourhoods fall inside the unparished Rugby town area and pay the town area rate.
Checking and challenging your band
Bands were set by the Valuation Office Agency on what a property would have sold for on 1 April 1991, not on what it is worth now. That is why a new house on the edge of Rugby carries a band based on a valuation from before it existed.
- Check your band free at gov.uk/council-tax-bands. Questions about a band go to the VOA on 0300 0501 501, not to the council.
- Challenge it at gov.uk/council-tax-appeals. The borough council states you can appeal your band within six months of becoming the owner of a property.
- Keep paying the original bill while you appeal. If the challenge succeeds, the council refunds the overpayment. If you stop paying, you are in arrears regardless of the outcome.
Before you challenge, use the table above. Neighbouring properties in different bands are the usual evidence, and the VOA’s own listing shows every band on your street.
Discounts, and the one that changed in April
Single person discount is 25 per cent. A full bill assumes two adults. More than two does not increase it; one reduces it. You claim in writing or through the council’s online form.
Certain adults are “disregarded”, which can produce a 25 or even 50 per cent discount even where more than one person lives there. The council’s discounts page lists them, and the ones people miss are:
- Full-time students, on a course of at least a year, 24 weeks’ attendance and an average 21 hours a week. A certificate of student status is needed for each student
- Apprentices on an NVQ relevant to the job, earning no more than £195 a week
- Carers living with the person cared for, giving at least 35 hours a week, where the person cared for gets a qualifying disability benefit. A partner or a child under 18 does not count
- Someone severely mentally impaired, certified by a doctor and receiving a qualifying benefit
- School and college leavers under 20, disregarded until 1 November of the year they leave, whether or not they go on to further study
- Job-related accommodation, worth a 50 per cent discount where you remain liable for council tax on another home
Tell the council within 21 days of anything changing. A discount that stops applying and is not reported becomes a debt.
Council tax reduction is now banded
This is the change that landed on 1 April 2026 and it is the most consequential thing on this page for anyone on a low income. Rugby’s working-age scheme switched to a banded discount system. You get 100, 75, 50 or 25 per cent off, or nothing, depending on which net weekly income band you fall into.
- Savings above £6,000 disqualify you outright, whatever your income
- Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and income-related Employment and Support Allowance all passport you to 100 per cent
- You still have to apply. Receiving Universal Credit does not award it automatically
- Pension-age residents stay on the national scheme, which is unchanged
The working-age bands, by net weekly income:
| Discount | Single | Couple | Single, one child | Couple, one child | Single, two children | Couple, two children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | £0 to £125.00 | £0 to £175.00 | £0 to £225.00 | £0 to £225.00 | £0 to £325.00 | £0 to £325.00 |
| 75% | £125.01 to £175.00 | £175.01 to £225.00 | £225.01 to £275.00 | £225.01 to £275.00 | £325.01 to £375.00 | £325.01 to £375.00 |
| 50% | £175.01 to £225.00 | £225.01 to £275.00 | £275.01 to £325.00 | £275.01 to £325.00 | £375.01 to £425.00 | £375.01 to £425.00 |
| 25% | £225.01 to £275.00 | £275.01 to £325.00 | £325.01 to £375.00 | £325.01 to £375.00 | £425.01 to £475.00 | £425.01 to £475.00 |
| None | £275.01 or more | £325.01 or more | £375.01 or more | £375.01 or more | £475.01 or more | £475.01 or more |
The cliff edges are sharp. A single person on £175.00 a week gets 75 per cent off; on £175.01 they get 50 per cent.
Empty properties pay more, not less
There is no empty property discount in Rugby, and has not been since 1 April 2019. From the council’s exemptions page:
- An empty property is charged 100 per cent from the day it becomes empty. That includes a house undergoing structural repairs
- After two years the charge doubles to 200 per cent
- “Empty” means nobody lives there and no furniture or anything else is kept there
Genuine exemptions do exist, and two are worth knowing:
- Waiting for probate. No council tax until probate is granted, then a further six months, unless ownership transfers sooner
- Last used for charitable purposes. Up to six months from the day the last resident left
Both carry a six-week rule: a fresh exemption cannot start until the property has been occupied again for at least six weeks.
More Rugby local information: bin collection days, parking in Rugby, roadworks and travel and house prices. The borough council itself was due to be replaced by a new unitary authority in 2028, a decision the Government has now paused and put under review.
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