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Once a year (usually in March), you will receive a Council Tax bill for the upcoming year.
The bill will show:
Most people pay in 10 monthly instalments from April to January. You can ask us to spread the payments over 12 months, by emailing us or on MyAccount.
You're liable to pay Council Tax if you are:
If you disagree with your Council Tax bill because you think you’re not liable, you should receive a discount, or your home is exempt, contact us by email.
You can also write to us at:
Council Tax Team
Civic Offices
St Nicholas Way
Sutton
SM1 1EA
Find out more about discounts and exemptions, and how you can apply.
The Council has two months to make a decision. If you still disagree or if you’re waiting more than 2 months, you can appeal to a Valuation Tribunal.
In all London boroughs, your total Council Tax is made up of two parts:
Your Council Tax includes money the Council must collect on behalf of other organisations, known as levying bodies.
These organisations fund their services by spreading the cost across each local authority in their area. The Council collects the money and pays it to the levying body.
Levies must be included in the Council’s own budget calculations and are therefore included in the calculation of Council Tax.
The amounts the Council has to pay this year are shown in the table below.
Amount paid by Sutton | 2024/25 | 2025/26 |
---|---|---|
Levies - 2025/26 | £'000s | £'000s |
Environment Agency | 178 |
181 |
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority | 193 | 198 |
London Pension Fund Authority | 247 | 247 |
Total | 618 | 626 |
From 01 April 2025, the ASC is not displayed separately on the bills.
The Adult Social Care precept allows Councils that provide Social Care to adults to increase their share of Council Tax by up to an extra 2%.
The income generated from this charge is ring-fenced, meaning it can only be used for Adult Social Care services. Adult Social Care services support some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, largely supporting those in old age and adults with disabilities.
The Government has said that this precept must be shown as a separate charge on all Council Tax bills.
The Adult Social Care (ASC) precept has had to be shown as a cumulative figure on the Council Tax bill since it was introduced.
The percentage increase allowed for 2024-25 is 2% of Sutton’s 2023-24 Council Tax bill (not including the GLA precept).
For example, a band D property:
The £32.28 is then added to the previous years cumulative amounts for ASC:
Although the amount on the bill shows a change from £214.80 to £247.08 (a change of £32.28) and what appears to be 15.03%, the actual increase is only 2%, or £32.28.
The GLA precept is the part of your Council Tax that goes towards funding services provided by the Greater London Authority.
These include London-wide transport, policing and fire services.
The GLA precept is set each year by the Mayor of London and is automatically added to your Council Tax bill. Learn more about the GLA precept.
We calculate the Sutton Council element of your Council Tax in two stages.
First, we work out how much money the Council needs to deliver its services and meet its levying obligations (our gross expenditure).
Then, we work out how much income we will generate and other funding we will receive (our gross income).
After that we work out the difference (our net expenditure) and what we need to raise in Council Tax.
The next two tables show these calculations for 2025/26. Figures in brackets show income, savings or a surplus.
This table shows how much funding is needed to deliver Council services, by department, and the ring-fenced central government grants we receive towards this.
Ring-fenced grants are grants that must be spent on certain services and cannot be spent elsewhere.
Department services, other costs and ring-fenced grants | 2024/25 net expenditure (£m) | 2025/26 gross expenditure (£m) | 2025/26 gross income (£m) | 2025/26 net expenditure (£m) |
---|---|---|---|---|
People Services | 127.8 | 163.9 | (26.2) | 137.7 |
Health and Wellbeing | 3.4 | 10.4 | (7.1) | 3.3 |
Environment, Housing and Neighbourhoods | 31.8 | 61.3 | (21.5) | 39.8 |
Resources | 24.6 | 48.7 | (23.2) | 25.5 |
Ring-fenced Better Care Funding Joint NHS/LA Grant | 0.0 | 16.6 | (16.6) | 0.0 |
Ring-fenced Public Health Funding Grant | 0.0 | 11.8 | (11.8) | 0.0 |
Interest, levies, reserves and other centrally held budgets | 20.2 | 65.3 | (47.1) | 18.2 |
Total | 207.8 | 278.1 | (153.6) | 224.5 |
Non-ring-fenced core grants | (33.6) | (40.3) | ||
Total Council budget | 174.2 | 184.1 |
This table shows where the remaining funding needed to deliver Council services comes from. This includes how much Council Tax we need to raise after we’ve accounted for other sources of funding.
Funding source | 2024/25 net expenditure (£m) | 2025/26 net expenditure (£m) |
---|---|---|
Net Budget Requirement | 174.2 | 184.1 |
Revenue Support Grant | (8.4) | (8.6) |
Business rates | (19.8) | (20.2) |
Top Up Grant | (19.3) | (19.4) |
Collection fund (surplus) or deficit - Council Tax | (1.6) | (0.2) |
Collection fund (surplus) or deficit - NNDR | 1.3 | (0.8) |
Amount from Council Tax | 126.5 | 134.9 |
The table below shows how pressures like inflation and increased demand have affected our budget this year. It also shows where we have saved money or received more income.
These changes have led to an overall increase in the amount we need to raise through Council Tax.
Figures in brackets show income, savings or a surplus.
Changes in the Council's expenditure | £m |
---|---|
Council Tax requirement 2024/25 | 126.5 |
Inflation | 10.0 |
Additional costs from continuing budget pressures and income shortfalls | 21.4 |
Changes to capital borrowing linked to HRA and waste | (2.0) |
Efficiencies, cost reduction measures and other savings | (12.0) |
Additional spend funded by ring fenced grants | 1.9 |
Collection Fund movement | (0.8) |
Increase in Business Rates income | (0.4) |
Changes to grant income funding, Top up Grant and Revenue Support Grant | (9.7) |
Council Tax requirement 2025/26 | 134.9 |
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