Band D in Bracknell town is £2,281.56, up 5.11%. Full A to H tables for all six parishes, the four precepts inside the bill, and how the borough ranks.
A band D home in Bracknell town pays £2,281.56 in council tax in 2026/27. In Warfield the same band pays £2,234.45, a difference of £47.11 for identical services.
That gap is entirely the parish precept. Bracknell Forest Council, Thames Valley Police and Royal Berkshire Fire charge exactly the same across the whole borough. Together they come to £2,171.05 at band D wherever you live. Only the town or parish council changes.
Every figure here comes from Bracknell Forest Council, the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, Royal Berkshire Fire Authority and the government’s own council tax statistics, and was checked on 31 August 2026.
The full band A to H table for every parish
Bracknell Forest publishes six separate tables, one per parish. This is all of them, with last year’s charge alongside.
| Band | Bracknell | Crowthorne | Winkfield | Sandhurst | Binfield | Warfield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,521.03 (£1,447.07) | £1,519.49 (£1,445.30) | £1,505.30 (£1,435.51) | £1,503.99 (£1,432.02) | £1,492.19 (£1,418.99) | £1,489.63 (£1,416.07) |
| B | £1,774.55 (£1,688.25) | £1,772.76 (£1,686.19) | £1,756.20 (£1,674.77) | £1,754.67 (£1,670.70) | £1,740.90 (£1,655.49) | £1,737.91 (£1,652.09) |
| C | £2,028.05 (£1,929.43) | £2,026.00 (£1,927.07) | £2,007.07 (£1,914.01) | £2,005.33 (£1,909.36) | £1,989.59 (£1,891.99) | £1,986.18 (£1,888.09) |
| D | £2,281.56 (£2,170.61) | £2,279.25 (£2,167.96) | £2,257.96 (£2,153.27) | £2,256.00 (£2,148.04) | £2,238.29 (£2,128.49) | £2,234.45 (£2,124.11) |
| E | £2,788.57 (£2,652.97) | £2,785.74 (£2,649.73) | £2,759.72 (£2,631.77) | £2,757.33 (£2,625.38) | £2,735.68 (£2,601.49) | £2,730.99 (£2,596.13) |
| F | £3,295.59 (£3,135.32) | £3,292.25 (£3,131.50) | £3,261.50 (£3,110.28) | £3,258.67 (£3,102.72) | £3,233.08 (£3,074.48) | £3,227.54 (£3,068.16) |
| G | £3,802.59 (£3,617.68) | £3,798.74 (£3,613.26) | £3,763.26 (£3,588.78) | £3,759.99 (£3,580.06) | £3,730.48 (£3,547.48) | £3,724.08 (£3,540.18) |
| H | £4,563.12 (£4,341.22) | £4,558.50 (£4,335.92) | £4,515.92 (£4,306.54) | £4,512.00 (£4,296.08) | £4,476.58 (£4,256.98) | £4,468.90 (£4,248.22) |
Source: Bracknell Forest Council, council tax charges and bands.
The rise at band D is between 4.86% and 5.19% depending on where you live:
| Parish | Band D 2026/27 | Increase | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bracknell | £2,281.56 | £110.95 | 5.11% |
| Crowthorne | £2,279.25 | £111.29 | 5.13% |
| Winkfield | £2,257.96 | £104.69 | 4.86% |
| Sandhurst | £2,256.00 | £107.96 | 5.03% |
| Binfield | £2,238.29 | £109.80 | 5.16% |
| Warfield | £2,234.45 | £110.34 | 5.19% |
The four precepts inside your bill
The council sets out the split on its how your money is spent page. At band D for 2026/27:
| Body | Band D charge | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Bracknell Forest Council | £1,781.46 | up 4.99% |
| Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner | £298.28 | up £15, or 5.30% |
| Royal Berkshire Fire Authority | £91.31 | up £5, or 5.79% |
| Parish or town council | £63.40 to £110.51 | varies |
The council’s own share is 78% of a Bracknell town band D bill. Of its 4.99% rise, two percentage points is the adult social care precept, worth £33.94 at band D this year, per the government’s council tax levels statistics. The council’s own breakdown lists four charges and adult social care is not one of them.
The Environment Agency also takes a levy, £125,000 from Bracknell Forest this year, but it sits inside the council’s own figure rather than appearing separately.
Parish precepts, at band D
| Parish | Parish precept |
|---|---|
| Bracknell Town Council | £110.51 |
| Crowthorne Parish Council | £108.20 |
| Winkfield Parish Council | £86.91 |
| Sandhurst Town Council | £84.95 |
| Binfield Parish Council | £67.24 |
| Warfield Parish Council | £63.40 |
Parish precepts are not capped by the referendum rules that limit the borough, the police and the fire authority. That is why they move at different rates from each other.
Where the borough ranks
The government publishes every billing authority’s average band D charge. In the 2026/27 tables, Bracknell Forest’s own element is £1,781.46, the fourth lowest of the 63 unitary authorities in England. Only Windsor and Maidenhead (£1,526.63), Telford and Wrekin (£1,694.19) and the Isles of Scilly (£1,744.76) charge less.
That confirms the claim the council makes in its own budget statement, that it “will remain in the lowest 10% of unitary councils”. Fourth of 63 is the lowest 7%.
For scale, the average unitary authority in England charges £2,010 at band D excluding parish precepts, against Bracknell Forest’s £1,781.46. The England average bill including parish precepts is £2,392, up 4.9%.
Two things push the total bill above what that ranking suggests. The Thames Valley police precept of £298.28 is a little above the £297 England average for police and crime commissioners, and every one of the borough’s six parishes adds a precept on top.
Why it went up 4.99%
Bracknell Forest’s chief executive Susan Halliwell sets out the reasoning in the budget statement, and it is unusually direct:
Bracknell Forest has received the lowest funding settlement of any unitary council in the country.
The council says its resources will rise by only 0.16% over the next three years, even with the permitted council tax increases, which it says will not cover inflation or the growth in demand for statutory services. The consultation ran from December 2025 to January 2026 and drew 133 formal responses.
For 2026/27 the council’s net revenue budget after use of balances is £131.6m, and its council tax requirement including parish precepts is £96.3m. Planned capital spending is about £12.8m, including £7.1m on highways.
Police funding was squeezed the same way. Thames Valley’s settlement came in £9m less than expected, and the Home Office said it would fund only around 40% of the cost of new officers. The Police and Crime Commissioner took the full £15 flexibility, which he describes as 29p a week at band D. The force’s net revenue budget is £622m.
The police precept by band, from the commissioner’s own council tax leaflet, runs from £198.85 at band A to £596.56 at band H.
Discounts and support
Single person discount: 25%, if you are the only adult over 18 living there.
Certain people are not counted at all when the council works out how many adults live in a property. The list includes full-time students, student nurses, apprentices, 18 and 19 year olds still at school, care workers, carers, people who are severely mentally impaired including those with dementia, and people in prison or detention. If everyone but one resident falls into those categories, that resident gets the 25% discount.
Disabled band reduction: if the property has an extra bathroom or kitchen, a room needed for the disabled person, or enough floor space for wheelchair use indoors, the bill drops to the rate of the band below.
Annexes get 50% off, on top of any other discount, if the annexe is part of a single property and used by the main household or a relative.
Council Tax Support is a separate scheme. Pension age households can have the whole bill covered, subject to a £16,000 capital limit unless you receive Pension Guarantee Credit. Working-age households are placed into an income band, and the maximum award is 80% of the bill:
| Band | Weekly income | Maximum support |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vulnerable group, income £440 or less | 80% |
| 2 | £0 to £80, or on a qualifying benefit | 75% |
| 3 | £80.01 to £140 | 70% |
| 4 | £140.01 to £200 | 60% |
| 5 | £200.01 to £260 | 50% |
| 6 | £260.01 to £320 | 40% |
| 7 | £320.01 to £380 | 30% |
| 8 | £380.01 to £440 | 20% |
Band 1 requires an income that triggers a Disability Premium, Enhanced Disability Premium or Severe Disability Premium. Everyone receiving Council Tax Support, working age and pension age, gets a further £50 off the bill in 2026/27.
Full details are on the council’s Council Tax Support pages.
Second homes and empty properties both pay double
Bracknell Forest charges two times the normal council tax on a furnished second home, from the start, and on any property left unoccupied and unfurnished for more than a year. Its published policy sets out no higher premium for properties empty five or ten years, which some councils apply.
The premium does not apply if the property is an annexe, if you are in the armed forces and posted into service accommodation, if you have to live elsewhere for work and pay council tax there, or if it is being actively marketed for sale or to let, which buys 12 months. Probate cases get 12 months from the grant, and empty properties undergoing major repairs or structural alteration get 12 months. Occupied caravan pitches, boat moorings and seasonal homes that cannot legally be lived in year round are exempt from the second home premium.
The council can charge a £70 penalty if you fail to tell it that you are no longer entitled to a discount.
Checking or challenging your band
Bands were set on what a property would have sold for on 1 April 1991, and Bracknell Forest cannot change yours. That is the Valuation Office Agency’s job.
- Look up any address on GOV.UK council tax bands.
- Start a challenge through GOV.UK challenge your council tax band.
Keep paying while a challenge is considered. A successful challenge is backdated; a refusal leaves you with arrears if you stopped.
For anything about the bill itself rather than the band, Bracknell Forest’s revenue services team is on 01344 352011.
More Bracknell information
Bin days, garden waste charges and the tip are on our Bracknell bin collection page. Car park tariffs, permits and penalty charges are on our Bracknell parking page, and live closures are on our roadworks and travel page.
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