The 2026/27 charge for every Medway council tax band A to H, how the bill splits between the council, police and fire, the 11 parishes, and how to pay less.

There are eight Medway council tax bands, A to H, and for 2026/27 they run from £1,546.19 to £4,638.58 a year. The band is not based on what your home is worth now; it is based on what it would have sold for on 1 April 1991, a date that has never moved since council tax began. This page sets out the exact charge for every band, shows how the bill splits between Medway Council, Kent Police and Kent Fire and Rescue, lists the 11 parishes that pay a bit more, and covers how to check your band, challenge it, and claim the discounts people most often miss. Every figure comes from Medway Council’s own Council Tax booklet 2026 to 2027.

Medway council tax by band, 2026/27

Bar chart of Medway council tax charges for bands A to H in 2026/27, from £1,546.19 at Band A to £4,638.58 at Band H
Annual council tax for an unparished Medway address, 2026/27. Chart by Medway Live from Medway Council's published figures.

The table below is the same data in full. It applies to the great majority of Medway addresses, which sit in the unparished area covering Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, Rochester and Strood.

Medway council tax charges by band, 2026/27, unparished area
Band1991 property valueAnnual chargeRoughly per month
AUp to £40,000£1,546.19£155
B£40,001 to £52,000£1,803.89£180
C£52,001 to £68,000£2,061.59£206
D£68,001 to £88,000£2,319.29£232
E£88,001 to £120,000£2,834.69£283
F£120,001 to £160,000£3,350.08£335
G£160,001 to £320,000£3,865.48£387
H£320,001 and above£4,638.58£464

Source: Medway Council, Council Tax booklet 2026 to 2027. The monthly column assumes the standard ten instalments.

Band D is the reference band. Every other band is a fixed proportion of it, set in law and identical everywhere in England: Band A pays 6/9ths of Band D, Band B 7/9ths, and Band H pays 18/9ths, which is exactly double. That is why the gaps between bands are not even, and why moving up a band is never a small change.

How your bill splits three ways

Medway is a unitary authority, so unlike most of Kent there is no county council taking a slice. Your bill is collected by Medway Council but shared between three bodies. At Band D:

Where a Band D Medway bill goes, 2026/27
Where it goesBand D chargeShare
Medway Council£1,934.33about 83%
Kent Police and Crime Commissioner£285.15about 12%
Kent Fire and Rescue Service£99.81about 4%
Total£2,319.29100%

Across all of Medway, £215.3m will be raised through council tax in 2026/27, of which £178.9m goes to Medway Council and the remaining £36.4m to the police, the fire service and the parishes.

Comparing the council’s 2026/27 booklet with the 2025/26 edition, the Band D bill has risen by £111.96, from £2,207.33 to £2,319.29, an increase of about 5.1%. Medway Council’s own element went up £92.01 (just under 5%), the police precept by exactly £15.00 and the fire precept by £4.95. The council states in the booklet that “Medway’s Council Tax is the lowest in Kent”.

What it means for you: roughly 83 pence in every pound you pay stays with Medway Council. That is what being a unitary authority means in practice: the same council handles the county-level jobs, adult social care, children’s services and schools, highways, libraries and waste disposal, alongside the local ones such as bin collections, planning and parking.

What the money buys

Medway Council plans to spend £687.184m on services in 2026/27, up from £648.001m the year before. The largest lines are:

  • Services for children: £224.652m
  • Adult social services: £180.671m, up from £162.819m
  • Housing, including benefit payments: £89.884m
  • Services for the environment: £66.975m
  • Other services, leisure and public health: £125.002m between them

Adult social care is the fastest rising line, up nearly £18m in a single year, and it is the main reason councils with social care duties keep pushing bills towards the referendum cap.

The 11 parishes that pay more

Most Medway addresses are unparished, but 11 parishes add their own precept on top. The Band D charge in each for 2026/27:

Band D council tax in Medway's parishes, 2026/27
ParishBand D charge
Frindsbury Extra£2,357.02
Halling£2,358.77
Cliffe and Cliffe Woods£2,363.35
Hoo St Werburgh and Chattenden£2,365.01
Cuxton£2,384.46
Cooling£2,388.53
High Halstow£2,422.38
Stoke£2,458.14
Allhallows£2,513.56
St James, Isle of Grain£2,517.20
St Mary Hoo£2,526.16

Source: Council Tax booklet 2026 to 2027. The spread between the cheapest parish and the most expensive is about £169 a year at Band D, and every parish pays more than the unparished £2,319.29. Parish precepts fund very local things: allotments, common land, burial grounds, play areas, litter bins and benches. Parish councils are also consulted on every planning application in their area.

How to check and challenge your band

Banding is the job of the Valuation Office Agency, not Medway Council, so a band challenge and a billing query go to different places.

  • Check your band free on the GOV.UK council tax band tool. It shows your neighbours’ bands too, which is the strongest evidence you can gather: if near-identical homes on your street sit a band lower, you have a case.
  • Challenge your band through the VOA challenge service. The council’s booklet gives the VOA phone number as 03000 501 501 for anyone who cannot use the online service.
  • Keep paying while you wait. Medway is explicit that you must continue to pay at your current band until the appeal is decided; if it succeeds, overpaid tax is refunded.

A review can go up as well as down, so gather the comparable evidence before you file. You never need to pay a company to do this for you.

If your dispute is about a discount or exemption rather than the band itself, email ctax@medway.gov.uk first, and if that fails you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal on 0303 445 8100.

Discounts and ways to pay less

The discounts below are set out in the council’s booklet and its reductions and exemptions pages:

  • Single person discount, 25%. If you are the only adult in the property, claim it. On a Band C home that is over £500 a year.
  • People who are not counted. Full-time students, trainees, apprentices, 18 and 19 year olds still at school, carers, people who are severely mentally impaired, long-term hospital patients and some prisoners are disregarded. If that leaves fewer than two counted adults, a discount follows.
  • Disabled band reduction. A home with space for a wheelchair or an extra bathroom for a disabled resident can be charged at a lower rate.
  • Annexe reductions. Available where an annexe is occupied by a relative of the person liable for the main dwelling, or used as part of the same residence. A self-contained annexe occupied by an elderly or disabled relative can be exempt entirely.
  • Council Tax Reduction. A means-tested cut in the bill itself for people on low incomes, separate from the discounts above.
  • Dementia. Someone living with dementia and receiving certain benefits may count as severely mentally impaired for council tax, which can mean a discount or a full exemption.

Backdating is normally only considered to 1 April of the preceding year, so a missed single person discount is money you will not get all of back. Instalments are ten a year by default, but you can ask to spread them over 12 to lower the monthly figure.

Charges also run the other way. An empty and unfurnished property pays a 100% premium after one year, 200% after five and 300% after ten. Since 1 April 2025 a property that is unoccupied but furnished pays a 100% premium from the day it is vacated. Homes genuinely on the market to sell or let, and those where probate was recently granted, are excepted for up to 12 months.

What council reorganisation means for your bill

Medway Council is being abolished. On 16 July 2026 the Government confirmed that Kent and Medway’s existing councils will be replaced by four unitary authorities, and that Medway will merge with Dartford and Gravesham to form a North Kent unitary council. Shadow authority elections are set for 6 May 2027, with the new council taking over on 1 April 2028 (council statement).

Council leader Cllr Vince Maple noted that the current Medway footprint would be more than half the population of the new council. Nothing about the figures on this page changes before April 2028: Medway Council still sets, splits and collects the bill exactly as set out above. What has not been published is how the three areas’ different council tax levels will be brought into line afterwards, which is the question worth watching.

Frequently asked questions

How much is council tax in Medway per band for 2026/27? Band A £1,546.19, Band B £1,803.89, Band C £2,061.59, Band D £2,319.29, Band E £2,834.69, Band F £3,350.08, Band G £3,865.48 and Band H £4,638.58. Addresses in one of Medway’s 11 parishes pay a little more.

What is the Band D council tax in Medway? £2,319.29 for 2026/27 in the unparished area, made up of £1,934.33 to Medway Council, £285.15 to Kent Police and £99.81 to Kent Fire and Rescue.

Has Medway council tax gone up in 2026? Yes. The Band D bill rose from £2,207.33 to £2,319.29, an increase of £111.96 or about 5.1%, comparing the council’s 2025/26 and 2026/27 booklets.

How do I find out what council tax band my house is in? Search your postcode on the free GOV.UK band checker, which also shows your neighbours’ bands.

How do I challenge my Medway council tax band? Through the Valuation Office Agency on GOV.UK, not the council. Keep paying at your current band until the challenge is decided, and gather evidence from similar nearby homes first, because a review can raise your band as well as lower it.

Can I get a discount on my Medway council tax? If you live alone, claim the 25% single person discount. Students, carers, apprentices and people who are severely mentally impaired are also disregarded, and disabled adaptations, annexes and low incomes all have their own reductions.

Sources

Figures are Medway Council’s published 2026/27 charges. Check the council’s own pages before acting on them. More Medway information is on the Medway Live home page.