The full band A to H charges for Brentwood in 2026/27, plus every parish. Essex County Council takes £1,641.96 of a band D bill and the borough keeps £223.49.
A band D home in the unparished part of Brentwood borough pays £2,233.28 in 2026/27. That is £88.75 more than last year, a rise of 4.1%.
Almost none of it is Brentwood’s. Essex County Council takes £1,641.96 of that bill. Brentwood Borough Council keeps £223.49, which is just under a tenth.
Nine parishes add a precept on top, and the gap between them is wide. Kelvedon Hatch pays the most in the borough at £2,386.13 at band D. West Horndon pays the least of the parished areas at £2,288.87.
Every figure here is from Brentwood Borough Council’s published charges and its 2026/27 council tax booklet, checked on 2 September 2026.
The full band A to H table
Annual charges for 2026/27, including all precepts.
| Area | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No parish council | £1,488.85 | £1,737.00 | £1,985.14 | £2,233.28 | £2,729.56 | £3,225.85 | £3,722.13 | £4,466.56 |
| West Horndon | £1,525.91 | £1,780.24 | £2,034.55 | £2,288.87 | £2,797.50 | £3,306.15 | £3,814.78 | £4,577.74 |
| Doddinghurst | £1,532.72 | £1,788.18 | £2,043.63 | £2,299.08 | £2,809.98 | £3,320.89 | £3,831.80 | £4,598.16 |
| Herongate and Ingrave | £1,535.76 | £1,791.72 | £2,047.68 | £2,303.64 | £2,815.56 | £3,327.48 | £3,839.40 | £4,607.28 |
| Blackmore | £1,538.78 | £1,795.26 | £2,051.72 | £2,308.18 | £2,821.10 | £3,334.04 | £3,846.96 | £4,616.36 |
| Ingatestone and Fryerning | £1,547.85 | £1,805.83 | £2,063.81 | £2,321.78 | £2,837.73 | £3,353.68 | £3,869.63 | £4,643.56 |
| Navestock | £1,561.54 | £1,821.81 | £2,082.06 | £2,342.32 | £2,862.83 | £3,383.35 | £3,903.86 | £4,684.64 |
| Stondon Massey | £1,569.10 | £1,830.60 | £2,092.14 | £2,353.66 | £2,876.69 | £3,399.73 | £3,922.76 | £4,707.32 |
| Mountnessing | £1,580.21 | £1,843.59 | £2,106.95 | £2,370.32 | £2,897.05 | £3,423.80 | £3,950.53 | £4,740.64 |
| Kelvedon Hatch | £1,590.75 | £1,855.88 | £2,121.01 | £2,386.13 | £2,916.38 | £3,446.63 | £3,976.88 | £4,772.26 |
“No parish council” covers Brentwood town, Shenfield, Hutton, Pilgrims Hatch, Warley and everywhere else in the borough outside the nine parishes.
Source: Brentwood Borough Council, Council tax bands, last updated 25 March 2026.
Who takes what
Four bodies charge on a Brentwood bill, before any parish precept. These are the amounts by band.
| Precept | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex County Council | £1,094.64 | £1,277.08 | £1,459.52 | £1,641.96 | £2,006.84 | £2,371.72 | £2,736.60 | £3,283.92 |
| Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex | £183.54 | £214.13 | £244.72 | £275.31 | £336.49 | £397.67 | £458.85 | £550.62 |
| Essex PFCC Fire and Rescue Authority | £61.68 | £71.96 | £82.24 | £92.52 | £113.08 | £133.64 | £154.20 | £185.04 |
| Brentwood Borough Council | £148.99 | £173.83 | £198.66 | £223.49 | £273.15 | £322.82 | £372.48 | £446.98 |
At band D, Essex County Council takes 74p in every pound of the bill. Brentwood Borough Council keeps 10p, the police 12p and the fire authority 4p.
What changed this year
Band D, before parish precepts, against 2025/26:
| Precept | 2025/26 | 2026/27 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essex County Council | £1,579.59 | £1,641.96 | +£62.37, 3.9% |
| Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner | £260.37 | £275.31 | +£14.94, 5.7% |
| Essex fire and rescue authority | £87.57 | £92.52 | +£4.95, 5.7% |
| Brentwood Borough Council | £217.00 | £223.49 | +£6.49, 2.99% |
| Total | £2,144.53 | £2,233.28 | +£88.75, 4.1% |
The borough’s own 2.99% rise is the smallest of the four, and it is the smallest share of the bill. The two emergency service precepts rose fastest.
Brentwood’s tax base grew from 34,511.50 band D equivalent properties to 34,633.60. The four authorities and the parishes together will collect £78,208,483 in 2026/27, against £74,776,825 the year before.
Source: Brentwood Borough Council, Council Tax Resolution 2026/27, Tables 1 and 2.
The nine parish precepts
There are nine parish, town and village councils in the borough. Their spending is independent of Brentwood Borough Council.
| Parish | Total precept | Band D |
|---|---|---|
| Kelvedon Hatch | £174,813 | £152.85 |
| Mountnessing | £84,474 | £137.04 |
| Stondon Massey | £40,892 | £120.38 |
| Navestock | £27,500 | £109.04 |
| Ingatestone and Fryerning | £215,395 | £88.50 |
| Blackmore | £115,735 | £74.90 |
| Herongate and Ingrave | £73,800 | £70.36 |
| Doddinghurst | £80,400 | £65.80 |
| West Horndon | £39,000 | £55.59 |
The parish element is the only part of the bill that varies across the borough, and it puts £152.85 between a band D home in Kelvedon Hatch and one in Brentwood town.
Kelvedon Hatch is the movement this year. The council’s booklet sets out the parish budgets for the two precepts above £140,000, and Kelvedon Hatch Parish Council’s precept requirement went from £115,000 to £175,000, a rise of about 52%. Its gross spending only rose from £163,000 to £173,000. The difference is on the other side of the ledger: it drew £29,000 from reserves last year and is putting £12,000 back this year, and its income line fell from £19,000 to £11,000.
Ingatestone and Fryerning, the largest precept in cash terms, rose more modestly from £205,000 to £215,000. Its gross expenditure rose from £212,000 to £268,000, offset by a £100,000 draw on reserves last year that is not repeated.
One figure disagrees with itself. The Council Tax Resolution agreed in February listed Stondon Massey’s precept at £49,802, worth £146.61 at band D. The charges the council then published, and its billing booklet, both use £40,892 and £120.38. The lower figure is the one on the bills, and it is the one in the table above. Every other parish matches across both documents.
Source: Brentwood Borough Council, A guide to your Council Tax 2026/2027, pages 9 and 10.
Check your band, and challenge it
Your band was set on what the property was worth on 1 April 1991, not what it is worth now. The bands are:
- A: under £40,001
- B: £40,001 to £52,000
- C: £52,001 to £68,000
- D: £68,001 to £88,000
- E: £88,001 to £120,000
- F: £120,001 to £160,000
- G: £160,001 to £320,000
- H: over £320,000
Look up any address free on GOV.UK: check your council tax band. The Valuation Office Agency sets bands, not the council, so a banding challenge goes to the VOA through that page.
For anything else, such as being sent a bill you do not think you are liable for, or being refused a discount, you appeal to the council in writing. If the council does not reply within two months, or replies and you disagree, you have two months to take it to the Valuation Tribunal. Keep paying while an appeal is decided. If you win, the council refunds the difference.
Discounts and exemptions
- Single person discount: 25% if you are the only adult aged 18 or over living there as your main home.
- Disabled band reduction. If someone in the household needs an extra room, an extra bathroom or kitchen, or uses a wheelchair indoors, the bill drops to the band below. A band A property gets a reduction worth one ninth of the band D charge.
- Family annexe: 50% where a relative lives in an annexe, or where an annexe is used as part of the main home.
- Major repairs or structural alteration: 25%, for up to 12 months.
- Apprentices. A 25% disregard applies if the only other adult is an apprentice earning under £195.00 gross a week. Brentwood also runs its own Apprentice Reduction, worth 25%, where that apprentice earns between £195.01 and £300 gross a week. That local scheme has run since 1 April 2021 and most councils do not have one.
- Care leavers. A discretionary reduction for care leavers under 25, applied after every other discount has been claimed.
- Empty homes premium. Brentwood charges 100% on top of the full bill once a property has been empty more than two years, 200% after five years and 300% after ten. The council’s page carrying these figures was last updated in March 2024, so confirm the current position before relying on it.
Certain people are disregarded when counting adults in a property, including full-time students, student nurses, people in hospital or a care home, people who are severely mentally impaired, low-paid care workers, and 18 and 19 year olds still at or just out of school. A property occupied only by students, or only by people under 18, is exempt outright.
You must tell the council within 21 days about anything that could affect a discount or exemption. Failing to report a change within two months can bring a penalty of up to £280.
Source: Brentwood Borough Council, Exemptions and discounts.
Council tax reduction
Brentwood’s working age scheme is a banded discount based on weekly income and household size. To apply you must be liable for the bill, live there as your main home, have less than £6,000 in savings, and be in bands A to E. Renters can apply in any band.
Percentage of the bill taken off, by weekly income:
| Household | Disabled | £0 to £75 | £75.01 to £150 | £150.01 to £225 | £225.01 to £300 | £300.01 to £375 | £375.01 to £450 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single, no children | 100 | 75 | 75 | 50 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Couple, no children | 100 | 75 | 75 | 50 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Single, one child | 100 | 75 | 75 | 50 | 50 | 25 | 25 |
| Couple, one child | 100 | 75 | 75 | 50 | 50 | 25 | 25 |
| Single, two or more children | 100 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 50 | 50 | 25 |
| Couple, two or more children | 100 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 50 | 50 | 25 |
The disability route matters. Most working-age households can only get 75% off. If you, your partner or anyone you get child benefit for receives a qualifying disability benefit, and you already qualify for at least 25%, the reduction goes to 100%. Qualifying benefits include PIP, DLA, Attendance Allowance, Armed Forces Independence Payment, Severe Disablement Allowance, ESA with the support component, Working Tax Credit with the disability element, and Universal Credit with limited capability for work.
Child benefit, child maintenance, PIP, DLA, adoption and fostering allowances and bereavement benefits are all ignored when the council works out your weekly income, and £20 a week of net earnings is ignored if you work.
Pension age residents apply under a separate scheme.
Failing to report a change of circumstances within two months can bring a penalty of up to £70.
Source: Brentwood Borough Council, Working age resident council tax reduction, last updated 13 March 2026.
Paying
Council tax can be spread over 12 monthly instalments rather than the default 10. Set it up through the council’s e-services portal, or by direct debit on 01277 312500. The revenues team is at revenue@brentwood.gov.uk, Town Hall, Ingrave Road, Brentwood, CM15 8AY.
What this page does not cover
Brentwood does not publish a second homes premium, so none is quoted here. The pension age council tax support scheme is set nationally and is not set out above.
Have your say