Band D is £2,408.59 before your parish adds its own precept, from nothing in Bartlow to £319.17 in Cambourne. Full A to H table and every 2026/27 rise.
Only about 7p in every pound of your council tax bill goes to South Cambridgeshire District Council. The rest is collected on behalf of four other bodies, and one of them, Cambridgeshire County Council, takes nearly three quarters of it.
The district council publishes the band D figure for each of those bodies, but not the full A to H table. The complete table sits in an appendix to the council tax resolution its members approved on 24 February 2026. The numbers below come from that document and from the council’s own pages, checked on 26 August 2026.
The full band table for 2026/27
These are the charges before your parish or town council adds its precept. Every household in the district pays at least this much.
| Band | 1991 value | 2026/27 charge |
|---|---|---|
| A | Up to £40,000 | £1,605.73 |
| B | £40,001 to £52,000 | £1,873.35 |
| C | £52,001 to £68,000 | £2,140.97 |
| D | £68,001 to £88,000 | £2,408.59 |
| E | £88,001 to £120,000 | £2,943.83 |
| F | £120,001 to £160,000 | £3,479.07 |
| G | £160,001 to £320,000 | £4,014.32 |
| H | More than £320,000 | £4,817.18 |
Five parishes charge no precept at all, so their residents pay exactly these figures: Abington Pigotts, Bartlow, Childerley, Conington and Papworth St Agnes. Everybody else adds their parish’s own charge on top.
A note on the council’s own page. Its banding page prints band E as “£68,001 to £120,000”, which is the bottom of band D repeated. The correct range, and the one the Valuation Office Agency uses, starts at £88,001. The band values themselves are unaffected; they are based on what a property was worth on 1 April 1991, not today.
Where the money actually goes
What went up, and by how much
Four of the five precepting bodies raised their charge for 2026/27. One did not.
| Authority | Band D 2026/27 | Change | Rise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridgeshire County Council | £1,785.42 | +£84.78 | 4.99% |
| Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner | £314.37 | +£14.94 | 4.99% |
| South Cambridgeshire District Council | £180.64 | +£5.24 | 2.99% |
| Cambridgeshire Fire Authority | £92.16 | +£4.95 | 5.68% |
| Combined Authority mayoral precept | £36.00 | No change | 0% |
| Total before parish | £2,408.59 | +£109.91 | 4.8% |
Two details are worth pulling out of that table.
The county council’s 4.99% is two increases in one: 2.99% general council tax plus 2% ring-fenced to adult social care. It works out at an extra £1.63 a week on a band D home.
The fire authority’s 5.68% is the largest percentage rise of the five, but on the smallest base. It costs a band D household £4.95 more over the year, against £84.78 from the county.
The mayoral precept has stayed at £36 since the Combined Authority board set it, and the money goes to bus route improvements.
Your parish adds its own charge
This is the part that makes two identical houses in neighbouring villages pay different bills. The council lists 102 parishes, and 97 of them set a precept for 2026/27. The band D amounts run from nothing to £319.17, with a median of £91.48.
| Village | Parish precept, band D | Total band D bill |
|---|---|---|
| Cambourne | £319.17 | £2,727.76 |
| Great Shelford | £195.66 | £2,604.25 |
| Duxford | £179.18 | £2,587.77 |
| Melbourn | £162.89 | £2,571.48 |
| Linton | £160.54 | £2,569.13 |
| Gamlingay | £155.69 | £2,564.28 |
| Sawston | £153.91 | £2,562.50 |
| Histon | £133.32 | £2,541.91 |
| Cottenham | £130.88 | £2,539.47 |
| Bar Hill | £130.54 | £2,539.13 |
| Waterbeach | £130.00 | £2,538.59 |
| Girton | £115.20 | £2,523.79 |
| Northstowe | £113.58 | £2,522.17 |
| Fulbourn | £103.43 | £2,512.02 |
| Harston | £97.54 | £2,506.13 |
| Milton | £80.44 | £2,489.03 |
| Boxworth | £24.27 | £2,432.86 |
| Bartlow | £0.00 | £2,408.59 |
A band D household in Cambourne pays £319.17 more than one in Bartlow, and the whole of that gap is the parish charge. Cambourne is the district’s largest settlement, with a tax base of 4,678 band D equivalent homes, and its town council runs services that most villages here do not.
The figures for all 102 parishes, at every band from A to H, are in the council’s parish precept document for 2026/27.
Checking and challenging your band
Your band was set on what the property would have sold for on 1 April 1991, not on what it is worth now. Look it up free on the government’s council tax band search.
If you think it is wrong, the appeal goes to the Valuation Office Agency, not to the council. Contact the VOA directly. Two things to know before you start:
- a challenge can move your band up as well as down, and it can move your neighbours’ too
- keep paying the current bill while it is considered, because a challenge does not suspend it
The district council can only change your bill for a discount or exemption. It cannot change your band.
Discounts and exemptions
From the council’s discounts page, which assumes two adults live in every home:
- Single person discount: 25% if you are the only adult resident. It is reviewed periodically.
- All-student households are exempt. One non-student adult among students gets the 25% discount instead.
- Apprentices are disregarded, if their salary or allowance is no more than £195 a week.
- Severe mental impairment is a disregard, with a doctor’s confirmation and a qualifying benefit.
- Major repairs or structural alterations: 100% discount for up to 12 months. Rewiring, replastering, new kitchens, bathrooms, damp treatment and redecoration do not count.
- After a death, an unoccupied property can be exempt until six months after probate is granted.
Applications are usually processed within 28 days. Keep paying your instalments until the discount is granted.
If you are struggling to pay rather than looking for a discount, the council runs a council tax reduction scheme and a discretionary reduction scheme, both reached from its discounts and support page.
Empty homes and second homes cost more, not less
South Cambridgeshire has tightened both, and 2026 was the year the rules changed. From its empty property page:
- from 1 April 2026, second homes pay a 100% premium, so double the normal bill
- also from 1 April 2026, the empty home premium starts after one year, down from two
- a home empty five years or more pays a 200% premium
- a home empty ten years or more pays a 300% premium
At band D, a 300% premium on an empty Cambourne house means a bill of £10,911.04 rather than £2,727.76.
More local information
- South Cambs bin collection days and what the tips charge
- Parking in South Cambridgeshire, and why the district runs no car parks
- Roadworks and travel for this week’s closures
Sources
- Check your Council Tax banding and see where your money goes, South Cambridgeshire District Council for the band D figure for each precepting body and the district’s own 2025/26 and 2026/27 comparison.
- Council Tax Parish Council Precepts 2026/27, South Cambridgeshire District Council, the council tax resolution supplement to the Council meeting of 24 February 2026, for the full A to H table, every parish precept and the tax base.
- Council tax charges and bands, Cambridgeshire County Council for the county’s 4.99% rise and the 2.99% plus 2% adult social care split.
- Check if you are eligible for a discount for the single person, student, apprentice and repair discounts.
- Charges for empty properties and second homes for the 100%, 200% and 300% premiums and the April 2026 changes.
- Council Tax bands, GOV.UK and Contact the VOA for the band ranges and the appeal route.
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