Council tax in Blaenau Gwent most expensive in Wales - Newport, Caerphilly among cheapest

Blaenau Gwent is the most expensive area of Wales for council tax when looking at band D properties.

As a result of it being the only place in Wales where band D homeowners pay more than £2,000 per year, the Gwent average is pushed above the Welsh average.

However, there is a lot of variation in the figures, with Caerphilly and Newport ranking in the three cheapest areas of Wales for council tax.

Someone living in a band D property in Blaenau Gwent will have to pay more than £500 per year more than someone over the border in Caerphilly.

Three of Gwent's five local authority areas pay more than the Welsh average for band D council tax, but only Blaenau Gwent pays more than the UK average.

Homeowners in Blaenau Gwent pay £2,009 per year in council tax.

The next highest in Gwent is in Monmouthshire, which charges £1,717 per year.

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Torfaen residents pay £1,689 annually, while those in Newport and Caerphilly pay £1,478 and £1,471 per year respectively.

Only Pembrokeshire charges less in band D council tax than those.

The average across Gwent is £1,673, slightly higher than the Welsh average of £1,666.

Nationally, it turns out that those in rural areas pay a lot more council tax than those in cities, with Rutland, the UK’s smallest county and home to just 40,000 people, paying the highest overall, at £2,125 for a band D property, which is £307 more than the national average £1,818.

This was followed by Nottingham and Dorest, both of which pay £2,119, and Lewes in East Sussex, at £2,111.

At the other end of the spectrum, who spends the least on council tax? Well, it’s actually those who are living in some of the country’s most expensive areas.

The four cheapest places for council tax were all located in London, with those in Westminster paying as little as £782 for a band D property.

The rest of the cheapest areas were all found in Scotland, where council tax is generally cheaper, although residents do have to pay an extra charge to the council for their public water and sewage alongside their council tax.