The full A to H table for 2026/27 in Leamington, Warwick, Kenilworth and Whitnash, what each precept added, and why Whitnash pays £64.46 more than Leamington.
An identical band D house pays £2,445.76 in Royal Leamington Spa and £2,510.22 in Whitnash, a mile and a half down the Tachbrook Road. The difference is £64.46, and every penny of it is the town council.
Warwick District Council publishes the full schedule, but only as a table of 25 parishes with no explanation of what makes them differ. This page pulls out the four towns, sets them against last year, and shows exactly which authority takes what.
The quick answer
- Band D in Leamington: £2,445.76 for 2026/27, up £103.33 on last year.
- Warwick: £2,471.42. Kenilworth: £2,448.90. Whitnash: £2,510.22.
- Warwickshire County Council takes £1,903.86 of it, 77.8% of a Leamington bill.
- Warwickshire Police take £318.71, 13.0%.
- Warwick District Council keeps £193.21, 7.9%.
- The rest is your town or parish council, from £0 in Bushwood to £111.52 in Leek Wootton.
- Check your band on the Valuation Office Agency site.
The full A to H table for 2026/27
Warwick District Council set these charges on 18 February 2026, for the year from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
| Band | Leamington Spa | Warwick | Kenilworth | Whitnash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,630.51 | £1,647.61 | £1,632.60 | £1,673.48 |
| B | £1,902.26 | £1,922.22 | £1,904.70 | £1,952.39 |
| C | £2,174.01 | £2,196.82 | £2,176.80 | £2,231.31 |
| D | £2,445.76 | £2,471.42 | £2,448.90 | £2,510.22 |
| E | £2,989.26 | £3,020.62 | £2,993.10 | £3,068.05 |
| F | £3,532.76 | £3,569.83 | £3,537.30 | £3,625.87 |
| G | £4,076.27 | £4,119.03 | £4,081.50 | £4,183.70 |
| H | £4,891.52 | £4,942.84 | £4,897.80 | £5,020.44 |
What makes up the bill
Only the last line varies by where you live. The other three are the same everywhere in Warwick district.
| Authority | Band D | Share | Change on 2025/26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warwickshire County Council | £1,903.86 | 77.8% | up £80.91, 4.4% |
| Warwickshire Police & Crime Commissioner | £318.71 | 13.0% | up £15.00, 4.94% |
| Warwick District Council | £193.21 | 7.9% | up £5.61, 2.99% |
| Royal Leamington Spa Town Council | £29.98 | 1.2% | precept up £26,300 |
| Total, Leamington Spa | £2,445.76 | 100% | up £103.33, 4.41% |
Sources: Warwick District Council’s guide to your council tax 2026-27, Warwickshire County Council’s council tax and spending 2026/27, and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s 2026/27 budget.
The county council raised its share by 4.4%, which it says includes the 2% adult social care precept and is below the maximum it was allowed. Band D went from £1,822.95 to £1,903.86. Its own leaflet breaks that £1,904 down by directorate: £842 to social care and health, £394 to communities, £392 to children and young people, £156 to resources and £120 to corporate services.
The police precept rose 4.94%, an increase of exactly £15 at band D. The Police and Crime Panel approved it unanimously on 2 February 2026.
The district council put its own share up 2.99%, or £5.61 a year. It keeps just under 8p in every pound it collects; the other 92p goes to the county, the police and the town and parish councils.
Every parish, at band D
The district-wide average town and parish precept is £45.77 at band D, but that average hides a range from nothing at all to £111.52.
| Parish or town | Parish share | Total at band D |
|---|---|---|
| Bushwood | £0.00 | £2,415.78 |
| Hatton | £18.31 | £2,434.09 |
| Shrewley | £26.98 | £2,442.76 |
| Lapworth | £29.44 | £2,445.22 |
| Royal Leamington Spa | £29.98 | £2,445.76 |
| Kenilworth | £33.12 | £2,448.90 |
| Baddesley Clinton | £38.87 | £2,454.65 |
| Rowington | £39.17 | £2,454.95 |
| Radford Semele | £40.50 | £2,456.28 |
| Old Milverton & Blackdown | £45.40 | £2,461.18 |
| Norton Lindsey | £46.66 | £2,462.44 |
| Cubbington | £51.87 | £2,467.65 |
| Budbrooke | £52.09 | £2,467.87 |
| Burton Green | £54.32 | £2,470.10 |
| Eathorpe, Hunningham, Offchurch, Wappenbury | £55.20 | £2,470.98 |
| Warwick | £55.64 | £2,471.42 |
| Stoneleigh & Ashow | £56.74 | £2,472.52 |
| Bishops Tachbrook | £58.26 | £2,474.04 |
| Beausale, Haseley, Honiley & Wroxall | £58.27 | £2,474.05 |
| Baginton | £61.99 | £2,477.77 |
| Bubbenhall | £63.70 | £2,479.48 |
| Weston-under-Wetherley | £74.13 | £2,489.91 |
| Barford, Sherbourne & Wasperton | £81.95 | £2,497.73 |
| Whitnash | £94.44 | £2,510.22 |
| Leek Wootton and Guy's Cliffe | £111.52 | £2,527.30 |
Two things stand out. Leamington, the largest town in the district, has one of the cheapest bills in it, fifth of 25, because a town council serving tens of thousands of households can spread a £523,394 precept very thinly. And Whitnash is second dearest, above every village in the district bar one, because its precept of £343,822 falls on far fewer homes.
The four town councils’ precepts moved very differently this year:
- Kenilworth: £291,815 to £349,840, a rise of 19.9%
- Warwick: £690,140 to £753,008, up 9.1%
- Royal Leamington Spa: £497,094 to £523,394, up 5.3%
- Whitnash: £342,925 to £343,822, up 0.3%
Kenilworth’s rise is by far the steepest, and its guide entry shows where it went: grants and town projects rose from £95,000 to £139,000.
How the bands work, and how to challenge yours
Bands are set on what a property would have sold for on 1 April 1991, not on what it is worth now. Band A is up to £40,000, band D is £68,001 to £88,000, and band H is anything over £320,000.
Bands are the Valuation Office Agency’s responsibility, not the council’s. There are two ways to challenge and the difference matters:
- A proposal is a formal challenge, open in limited circumstances such as having paid council tax on the property for less than six months. The VOA must review your band by law.
- A band review is informal, open to anyone, but the VOA only looks at it if you provide strong evidence.
You do not need an agent to do either, and you should be wary of anyone who offers. The council keeps a warning on its own page about people cold-calling to claim band reductions. Charges stay payable while an appeal is outstanding; if you win, the overpayment is refunded or credited.
Discounts and premiums
- Single person discount: 25% if you are the only adult aged 18 or over living there as your main home. Apply on the council’s single person discount form.
- Students are disregarded, but if you live in University of Warwick accommodation the council does extra checks first and uses a different form.
- Council tax reduction for low incomes is a local scheme, so national calculators only approximate it. Apply through the council tax reduction pages.
- Second adult rebate exists only for people of pension age.
- Disabled band reduction, annexe discounts and discretionary section 13A reductions are all available on application.
Empty homes are expensive here. Warwick district has given no exemption at all for empty, unfurnished properties since 1 April 2017, and the premium escalates:
- empty over 1 year: 200% of the full charge
- empty over 5 years: 300%
- empty over 10 years: 400%
The premium attaches to the property, not to the owner. Buy a house that has already stood empty for more than a year and the premium is on your bill from day one.
Second homes are the one place the council’s own website contradicts itself. The note at the foot of the charges schedule says second home owners have been charged a 100% premium since 1 April 2025. The council’s dedicated second homes page says the opposite: it currently charges 100% council tax with no premium, and the premium was only approved at full council on 25 March 2026, to start on 1 April 2027. The later page is the one with the decision date and the consultation attached, so take that one. The consultation ran from December 2025 to January 2026 and drew 502 responses, 65.5% in favour.
What changes in 2028
The Government has decided to replace Warwickshire’s six councils with two unitary authorities, one for the north and one for the south covering Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick districts. The county’s timetable puts shadow elections in April or May 2027 and vesting day in April 2028.
That means the £1,903.86 county line and the £193.21 district line on your bill will merge into one from April 2028. Town and parish precepts are unaffected, which is why the Whitnash and Leek Wootton figures above will still differ afterwards.
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