Council tax explained
How will this affect you?
We are doing everything we can to balance our budget, make efficiencies and work with the Government for a fairer deal for Lewisham, but without raising council tax we won’t have the money to fund the important services we all need and value, like community safety, parks, libraries, leisure centres, youth services and waste collection services.
To keep these services going, we are increasing council tax by 4.99%.
In Lewisham average Band D properties will pay about £1.58 extra per week. The Mayor of London is also increasing his element of council tax, meaning in total, average bills will go up by just under £9 a month.
Despite a challenging financial backdrop, the budget prioritises its investment into making local streets cleaner, greener and safer, supporting young people with investment in youth clubs and adventure playgrounds, and supporting people into work with jobs and skills training.
We are proud of the work we do that we know makes a difference to those who need it most, from free school meals so no child goes hungry during school holidays, to making sure our Family Hubs are available all over the borough, to strengthening our jobs and skills offer, especially for our young people.
While we tackle the budget challenges head on, we are ambitious about our future and look forward to delivering projects, including:
- the £24m Lewisham Town Centre improvements
- welcoming new businesses and partners to Catford Town Centre
- building the new Council homes our local residents need
- making it easier to keep our streets clean and green with increased fly-tipping enforcement and reduced bulky waste collection fees
Lewisham has a history of strong financial management, and we remain focused on doing everything we can to balance our budgets while continuing to provide the vital services we all use and value. We will also continue to make Lewisham’s voice heard and continue lobby the Government for a fair deal and an overhaul of how councils are funded.
How do we spend our budget?
More information about how we spend our budget.
What does your council tax go towards?
- 17 million bin collections (that’s nearly 7,000 London red buses) - and 16,000 tonnes of recycling, the same weight as 2,800 elephants
- eight Family Hubs
- a brand-new youth centre – Riverside - that support hundreds of families and young people
- supporting 5,164 people through adult social care, carrying out 5,000 assessments, providing 828,263 hours of homecare and dealing with 3,376 safeguarding concerns
- maintenance of our 47 parks and green spaces and retaining our Green flags status
- 11 libraries with books, employment support, and digital access, which are visited over 1 million times
- we have worked with Lewisham Local and our VCS partners to provide 43 warm spaces across the borough
- maintenance of over 1,200km of roads and pavements
Help paying your council tax
If you are worried about paying your council tax, the best thing you can do it get in touch with us, we are here to help and will do everything we can to support those who may find it difficult to pay. We are continuing to invest in our Council Tax Reduction Scheme, so if you’re worried about paying your council tax, please speak to us, as support may be available.
We also have several resources available at our online support hub.
If your financial situation has changed recently you may also be eligible for other support.
How are Councils funded?
Councils are funded through a combination of business rates, central Government grants and council tax. We also generate income through one off grants, rents and investments. The council’s budget for 2026/27 was approved by Full Council on Wednesday 4 March.
While the Local Government Finance Settlement announced recently was an improvement on what we have been allocated in the past, and our budget will increase slightly over the next couple of years, there is still a way to go to meet the budget shortfall and make the savings we need to.
What are the pressures?
Councils across the country are feeling the impact, but especially those in London, where we face a combined shortfall of over £1b next year.
Based on current trends in service demand and expected government funding levels, London Councils anticipates a cumulative £4.7bn shortfall for boroughs over the next four years.
Housing and social care services remain our biggest costs. While we have managed to reduce those on the housing waiting list, however, 2,500 households still remain in need of a good, stable home. The housing crisis means many can no longer afford to rent in the private sector and turn to the Council for help which means our temporary accommodation costs remain high. The cost of supporting children with social care has increased and likewise, the cost of supporting adult social care needs has also increased significantly.