The full band A to H charge for Wirral in 2026/27, up 4.99%. Where the money goes, the band G error on the council's own page, and support cut to 50% in April.
A band A home in Wirral pays £1,667.06 in 2026/27. Band D pays £2,500.59. The bill went up 4.99% across every band, and the same charge applies everywhere in the borough, because Wirral has no parish or town councils adding a precept on top.
Three things about this year’s bill.
- The council’s own band table has a mistake in band G. It prints £4,167.96. Two other tables on the council’s own site, and the statutory ratio between the bands, both give £4,167.65.
- The police precept rose more than the council’s own share. Merseyside Police went up 5.38%, the fire authority 5.19%, and the city region mayor froze his at £24.
- Council tax support was cut hard. From 1 April the most a working age household can get is 50% off. Until 31 March it was 82.5%.
Everything below comes from Wirral Council’s own council tax pages and its January 2026 committee report, read on 30 August 2026.
The full table for 2026/27
| Band | 1991 property value | 2025/26 | 2026/27 | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Up to £40,000 | £1,587.78 | £1,667.06 | £79.28 |
| B | £40,001 to £52,000 | £1,852.41 | £1,944.90 | £92.49 |
| C | £52,001 to £68,000 | £2,117.03 | £2,222.75 | £105.72 |
| D | £68,001 to £88,000 | £2,381.66 | £2,500.59 | £118.93 |
| E | £88,001 to £120,000 | £2,910.91 | £3,056.28 | £145.37 |
| F | £120,001 to £160,000 | £3,440.18 | £3,611.96 | £171.78 |
| G | £160,001 to £320,000 | £3,969.44 | £4,167.65 | £198.21 |
| H | Over £320,000 | £4,763.32 | £5,001.18 | £237.86 |
Source: Council Tax bands and charges, Wirral Council, with band G corrected as set out below.
Band A is the one that matters most here. Both Merseyside Police and Merseyside Fire and Rescue describe band A as where the majority of Merseyside taxpayers sit, and the fire authority puts its own band A charge at “about 18p per day”.
The band G number to use
The council’s headline table gives band G as £4,167.96 for 2026/27. That figure is wrong, and the council contradicts it twice on its own website.
- Its instalment table for band G totals £4,167.65.
- Its breakdown of the four charges for band G adds up to £4,167.65.
The law fixes each band as a ratio of band D. Band G is 15 ninths of band D, and 15 ninths of £2,500.59 is £4,167.65. Every other band on the council’s table matches its ratio exactly. Band G is the only one that does not, and £4,167.96 looks like two digits transposed. If your bill says £4,167.65, it is right.
Where the money goes
| Band | Wirral Council | Merseyside Police | Merseyside Fire | City Region | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,387.58 | £195.98 | £67.50 | £16.00 | £1,667.06 |
| B | £1,618.84 | £228.64 | £78.75 | £18.67 | £1,944.90 |
| C | £1,850.11 | £261.31 | £90.00 | £21.33 | £2,222.75 |
| D | £2,081.37 | £293.97 | £101.25 | £24.00 | £2,500.59 |
| E | £2,543.90 | £359.30 | £123.75 | £29.33 | £3,056.28 |
| F | £3,006.42 | £424.62 | £146.25 | £34.67 | £3,611.96 |
| G | £3,468.95 | £489.95 | £168.75 | £40.00 | £4,167.65 |
| H | £4,162.74 | £587.94 | £202.50 | £48.00 | £5,001.18 |
Source: How is Council Tax calculated?, Wirral Council.
Wirral Council keeps 83% of the bill. The three other bodies split the rest.
- Merseyside Police raised its band D precept from £278.97 to £293.97, an increase of £15 or 5.38%. Its gross budget rises from £501.9m to £527.1m (Wirral Council).
- Merseyside Fire and Rescue raised its band D precept from £96.25 to £101.25, an increase of £5 or 5.19%. Wirral’s share of the £41.214m precept is £10.205m, or 24.76% (Wirral Council).
- The Liverpool City Region mayoral precept is frozen at £24 for band D, £16 for band A (Wirral Council).
There is no parish line, because Wirral has no civil parishes. The whole borough pays the same, which is unusual for a council covering both Birkenhead and Caldy.
The levies you pay but never see
Wirral’s bill also funds five levies that do not appear as a separate line, because they come out of the council’s own share rather than being precepted.
| Levy | Wirral's contribution |
|---|---|
| Transport | £24,584,567 |
| Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority | £19,280,706 |
| Flood defence | £206,263 |
| Port health | £130,267 |
| Sea fisheries | £104,630 |
Source: Financial summary, Wirral Council.
The waste levy is what pays for the three tips at Bidston, Clatterbridge and West Kirby, and for disposing of everything the bin lorries pick up. Across Merseyside it works out at £57.99 a head this year, up from £57.32 (Wirral Council).
Wirral’s net requirement for 2026/27 is £252,024,876, spread over a tax base of 100,786 band D equivalent properties. The council is also drawing a £5,969,690 capitalisation directive, which is government permission to plug a revenue gap with capital resources.
Checking and challenging your band
Your band depends on what the property would have sold for on 1 April 1991, not on what it is worth now. A rise or fall in the housing market since then is not a reason to change it.
- Look up your band on GOV.UK, or use the council’s own band search.
- Challenges go to the Valuation Office Agency, not to Wirral Council, which says it “has no control over banding and does not deal with these appeals”. The VOA is on 03000 501 501.
- Keep paying while you challenge. You have to pay at the current band until the appeal is decided.
If it is the bill rather than the band that is wrong, that is the council’s job. Dates you moved in or out, a discount you were refused, the wrong person named as liable: all of those go to Wirral Council, and if it does not answer within two months you can go to the Valuation Tribunal (Wirral Council).
Discounts
- One adult in the house: 25% off. The sole occupier discount.
- Nobody countable in the house: 50% off. Students, apprentices, Youth Training trainees, student nurses, people who are severely mentally impaired and their carers are all disregarded. Three adults with two disregarded still gets 25%.
- Full-time students are disregarded if the course lasts an academic year, runs at least 24 weeks and takes at least 21 hours a week of term-time study.
Empty and second homes go the other way in Wirral, and the premiums are steep.
| Property | Premium | Total payable |
|---|---|---|
| Second home, furnished, nobody's main residence | 100% | 200% of the full charge |
| Empty and unfurnished 1 to 5 years | 100% | 200% |
| Empty and unfurnished 5 to 10 years | 200% | 300% |
| Empty and unfurnished over 10 years | 300% | 400% |
Sources: Long Term Empty Property Premium and Unoccupied and furnished properties and second homes, Wirral Council.
The premium follows the property, not the owner. Buying a house that has stood empty for six years means walking into a 300% bill, and the clock does not reset on the sale. The council’s empty properties team is on 0151 691 8132.
Council tax support was cut on 1 April
This is the biggest change to hit Wirral bills this year, and it did not come with an increase in the headline rate.
Until 31 March 2026, the maximum help a working age household could get was 82.5% off the bill. From 1 April 2026 the maximum is 50%, and support is capped at the band D level whatever band you actually live in. Everyone eligible now pays at least half.
Wirral Council’s Policy and Resources Committee approved the change at Wallasey Town Hall on 14 January 2026. The council’s own report describes the decision as “Reduce maximum support to 50% (from 82.5%)” and expects it to save £4 million against a forecast budget gap of £32.4 million (Wirral Council).
The 2026/27 scheme is income banded. What you get depends on weekly household income after disregards.
| Discount | Single | Single, 1 child | Couple | Couple, 1 child |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50% | Up to £130 | Up to £182 | Up to £182 | Up to £236 |
| 40% | £130.01 to £182 | £182.01 to £234 | £182.01 to £234 | £236.01 to £286 |
| 30% | £182.01 to £234 | £234.01 to £286 | £234.01 to £286 | £286.01 to £338 |
| 20% | £234.01 to £286 | £286.01 to £338 | £286.01 to £338 | £338.01 to £390 |
| Nothing | Over £286 | Over £338 | Over £338 | Over £390 |
Source: Council Tax Reduction for working age people, Wirral Council.
Two more rules bite. Savings or capital over £6,000 rule you out entirely if you are of working age, and over £16,000 if you are pension age and not getting Guaranteed Pension Credit. From April, Carer’s Allowance and the support component of Employment and Support Allowance count as income when the calculation is done, and the earnings disregard is £20 a week. Pension age households are on the national scheme and were not affected by any of this.
To soften it, the council doubled its discretionary hardship fund from £100,000 to £200,000 from 1 April, redrafted the scheme to support terminally ill residents, and kept the care leaver exemption to 25.
Paying
The bill can be spread over 10 or 12 monthly instalments. Ten months runs April to January. If your bill is reissued part way through the year, the remaining months are recalculated and the amounts will not match the published table. The council’s council tax line is 0151 606 2002.
Also on Wirral Online
- Wirral bin collection days: what your waste levy actually buys, and what moves at Christmas.
- Parking in Wirral: the council’s tariffs, permits and fines.
- Wirral house prices: what homes are selling for now, against the 1991 values the bands still use.
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