Council tax changes from April 2027: what they mean when you move

• ✓The government's response to its council tax consultation, updated 15 April 2026, says it will extend the time before you lose the right to pay in instalments 'until at least 63 days after the first missed payment'. It adds that 'enforcement will not begin until at least 3 payments have been missed'.
• ✓On 12 October 2026 the government confirmed the steps that start in April 2027: councils must send a reminder and then a final notice before you lose the right to pay in instalments.
• ✓The final notice can go out no earlier than 41 days after the first missed payment, and at least 14 days after the last reminder. You then have 21 days to bring the account up to date, or the rest of the year's bill falls due on the 63rd day.
• ✓Reminders and final notices will have to point you to debt advice, to the council to talk about a payment plan, and to the discounts and other support you might be entitled to.
• ✓The government will 'set a cap of £100 on the costs that councils can charge for seeking a liability order'. It said the changes need a statutory instrument to be 'laid later this year with the intention of these changes coming into effect from April 2027'.
• ✓Bailiffs collecting council tax, including councils' own in-house enforcement agents, will have to be accredited by the Enforcement Conduct Board, under reforms the Ministry of Justice announced on 28 August 2026.

Sources: GOV.UK: modernising and improving the administration of council tax, government response (updated 15 April 2026) (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: council tax information letter 5/2026 (12 October 2026) (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: improving enforcement of council tax, government response (updated 12 October 2026) (read 15 October 2026); MHCLG in the Media: more time and clearer warnings before council tax action (12 October 2026) (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓The April 2026 response says that 'by default, council tax will be billed over 12 monthly instalments from April 2028', and that households keep 'the right to request 10-monthly billing'.
• ✓It also said that 'from April 2027, any new liable taxpayers will be placed on 12 monthly instalments'. On 12 October 2026 the government dropped that automatic move: councils will 'not be expected to move newly liable households to 12-month billing automatically unless requested'.
• ✓Instead, the government expects councils to make sure every newly liable household in their area knows, from April 2027, that it can ask for 12-month billing.
• ✓You do not have to wait. Regulation 21 of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 already lets you ask the council in writing for 12 monthly instalments, before or after the bill is issued, in England and Wales.
• ✓GOV.UK says the cost is usually split into 10 monthly payments, and that councils can help if you are having trouble paying, for example by spreading payments over 12 months instead of 10.
• ✓Taupia's arithmetic on England's average Band D bill for 2026/27, £2,392 (MHCLG): £239.20 a month over 10 instalments, or £199.33 over 12. Your own bill depends on your council and your band.

Sources: GOV.UK: modernising and improving the administration of council tax, government response (updated 15 April 2026) (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: council tax information letter 5/2026 (12 October 2026) (read 15 October 2026); legislation.gov.uk: Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, regulation 21 (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: paying your Council Tax bill (read 15 October 2026); MHCLG: Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (25 March 2026) (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓GOV.UK says your council sends a reminder notice giving you 7 days to pay if you miss a payment. If you do not pay within 7 days, you have to pay the whole year's council tax instead.
• ✓You get at most 2 reminder notices in a financial year. Miss a third payment and the council sends a final notice for the whole year's council tax.
• ✓If the bill is still unpaid, the council can ask a magistrate for a liability order and add its legal costs to what you owe. It can then ask your employer to take the money from your wages, take it from some benefits, or send bailiffs.
• ✓A court can send someone to prison for up to 3 months if it decides they have no good reason not to pay and they refuse to (GOV.UK). The government says 'A person cannot be sent to prison for being unable to pay council tax'.
• ✓Contact the council as soon as you know a payment will be late. GOV.UK says you can choose to spread payments over 12 months instead of the usual 10, and to check whether you can get Council Tax Reduction or a discount.

Sources: GOV.UK: pay Council Tax arrears (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: modernising and improving the administration of council tax, government response (updated 15 April 2026) (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓Wales: since 1 April 2026, a final notice cannot be served less than 41 days after a missed payment or less than 14 days after the latest reminder, and you then have 21 days to pay before the rest of the year falls due (Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2025).
• ✓The Welsh Government described this as 63 days to address missed payments before enforcement action. Citizens Advice says that in Wales you have the right to pay by 10 instalments and can ask for 12.
• ✓Scotland: mygov.scot says a missed payment brings a reminder to bring your payments up to date within 7 days. If you do not, the full remaining balance for the year is due, with another 7 days to pay it. A third missed payment, or any missed after 31 December, brings a final notice instead.
• ✓After a Scottish final notice the council can add 10% to what you owe and ask a sheriff officer to take it from your earnings or bank account. Bills are usually 10 monthly payments, and councils may offer weekly, fortnightly or 12-month options (mygov.scot).
• ✓Northern Ireland: homes pay domestic rates to Land & Property Services, in one payment or over 10 months. Miss an instalment and LPS sends a reminder to pay within 7 days. Its final notice comes 40 days after the original rate bill, ends the automatic right to pay by instalments and gives 10 days to pay the rest (nidirect).

Sources: legislation.gov.uk: Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2025 (read 15 October 2026); Welsh Government: new rules confirmed for fairer council tax collection (26 September 2025) (read 15 October 2026); Citizens Advice: check how council tax works (Wales) (read 15 October 2026); mygov.scot: if you cannot pay your Council Tax (read 15 October 2026); mygov.scot: paying your Council Tax bill (read 15 October 2026); nidirect: what happens if you miss an instalment payment (read 15 October 2026); nidirect: introducing your rate bill (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓From April 2027, the government expects councils to tell every newly liable household that it can ask for 12-month billing (MHCLG, 12 October 2026).
• ✓Regulation 21 lets you make that request in writing now, before or after the bill, in England and Wales.
• ✓GOV.UK says to apply for any discount or exemption even if you are not counted, and to contact the council straight away if you are having trouble paying.

Sources: GOV.UK: find your local council (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: council tax information letter 5/2026 (12 October 2026) (read 15 October 2026); legislation.gov.uk: Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, regulation 21 (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: Council Tax, who has to pay (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: paying your Council Tax bill (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓Taupia is not the council and does not contact it for you. You register, ask for 12 instalments and claim discounts with the council yourself.
• ✓Add your new address and Taupia finds the council, and the band where it can match the address, and flags the discounts that might apply.
• ✓Council tax sits on the same list as energy, broadband, water and mobile, split by your household's own rule, with who has paid shown to everyone. No money moves through Taupia.
• ✓Taupia is free.