Hemel Hempstead pays Dacorum's lowest council tax at £2,381.40 on band D. Full A to H table for all 17 areas, and the parish that put its precept up 43.8%.

A band D home in Hemel Hempstead pays £2,381.40 in 2026-27. That is the cheapest council tax bill anywhere in Dacorum, and the reason is that Hemel Hempstead has no parish or town council to add a precept. The same band D in Markyate pays £2,471.80, £90.40 more, for the same borough and county services (Dacorum Borough Council).

Dacorum buries the full table in a 173KB PDF. It is reproduced below in full, along with what each precepting body took and how much each one went up.

Every band, every area

Area A B C D E F G H
Unparished (Hemel Hempstead) £1,587.60 £1,852.20 £2,116.81 £2,381.40 £2,910.60 £3,439.79 £3,969.00 £4,762.80
Northchurch £1,611.23 £1,879.77 £2,148.32 £2,416.85 £2,953.93 £3,491.00 £4,028.08 £4,833.70
Great Gaddesden £1,611.33 £1,879.89 £2,148.45 £2,417.00 £2,954.11 £3,491.21 £4,028.33 £4,834.00
Nash Mills £1,611.59 £1,880.19 £2,148.80 £2,417.39 £2,954.59 £3,491.78 £4,028.98 £4,834.78
Flaunden £1,612.63 £1,881.41 £2,150.19 £2,418.95 £2,956.49 £3,494.03 £4,031.58 £4,837.90
Tring Town £1,612.79 £1,881.59 £2,150.40 £2,419.19 £2,956.79 £3,494.38 £4,031.98 £4,838.38
Wigginton £1,613.11 £1,881.96 £2,150.82 £2,419.66 £2,957.36 £3,495.05 £4,032.77 £4,839.32
Nettleden/Potten End £1,613.58 £1,882.51 £2,151.45 £2,420.37 £2,958.23 £3,496.08 £4,033.95 £4,840.74
Little Gaddesden £1,627.67 £1,898.95 £2,170.24 £2,441.51 £2,984.07 £3,526.62 £4,069.18 £4,883.02
Flamstead £1,628.01 £1,899.35 £2,170.69 £2,442.02 £2,984.69 £3,527.35 £4,070.03 £4,884.04
Bovingdon £1,628.90 £1,900.38 £2,171.88 £2,443.35 £2,986.32 £3,529.27 £4,072.25 £4,886.70
Kings Langley £1,632.60 £1,904.70 £2,176.81 £2,448.90 £2,993.10 £3,537.29 £4,081.50 £4,897.80
Berkhamsted £1,633.62 £1,905.89 £2,178.17 £2,450.43 £2,994.97 £3,539.50 £4,084.05 £4,900.86
Aldbury £1,637.86 £1,910.84 £2,183.82 £2,456.79 £3,002.74 £3,548.69 £4,094.65 £4,913.58
Tring Rural £1,639.41 £1,912.64 £2,185.89 £2,459.11 £3,005.58 £3,552.04 £4,098.52 £4,918.22
Chipperfield £1,639.50 £1,912.75 £2,186.01 £2,459.25 £3,005.75 £3,552.24 £4,098.75 £4,918.50
Markyate £1,647.87 £1,922.51 £2,197.17 £2,471.80 £3,021.09 £3,570.37 £4,119.67 £4,943.60

Sorted cheapest to dearest. Note that “Tring Town” is cheaper than “Tring Rural” by £39.92 at band D, because the rural parish precept is more than twice the town council’s (Council Tax charges 2026-2027, PDF).

Where the money actually goes

How a Hemel Hempstead band D council tax bill of £2,381.40 splits in 2026-27

Three bodies share the bill in the unparished area, and one of them takes nearly four fifths of it.

Precept Band D 2025-26 Band D 2026-27 Change
Hertfordshire County Council, including the adult social care supplement £1,769.87 £1,858.19 up 4.99%
Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire £265.00 £280.00 up 5.66%
Dacorum Borough Council £236.15 £243.21 up 2.99%

Dacorum keeps 10.2p in every pound. Hertfordshire County Council takes 78.0p and the police take 11.8p (Council Tax leaflet 2026-2027, PDF).

There is no separate fire precept in Hertfordshire. Fire and rescue is one of the services funded inside the county council’s 78 per cent, which is why the county share here is higher than in counties with a standalone fire authority.

The borough’s own increase works out at £7.06 a year on band D. The police increase, at 5.66 per cent, is the steepest of the three, and it is the smallest slice.

The parishes: one rose 43.8 per cent, one fell

If you live outside Hemel Hempstead you pay a fourth charge on top. This is where the big movements are this year, and none of them appear on the council’s headline page.

Parish or town council Band D 2025-26 Band D 2026-27 Change
Bovingdon Parish Council £43.09 £61.95 up 43.8%
Little Gaddesden Parish Council £42.15 £60.11 up 42.6%
Tring Rural Parish Council £54.50 £77.71 up 42.6%
Markyate Parish Council £69.07 £90.40 up 30.9%
Berkhamsted Town Council £59.36 £69.03 up 16.3%
Nash Mills Parish Council £31.66 £35.99 up 13.7%
Wigginton Parish Council £34.06 £38.26 up 12.3%
Flamstead Parish Council £54.05 £60.62 up 12.2%
Kings Langley Parish Council £61.31 £67.50 up 10.1%
Nettleden with Potten End Parish Council £35.64 £38.97 up 9.3%
Northchurch Parish Council £32.92 £35.45 up 7.7%
Tring Town Council £35.28 £37.79 up 7.1%
Aldbury Parish Council £70.70 £75.39 up 6.6%
Chipperfield Parish Council £74.43 £77.85 up 4.6%
Flaunden Parish Council £36.46 £37.55 up 3.0%
Great Gaddesden Parish Council £36.11 £35.60 down 1.4%

Parish precepts are not capped, so a 43.8 per cent rise needs no referendum. In cash terms the movements are small, £18.86 a year in Bovingdon, and Great Gaddesden is the only council in the borough that cut its charge. The overall bill still rose everywhere: between 4.8 and 5.7 per cent depending on the parish, against 4.9 per cent in unparished Hemel Hempstead (Change in Council Tax charges from 2025-2026, PDF).

Hemel Hempstead may get a precept of its own

Hemel Hempstead is the only unparished part of Dacorum, and the council is consulting on changing that. A new town council would add £24.97 a year to a band D bill, with 30 councillors and first elections on 6 May 2027. The consultation closes on 18 September 2026.

The council’s own Section 151 officer has advised that £24.97 covers a first year in which minimal services are delivered, and is “likely to rise to be comparable with other Parishes within the area”. The average approved parish precept in Dacorum this year is £56.26. We covered the numbers in full: Hemel Hempstead parish council plan.

Checking and challenging your band

Bands were set on property values as at 1 April 1991, not today’s prices. Your bill states your band, and you can look up any address free at gov.uk/council-tax-bands, which queries the Valuation Office Agency’s list.

If you think the band is wrong, the challenge goes to the VOA, not to Dacorum, at gov.uk/challenge-council-tax-band. A challenge can move the band in either direction, so check what comparable properties on your street are banded at before you start.

Discounts and support

  • Single Person Discount, 25 per cent. A full bill assumes two adults. Fewer than two, and the discount applies. Certain residents are “disregarded persons” and are not counted towards the two, so a household of two can still qualify.
  • Students. Reductions and exemptions are available; a property occupied only by full-time students is exempt.
  • Disability. A reduction is available where the property has features needed by a disabled resident.
  • Council Tax Support. A means-tested reduction for people on a low income, including people in work. Apply through the council (help and support).
  • Dacorum Card. Free to residents receiving a means-tested benefit, and it cuts the price of council services including bulky waste collections (Dacorum Card).

Tell the council as soon as your circumstances change. It warns that failing to do so may result in a penalty.

Empty homes and second homes

Dacorum charges a full bill on a furnished second home, with no discount at all. On unfurnished empty property the premium escalates sharply (second homes and empty properties):

How long empty and unfurnished Charge
First month Nothing
After the first month Full charge
More than two years Twice the full charge
More than five years Three times the full charge
More than 10 years Four times the full charge

The clock runs with the property, not the owner. Buy a house that has stood empty for 21 months and your bill doubles three months later if it is still empty. On a band D in Hemel Hempstead, that takes £2,381.40 to £4,762.80.

Some empty property is exempt outright. The cases include where the occupier:

  • is in prison
  • is in hospital or a care home because of disability, illness or old age
  • has moved out to provide personal care for someone else
  • has died, in which case the exemption runs for up to six months after probate

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