Dwelling stock by council tax band

Summary

The 12 Lancashire authorities together had a combined dwelling stock figure of 578,910 in March 2025, which represented 2.2% of the total for England. Numbers in each of the Lancashire-14 authorities ranged from a high of 72,700 in Blackpool to 29,700 in Ribble Valley.

Analysis by council tax band shows that just around 60% of dwellings in Burnley and Pendle were in the lowest band 'A' (England = 23.7%). The highest tax bands of 'F' to 'H' accounted for 9.4% of properties in England but just 1.1% in Burnley and 1.2% in Blackpool and Hyndburn. In Ribble Valley and Fylde however the proportions were 16.7% and 11.5% respectively.

The council tax bands

The dwelling stock information contained in this report is derived from the Valuation Office Agency. It provides information on the number of domestic properties and their distribution across the eight standard council tax bands 'A to H'.

Dwellings are classified as accommodation which is normally lived in by one or more people, and include houses, flats, bungalows and maisonettes. Temporary structures such as caravans and houseboats are counted as dwellings if they are the main residence of a household. The precise definition that applies to this dataset is set out in section three of the 1992 Local Government Finance Act, and is concerned with establishing ownership, occupation and liability for council tax purposes. Each dwelling in England is assigned to one of eight council tax bands as shown in the table.

Band band A band B band C band D band E band F band G band H
Min value (£)   40,001 52,001 68,001 88,001 120,001 160,001 320,001
Max value (£) 40,000 52,000 68,000 88,000 120,000 160,000 320,000  

The council tax band of a property is based on the price a property would have fetched if it had been sold on the open market on 1 April 1991.

Dwelling stock results

In total, the dataset covered over 25 million dwellings in England in March 2025. Table 1 has the dwelling stock numbers for the local authorities in Lancashire. Blackpool, with 72,700 dwellings, had the largest stock of all Lancashire authorities, whilst Ribble Valley recorded the lowest number with 29,700. The dwelling stock in the Lancashire-12 area amounted to 578,910, which represents 16.7% of the North West total and 2.2% of the England figure. The most striking aspect about the results is the high proportions of dwellings in the lowest council tax band (A) in some Lancashire authorities. On average, 23.7% of dwellings in England were in council tax band 'A', but in Burnley and Pendle the percentages were just around 60%. In contrast, Fylde and Ribble Valley had rates of 17.2% and 13.1% respectively. Around a quarter (22.7%) of all the band 'A' dwellings in England are found in the North West region. 

Table 1 Dwelling stock by council tax band, March 2025 (table scrolls left to right to show all bands and combined values for bands F to H)

  Total band 'A' band 'A' % band 'B' band 'B' % band 'C' band 'C' % band 'D' band 'D' % band 'E' band 'E' % band 'F' band 'F' % band 'G' band 'G' % band 'H' band 'H' % bands 'F, G & H' bands 'F, G & H' %
Burnley 43,090 25,800 59.9% 5,850 13.6% 6,530 15.2% 3,080 7.1% 1,350 3.1% 340 0.8% 130 0.3% 20 0.1% 490 1.1%
Chorley 53,230 15,200 28.6% 12,200 22.9% 9,810 18.4% 7,020 13.2% 5,490 10.3% 2,390 4.5% 1,050 2.0% 70 0.1% 3,510 6.6%
Fylde 41,680 7,180 17.2% 7,030 16.9% 9,690 23.2% 7,560 18.1% 5,420 13.0% 2,920 7.1% 1,690 4.1% 140 0.3% 4,790 11.5%
Hyndburn 37,960 21,980 57.9% 5,870 15.5% 5,900 15.5% 2,850 7.6% 870 2.3% 280 0.7% 170 0.4% 10 0.0% 460 1.2%
Lancaster 67,020 23,600 35.2% 16,510 24.6% 12,830 19.1% 6,740 10.1% 4,270 6.4% 2,130 3.2% 870 1.3% 80 0.1% 3,080 4.6%
Pendle 41,660 25,170 60.4% 4,850 11.6% 4,640 11.1% 3,500 8.4% 1,890 4.5% 1,030 2.5% 550 1.3% 40 0.1% 1,620 3.9%
Preston 70,390 31,000 44.0% 13,610 19.3% 11,260 16.0% 7,490 10.6% 3,750 5.3% 2,130 3.0% 1,080 1.5% 70 0.1% 3,280 4.7%
Ribble Valley 29,700 3,900 13.1% 5,620 18.9%  5,810  19.6%  5,100  17.2%  4,310  14.5% 2,680 9.0% 2,050 6.9% 240 0.8% 4,970 16.7%
Rossendale 32,890 16,480 50.1% 5,250 16.0%  4,430  13.5%  3,460  10.5% 2,040  6.2% 720 2.2% 470 1.4% 40 0.1% 1,230  3.7%
South Ribble 52,470 10,130 19.3% 13,620 26.0%  13,130  25.0%  8,660  16.5%  4,510  8.6% 1,770 3.4% 610 1.2% 30 0.1%  2,410  4.6%
West Lancashire 52,850 14,980 28.3% 9,760 18.5%  10,530  19.9%  7,650  14.5% 5,430  10.3% 2,690 5.1% 1,700 3.2% 110 0.2%  4,500  8.5%
Wyre 55,980 12,060 21.5% 12,580 22.5%  13,420  24.0%  7,900  14.1%  6,050 10.8% 2,760 4.9% 1,150 2.1% 80 0.1%  3,990  7.1%
Lancashire-12 578,910 207,480 35.8% 112,740 19.5%  107,990  18.7%  71,030  12.3%  45,370  7.8% 21,850 3.8% 11,520 2.0% 940 0.2%  34,310  5.9%
Blackburn with Darwen 64,050 35,860 56.0% 9,950 15.5%  9,010  14.1%  4,960  7.7%  2,780  4.3% 840 1.3% 580 0.9% 70 0.1% 1,490 2.3%
Blackpool 72,700 32,210 44.3% 21,330 29.3%  11,480  15.8%  4,860  6.7%  1,950  2.7% 580 0.8% 250 0.3% 30 0.0% 860  1.2%
Lancashire-14 715,660 275,550 38.5% 144,020 20.1%  128,480  18.0%  80,850  11.3%  50,100  7.0% 23,270 3.3% 12,350 1.7% 1,040 0.1% 36,660  5.1%
North West 3,466,740 1,386,470 40.0% 705,610 20.4%  616,160  17.8%  364,030  10.5%  217,020  6.3% 104,350 3.0% 65,740 1.9% 7,350 0.2%  177,440  5.1%
England 25,754,280 6,105,350 23.7% 5,018,230 19.5%  5,655,780  22.0%  4,036,470  15.7%  2,528,880  9.8% 1,343,610 5.2% 911,450 3.5% 154,510 0.6%  2,409,570  9.4%

Source: Valuation Office Agency, dwelling stock by council tax band, 2025

For Lancashire-12, the percentage of properties in band 'B' (19.5%) was similar to the England average, but from C onwards the proportions for Lancashire fall noticeably below the norm for England. The highest tax bands of 'F' to 'H' together accounted for 9.4% of properties in England but just 5.1% in the Lancashire-14 area. In Ribble Valley and Fylde however, the proportions are 16.7% and 13.4% respectively. In contrast, Burnley (1.1%) and Blackpool and Hyndburn (both 1.2%) had very few dwellings in the top three bands.

Table 2 is available as a downloadable comma separated value file. It contains the total number of dwelling stock by each council tax band and the percentages in those bands.  

The band into which a new built property is placed will depend on factors such as the value of the land and the local housing market situation, rather than simply the size, number of rooms and cost of construction, although this might not be a significant issue for potential buyers. Our articles on additional affordable housing and earnings to house price ratios may be of interest.

Not all of the changes to the number of dwellings in each band are as a result of new build, demolitions or change of use . There are circumstances where householders may appeal against the band into which their property was originally placed. 

Page updated October 2025.

Table 2

Geographies used in Lancashire Insight

Neighbourhood geographies dashboard

Glossary of terms

Newsletters

Contact Lancashire Insight

Lancashire Insight on Twitter

JSNA events, toolkits and publications