Dwelling stock by council tax band
Summary
The 12 Lancashire authorities together had a combined dwelling stock figure of 568,970 in March 2023, which represented 2.2% of the total for England. Numbers in each of the Lancashire-14 authorities ranged from a high of 72,270 in Blackpool to 29,010 in Ribble Valley.
Analysis by council tax band shows that over 60% of dwellings in Burnley and Pendle were in the lowest band 'A' (England = 23.9%). The highest tax bands of 'F' to 'H' accounted for 9.3% 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 11.4% 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 2023. Table 1 has the dwelling stock numbers for the local authorities in Lancashire. Blackpool, with 72,270 dwellings, had the largest stock of all Lancashire authorities, whilst Ribble Valley recorded the lowest number with 29,010. The dwelling stock in the Lancashire-12 area amounted to 568,970, 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, 23.9% of dwellings in England were in council tax band 'A', but in Burnley and Pendle the percentages were in excess of 60%. In contrast, Fylde and Ribble Valley had rates of 17.4% and 13.3% 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 2023 (table scrolls left to right to show all bands and combined values for bands F to H)
Source: Valuation Office Agency, dwelling stock by council tax band, 2023
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 9.3% 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 11.4% 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 table contains the data behind the district level visualisations on slide 3 of the Lancashire Insight housing dashboard which also contains a map visualisation for the small area geography LSOAs of which there are 941 in the Lancashire-14 area, also for the 2022 results.
We have replaced the Table 3 and change section with extra visualisations in the Housing Dashboard, which show the annual % change in numbers of dwellings in each council tax band for all years since 2011. We have put this in the same slide as the net additional dwellings time-series. The time periods covered are not exactly the same, but it is possible to select any combination of districts, such as those grouped together in the NUTS 3 areas. In recent years there have been higher rises in dwellings in the more expensive council tax bands in NUTS 3 area 'Mid Lancashire' than in 'East Lancashire'. Mid Lancashire is a combination of Fylde, Preston, South Ribble and Ribble Valley. East Lancashire is a combination of Pendle, Burnley, Rossendale and Hyndburn.
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 November 2023.