Band D in Petersfield is £2,453.20 for 2026/27, the highest of East Hampshire's 40 parishes. The full A to H table, and why Sheet pays £123 less.
East Hampshire publishes its council tax charges as a single PDF with 40 parishes down one side and nine columns across the top. Pull out the Petersfield row and one thing stands out: Petersfield pays more than anywhere else in the district, at every band.
Everything below is taken from the district council’s own published tables for 2026/27 and 2025/26, checked on 26 August 2026.
The quick answer
- Band D in Petersfield: £2,453.20 for 2026/27, up £119.82 on last year.
- That is 5.13% more than 2025/26, and the same percentage in every band.
- It is the highest band D of the 40 parishes in East Hampshire.
- Hampshire County Council takes £1,690.11 of it, 69% of the bill.
- East Hampshire District Council keeps £156.92, 6.4%.
- Petersfield Town Council’s share is £222.87, and it rose 6.98%, faster than any other part of the bill.
- A GU32 address does not mean the Petersfield charge. Sheet, Steep, Buriton and Langrish all pay less.
- Check your band on the Valuation Office Agency listing.
The full table for Petersfield, 2026/27
Total annual charges, including every precept, from the council’s council tax per valuation band 2026-27 and the equivalent 2025/26 table.
| Band | 2026/27 | 2025/26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,635.46 | £1,555.59 | +£79.87 |
| B | £1,908.04 | £1,814.85 | +£93.19 |
| C | £2,180.62 | £2,074.11 | +£106.51 |
| D | £2,453.20 | £2,333.38 | +£119.82 |
| E | £2,998.36 | £2,851.91 | +£146.45 |
| F | £3,543.50 | £3,370.44 | +£173.06 |
| G | £4,088.66 | £3,888.97 | +£199.69 |
| H | £4,906.40 | £4,666.76 | +£239.64 |
Every band is a fixed fraction of band D: A is six ninths, B seven ninths, C eight ninths, E eleven ninths, F thirteen ninths, G fifteen ninths and H eighteen ninths. The percentage rise is therefore identical in every band, 5.13%, even though the cash difference between band A and band H is £159.77.
There is a ninth column in the council’s table, marked AR. That is the rate for a band A property where the household qualifies for disabled persons relief, and in Petersfield it is £1,362.90.
Where the money goes
The council sets out the district-wide split in its council tax information 2026-27. Those figures use an average parish precept. Petersfield’s town council charges more than the average, so the shares on an actual Petersfield bill look like this.
| Goes to | Band D 2026/27 | 2025/26 | Change | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampshire County Council | £1,690.11 | £1,609.83 | +4.99% | 68.9% |
| Hampshire Police & Crime Commissioner | £290.46 | £275.46 | +5.45% | 11.8% |
| Petersfield Town Council | £222.87 | £208.33 | +6.98% | 9.1% |
| East Hampshire District Council | £156.92 | £151.92 | +3.29% | 6.4% |
| Hampshire Fire & Rescue Authority | £92.84 | £87.84 | +5.69% | 3.8% |
| Total | £2,453.20 | £2,333.38 | +5.13% | 100% |
The district council, which collects the bill and runs the bins, keeps just over 6p in the pound. It also raised its share by less than anyone else, 3.29%. The steepest increase came from the town council, at 6.98%.
The adult social care precept no longer appears as a separate line. Hampshire County Council’s charge is now shown as a single amount.
Petersfield pays the most in the district
The town council precept is what pushes Petersfield to the top. Two parishes, Colemore & Priors Dean and West Tisted, levy no precept at all, so their band D charge of £2,230.33 is the base every other parish is built on. Petersfield adds £222.87 to it.
| Parish | Band D 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Petersfield | £2,453.20 |
| Alton | £2,351.77 |
| Stroud | £2,334.98 |
| Sheet | £2,330.16 |
| Steep | £2,322.47 |
| Buriton | £2,300.18 |
| Langrish | £2,275.10 |
| Colemore & Priors Dean (no precept) | £2,230.33 |
The practical point for anyone with a Petersfield postal address: the charge follows the parish, not the postcode. Sheet Parish Council adds £99.83 at band D where Petersfield Town Council adds £222.87, so a band D house in Sheet pays £123.04 less than one in the town, and one in Langrish £178.10 less, for the same county, police, fire and district services. Check which parish you are in before you assume the Petersfield figure applies.
How to check and challenge your band
Bands were set on what a property was worth on 1 April 1991, not what it is worth now. The council’s information sheet lists the thresholds:
| Band | Value at 1 April 1991 |
|---|---|
| A | Up to £40,000 |
| B | Over £40,000 up to £52,000 |
| C | Over £52,000 up to £68,000 |
| D | Over £68,000 up to £88,000 |
| E | Over £88,000 up to £120,000 |
| F | Over £120,000 up to £160,000 |
| G | Over £160,000 up to £320,000 |
| H | Over £320,000 |
Your band is on the VOA council tax band listing, free, by postcode. If you think it is wrong, the route is the GOV.UK step-by-step guide to challenging a band. A challenge does not let you stop paying while it is considered, and a successful one gets you a refund.
Discounts and reductions
From the council’s council tax discounts page:
- Single adult: 25% off. The bill assumes two adults. If you are the only resident aged 18 or over, a quarter comes off.
- Disability: a band down. If a resident of any age needs an extra room, a second bathroom or a second kitchen, or uses a wheelchair indoors, the property is charged as though it were in the next lower band. In a Petersfield band D house that is a saving of £272.58 a year.
- Annexe: 50% off, if it is used by a relative of the people in the main house. Not if the occupier is unrelated.
- Carers and care workers may be disregarded. A care worker must work at least 24 hours a week, be paid no more than £44 a week, and live in accommodation provided by the employer.
- Students and people with a severe mental impairment may make a property exempt entirely.
Council tax support is means tested and applies to both working-age and pension-age applicants. Apply through the council’s council tax support page, and apply straight away, because backdating is not always possible. If your circumstances change you must tell the council within 21 days or you can be prosecuted.
Empty homes: the premium starts a year earlier from April 2026
This is the change most likely to catch someone out this year. East Hampshire moved the empty homes premium threshold from two years to one year on 1 April 2026, and it counts the date the property became empty even if that was before April 2026.
| How long empty and unfurnished | Charge |
|---|---|
| Up to 6 months | 50% discount |
| 6 months to 1 year | Full charge |
| 1 to 5 years | 100% premium, council tax doubles |
| 5 to 10 years | 200% premium, council tax trebles |
| 10 years or more | 300% premium, council tax quadruples |
A Petersfield band D house empty for two years is therefore charged £4,906.40 rather than £2,453.20. The premium attaches to the property, not the owner, so buying a house that has already been empty for a year means inheriting it.
Exceptions exist, all needing evidence: probate recently granted, active marketing for sale or let for up to 12 months, annexes used as part of the main home, armed forces accommodation, and major repair or structural work. They go to revenues@easthants.gov.uk.
The council also notes that a property empty for at least two years immediately before renovation may qualify for a reduced rate of VAT on the work, and its private sector housing team can issue a letter to prove it.
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