The full A to H charges for 2026/27, every band up 4.82%. West Sussex takes 77% of the bill and Worthing Borough 11.6%, and support here can cover 100%.
Worthing Borough Council is the billing authority, but it keeps under 12p in the pound. The rest goes to West Sussex County Council and the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner. There are no parish or town councils anywhere in Worthing borough, so unlike neighbouring Adur there is no parish precept and no special expenses line: every household in BN11 to BN14 pays the same charge for its band.
Every figure here comes from Worthing Borough Council’s statutory Section 38 notice for 2026/27 and its own published charge tables, checked on 2 September 2026.
The full band table for 2026/27
| Band | Value on 1 April 1991 | 2025/26 | 2026/27 | Rise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | £40,000 or less | £1,562.08 | £1,637.42 | £75.34 |
| B | £40,001 to £52,000 | £1,822.43 | £1,910.32 | £87.89 |
| C | £52,001 to £68,000 | £2,082.77 | £2,183.23 | £100.46 |
| D | £68,001 to £88,000 | £2,343.12 | £2,456.13 | £113.01 |
| E | £88,001 to £120,000 | £2,863.81 | £3,001.94 | £138.13 |
| F | £120,001 to £160,000 | £3,384.51 | £3,547.74 | £163.23 |
| G | £160,001 to £320,000 | £3,905.20 | £4,093.55 | £188.35 |
| H | More than £320,000 | £4,686.24 | £4,912.26 | £226.02 |
Every band went up by the same 4.82%. The bands are fixed proportions of band D, so band A pays six ninths of the band D charge and band H pays twice it. (Adur and Worthing Councils)
Where each pound goes
The Section 38 notice breaks the charge into four parts. This is the table the council does not put on its bands page.
| Band | Worthing Borough | West Sussex, core | West Sussex, adult social care | Sussex Police | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | £189.24 | £1,047.65 | £212.59 | £187.94 | £1,637.42 |
| B | £220.78 | £1,222.25 | £248.03 | £219.26 | £1,910.32 |
| C | £252.32 | £1,396.86 | £283.46 | £250.59 | £2,183.23 |
| D | £283.86 | £1,571.47 | £318.89 | £281.91 | £2,456.13 |
| E | £346.94 | £1,920.69 | £389.75 | £344.56 | £3,001.94 |
| F | £410.02 | £2,269.90 | £460.62 | £407.20 | £3,547.74 |
| G | £473.10 | £2,619.12 | £531.48 | £469.85 | £4,093.55 |
| H | £567.72 | £3,142.94 | £637.78 | £563.82 | £4,912.26 |
(Worthing Borough Area Council Tax 2026/27, Section 38 notice)
On a band D bill, West Sussex County Council takes 77.0%, Sussex Police 11.4% and Worthing Borough Council 11.6%, which the council describes as about £5.46 a week for its own services. (Adur and Worthing Councils)
The adult social care element is worth pulling out. At band D it is £318.89, which is 16.9% of the county council’s share and 13% of the whole bill.
What changed this year, and who changed it
Three bodies set a precept, and all three raised it by different amounts.
- West Sussex County Council: up 4.99%, from £1,800.54 to £1,890.36 at band D. The county calls it about £1.73 a week. (West Sussex County Council)
- Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner: up 5.62%, to £281.91 at band D. The precept was set on 9 February 2026.
- Worthing Borough Council: up 2.97%, an extra £8.19 a year, to £283.86 at band D. Full council agreed it on 4 March 2026. (Adur and Worthing Councils, 4 March 2026)
Your bill prints these as 4.9%, 2.9% and 5.6%, rounded to one decimal place. (Sample bill, PDF)
The council collects from 50,995 Worthing households in 2026/27. That raises just over £11.4m of a £49.0m borough budget. Fees and charges bring in more than council tax does: 33% of income against 23%. (Worthing Borough Council, Council Tax Expenditure Information 2026-27, PDF)
Checking and challenging your band
Bands are based on what the property was worth on 1 April 1991, not what it is worth now. Check yours free on the government’s band search.
You cannot challenge simply because the band looks high. The grounds are restricted to four situations:
- you became the taxpayer for the property for the first time, in which case you have six months to appeal to the Listing Officer
- the value has materially increased or reduced
- you have started or stopped using part of the home for business, or the balance between the two has changed
- the Listing Officer altered the list without anyone proposing it
Go direct to the Valuation Office Agency. The council warns in its own words that property valuation companies “will often charge you an upfront fee, and/or a percentage of any refund” for a service that is free.
Discounts, and the ones people miss
- Single person: 25% off if you are the only adult aged 18 or over in the home.
- Full-time students are exempt. If everyone in the property is a full-time student, no council tax is due. The course must run at least 24 weeks a year and 21 hours a week.
- Apprentices: 25%, if they earn less than £195 a week and are working towards a recognised qualification.
- Severe mental impairment, including dementia and severe learning difficulties, is a full disregard with a doctor’s certificate and a qualifying benefit. If everyone in the household qualifies, nothing is payable.
- Disabled band reduction. The property is charged one band lower. A band A home gets a reduction of one ninth of the band D charge. You need an extra room, an extra bathroom or kitchen, or enough indoor space for a wheelchair.
- Carers. A live-in carer providing at least 35 hours a week to someone on a qualifying benefit is disregarded, so long as they are not the spouse, partner or a child under 18.
- Annexes: 50%, or a full exemption if a dependent relative aged 65 or over, severely mentally impaired or permanently disabled lives there.
- School and college leavers under 20 are disregarded until 1 November of the year they leave.
Empty homes and second homes are charged more, not less
Worthing scrapped its one-month discount for empty and unfurnished homes on 1 April 2023. The discount for uninhabitable homes and those undergoing major repair went on 1 April 2020. Both now pay in full from day one.
On top of the full charge there is a premium, and it escalates:
| Time empty | Premium on top of the normal bill |
|---|---|
| 1 to 2 years | 100% |
| 2 to 5 years | 100% |
| 5 to 10 years | 200% |
| Over 10 years | 300% |
A home empty for 11 years in band D therefore pays £9,824.52 a year, four times the standard charge. The one-year trigger has applied since 1 April 2024; before that a property had to stand empty for two years.
Second homes pay a 100% premium from 1 April 2025, agreed by full council on 20 February 2024. A furnished home that is nobody’s main residence is a second home. Exceptions exist with no time limit for annexes, job-related and armed forces accommodation, caravan pitches and boat moorings, and homes with a planning condition restricting occupation. Homes actively marketed for sale or for let get 12 months. (Second Homes and Empty Homes Premium Policy, PDF)
Help if you cannot pay
Worthing’s Council Tax Support scheme is more generous than many. For working-age applicants who are not in a protected group, the maximum reduction is 100% of the bill, set out in section 29 of the scheme itself. Plenty of councils cap working-age support at 70% or 80%. (Worthing Council Tax Support Scheme 2026-27, PDF)
Deductions apply for other adults in the household: £15.95 a week for a non-dependant aged 18 or over in work, £5.20 a week otherwise.
In the last year the council paid £7.15m of support to 5,319 households, about one Worthing household in ten. You have to apply even if you already claim Universal Credit, and claims take around 20 days to process. (Adur and Worthing Councils)
If the problem is cash flow rather than income, ask for twelve monthly instalments instead of the default ten. The council will do it on request but does not offer it automatically. Council tax enquiries for Worthing go to 01903 221061.
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