Welsh Government to defer council tax revaluation to next Senedd term

The Welsh Government will propose a later date for the planned council tax revaluation by bringing forward legislation to defer the plans until the next Senedd term, Finance Minister Elin Jones confirmed in the Senedd on 20 October 2026¹. The legislation will be brought forward next month¹.

The decision follows detailed work over the summer to assess the costs of implementation and the impact of updating council tax bands in Wales, which are still based on property values from 2003¹. Research cited by the government estimates that around a quarter of households could have seen their council tax band go up, another quarter could have seen their band go down, and around half would have seen minimal change¹. For some households facing an increase, it could have meant paying hundreds of pounds more a year, and supporting those households responsibly could have cost up to £80 million in the first year alone¹.

The minister said the delay was not an abandonment of reform. "We know the current system is unfair. Some people are still paying council tax based on what their home was worth over twenty years ago. That hasn't changed, and neither has our view," she said, adding that the government would look at "other, more targeted ways to improve the system that don't come with the same price tag"¹.

The Welsh Conservatives called for the revaluation to be scrapped altogether. Shadow finance minister Sam Rowlands said: "Instead of this cynical decision to simply delay this council tax bombshell, Plaid Cymru ministers should scrap it altogether." He also called for a 5% cap on council tax increases, with councils required to hold a local referendum if they wanted to exceed it². Councillor Anthony Hunt, the Welsh Local Government Association's leader and finance spokesperson, said it was "vital that Welsh Government and local government work together to understand the implications and shape the way forward"².

Why it matters for households

Council tax bills in Wales will continue to be set on bands based on 2003 property values for the time being¹. The revaluation would have moved roughly a quarter of households into a higher band and a quarter into a lower one, with about half seeing minimal change¹; those changes will not now take place on the planned timetable. The government has not reported which bands or areas would have been most affected, nor the size of any individual bill change beyond the statement that some increases could have run to hundreds of pounds a year¹.

The £80 million figure is the government's estimate of what supporting households facing increases could have cost in the first year alone, not a sum that will be spent or saved¹. No decision on the level of council tax bills for 2027-28 has been reported in these announcements.

What happens next

Legislation to defer the revaluation to the next Senedd term will be brought forward next month¹. Council leaders will assess the impact on local finances and services at a Welsh Local Government Association executive board meeting later this week². The government said it will spend the intervening period looking at more targeted ways to improve the system and welcomes ideas¹. Further detail on those alternatives has not been reported.