Lambeth residents are facing a 4.99 per cent council tax increase this year, meaning Band D households would pay over £2,000 overall.
Lambeth Council has said the increase is in line with the government’s expectations and will help to meet the need to fund essential services.
The Labour-run council has proposed to hike council tax by 4.99 per cent from April, which forms part of the 2026/27 budget. This is made up of a 2.99 per cent increase in core council tax, and a 2 per cent increase in adult social care.
For a Band D household in Lambeth, the annual council tax bill for 2026/27 will be £2,047.11. This also includes a Greater London Authority (GLA) precept of £510.51 which helps fund police, fire and transport services across London.
The council’s budget for 2026/7 and its Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), which sets out the council’s financial planning for the next four years, will be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Monday (February 23).
The council has said its spend on temporary accommodation is expected to reach nearly £105million this year, and that this year’s budget proposals are about meeting “unplanned and unexpected events” and maintaining an affordable capital investment programme.
In order to balance the books, the council has identified savings totalling £99.7million which will need to be implemented up until 2028/29. Of this figure, £46.5million worth of savings has been identified for 2026/27 alone.
The council has said that despite this, it estimates over £130million of further savings will need to be found over the next four years – though it is currently unclear which services could be hit hard by future cost-cutting measures.
This year, the Growth and Environment department at the council faces the biggest cuts with savings totalling £8.3million, while the Resources department faces the second largest amount of cuts at £5.6million.
Relatedarticles
As part of this year’s savings proposals, the council already announced that the Lambeth Country Show, which falls under Growth and Environment, will not be going ahead in 2026.
The free annual two-day event has taken place in Brockwell Park for more than 50 years, but the council says it would require “a substantially increased financial contribution from the council”. A Lambeth Labour spokesperson previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that this year’s event would have cost £1.1million.
Last month, the council announced that it was increasing its on-street and off-street car parking charges by up to 49 per cent, which is expected to raise £2.8million in additional income in 2026/27. The new fees come into force from this month (February 2026).
The council has also announced a review and restructure of its parks operations across the borough, which is set to make £702,000 in savings.
Elsewhere, the council intends to make changes to post-16 SEND (Special Education Needs and Disabilities) travel support by ending non-statutory transport provision, which is expected to make £350,000 in savings.
Existing hostel accommodation is expected to act as out-of-hours provision for temporary accommodation as the council intends to end the use of hotels for homeless families, which will make £1.2million in savings.
Lambeth’s Cabinet will need to agree the recommendations for this year’s budget as well as the MTFS ahead of the next full council meeting on Wednesday, March 4, where councillors will vote on the budget plans.
