Band D in Farnham town is £2,602.91 for 2026/27, up £121.68. Every band A to H, who takes the money, all 21 parish rates, and the discounts that cut it.
Waverley Borough Council keeps £220.25 of a Farnham band D council tax bill. The bill itself is £2,602.91. Everything else is the borough collecting money for other people: £1,938.42 for Surrey County Council, £352.57 for Surrey Police and £91.67 for Farnham Town Council.
Below is the full band A to H table for 2026/27, what each of the four authorities takes, how every parish in the borough compares, and the discounts that change what you personally owe. Every figure is Waverley’s own or the precepting authority’s own, and the four parts add up exactly to the total.
There is also a deadline on all of this. Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council are both abolished on 1 April 2027, so the 2026/27 bill is the last one either of them will set. More on that below.
The quick answer
- Band D in Farnham town: £2,602.91 for 2026/27.
- That is £121.68 more than last year, a rise of 4.9 per cent.
- Band A pays £1,735.27. Band H pays £5,205.82, exactly double band D.
- Surrey County Council takes 74.5 per cent of it. Waverley keeps 8.5 per cent.
- Your figure depends on your parish. Farnham is mid-table: the borough runs from £2,516.37 in Peper Harow to £2,643.33 in Godalming.
Every band in Farnham town, 2026/27
| Band | 2026/27 | 2025/26 | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,735.27 | £1,654.15 | £81.12 |
| B | £2,024.49 | £1,929.85 | £94.64 |
| C | £2,313.70 | £2,205.54 | £108.16 |
| D | £2,602.91 | £2,481.23 | £121.68 |
| E | £3,181.33 | £3,032.60 | £148.73 |
| F | £3,759.76 | £3,584.00 | £175.76 |
| G | £4,338.18 | £4,135.38 | £202.80 |
| H | £5,205.82 | £4,962.46 | £243.36 |
Sources: Waverley Borough Council council tax charges 2026 to 2027 and previous year council tax charges.
Two notes on that table. The increase is 4.9 per cent in every band, because the ratios between bands are fixed in law: band A is always six ninths of band D and band H is always double it. And the council’s own 2025/26 page prints band C as “2.205.54”, with a full stop where the comma should be. The correct figure is £2,205.54, which is what the band ratio gives.
Who actually takes the money
| Authority | Band D charge | Share of the bill | Change this year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surrey County Council | £1,938.42 | 74.5% | +4.99% |
| Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner | £352.57 | 13.5% | +4.4% |
| Waverley Borough Council | £220.25 | 8.5% | +2.99% |
| Farnham Town Council | £91.67 | 3.5% | +9.85% |
| Total | £2,602.91 | 100% | +4.9% |
Sources: Surrey County Council council tax, the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner’s 2026/27 council tax leaflet, Waverley’s council tax charges 2026 to 2027 and its council tax information page.
Waverley’s own summary rounds this to 74 per cent county, 14 per cent police, 8 per cent borough and 4 per cent towns and parishes, across the whole borough. The figures above are Farnham’s specifically, and they reconcile to the penny.
Three things worth pulling out of that table:
- £1,938.42 of your bill is Surrey County Council, and £323.51 of that is the adult social care precept on its own. The county raised its charge by 4.99 per cent, made up of 2.99 per cent core and 2 per cent for social care.
- Waverley put its own share up by the least, 2.99 per cent, or £6.39 a year. The borough’s final budget before the unitary transition was agreed on 25 February 2026.
- Farnham Town Council put its share up the most, by 9.85 per cent. That took a band D charge from £83.45 to £91.67, an extra £8.22 a year, and set a gross budget of £2,205,030. Because the town council is only 3.5 per cent of the bill, a near 10 per cent rise there costs a household less than a 1 per cent rise at the county.
Farnham Town Council’s net precept for 2026/27 is £1,703,930, up from £1,535,300. The biggest lines in its budget are grounds services, open spaces and gardens at £302,920 net, professional services and administration at £183,025, office and customer services at £179,950, and governance and democratic services at £166,220. Farnham in Bloom takes £119,900 net, and public conveniences £70,600. The full breakdown is published on Waverley’s council tax information page, because parishes with a budget over £140,000 are required to publish one.
The last bill Waverley will ever set
Surrey’s councils are being reorganised. On 1 April 2027, Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council both cease to exist. They are replaced by West Surrey Council, a single unitary authority covering Guildford, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley and Woking, which will run both sets of services: bins and planning as well as roads, schools and social care (Surrey LGR Hub).
For a Farnham household that means the 2026/27 bill is the last one built this way. Farnham Town Council is not affected and carries on. From April 2027 the county and borough lines on your bill are replaced by a single West Surrey Council charge, and how that charge is harmonised across six boroughs with different tax bases is not yet settled.
Every parish in Waverley, band D
Your charge depends on which town or parish you live in, because each adds its own precept. Farnham sits eleventh of the borough’s 21 areas.
| Town or parish | Band D 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Godalming Town | £2,643.33 |
| Dunsfold | £2,637.58 |
| Chiddingfold | £2,635.11 |
| Tilford | £2,616.32 |
| Cranleigh | £2,613.75 |
| Churt | £2,613.10 |
| Frensham | £2,606.68 |
| Ewhurst | £2,605.80 |
| Farnham Town | £2,602.91 |
| Alfold | £2,595.04 |
| Witley and Milford | £2,594.03 |
| Wonersh | £2,589.38 |
| Elstead | £2,587.31 |
| Haslemere Town | £2,578.79 |
| Bramley | £2,564.06 |
| Hambledon | £2,562.73 |
| Hascombe | £2,562.20 |
| Thursley | £2,561.96 |
| Munstead and Tuesley | £2,545.57 |
| Dockenfield | £2,540.99 |
| Peper Harow | £2,516.37 |
Source: Waverley council tax charges 2026 to 2027.
The whole spread from top to bottom is £126.96 a year at band D. That is the parish precept and nothing else: the county, police and borough charges are identical everywhere in the borough.
How to check your band, and challenge it
Your band was set on what the property would have sold for on 1 April 1991, not on what it is worth now. That valuation date has not moved since council tax began in 1993.
- Check your band for free on the Valuation Office Agency’s service. It also shows your neighbours’ bands and when yours was last changed.
- Challenge it through the VOA’s challenge service. Waverley cannot change your band and says so plainly. Only the VOA can.
Grounds worth a challenge, per the council’s own bands, charges and appeals page: similar nearby properties are in a lower band, the property has changed (a house split into flats, for example), the area has changed, or the VOA made a factual error. Gather the evidence first, including sale prices and the bands of comparable neighbours. If the challenge succeeds, the bill is corrected and you may get a refund.
Be aware a review can go either way. The VOA can move a band up.
Discounts and reductions
Single person discount, 25 per cent. If you are the only adult in the property you get a quarter off, whatever your income. Some adults are not counted at all, which means you can still qualify with someone else living there: full-time students, people who are severely mentally impaired, certain carers and care workers, student nurses, apprentices and youth trainees. Discounts are not always backdated automatically, so apply as soon as you qualify (single person discount).
Students. A property where every adult is a full-time student is normally fully exempt. In a mixed household the students are not counted, so a single non-student can claim the 25 per cent discount. You will usually need a student certificate confirming the course title, dates and that it is full time. Part time students do not qualify (student council tax reduction).
Council Tax Support. A means-tested reduction for people on a low income, which in some cases takes the bill to zero. You do not need to be getting Housing Benefit to apply. Waverley also runs a separate discretionary relief scheme (council tax support).
Empty homes and second homes cost more, not less
This is where Farnham owners get caught out, and the rates are steep.
Empty and unfurnished property:
- First month: 50 per cent discount
- One month to one year: full council tax
- One to five years: 100 per cent premium, so the bill doubles
- Five to ten years: 200 per cent premium, so it trebles
- Ten years or more: 300 per cent premium, so it quadruples
The clock runs from the date the property first became empty, not from when you bought it (empty property discounts and premiums).
Second homes. From 1 April 2026 Waverley charges a 100 per cent premium on all second homes, doubling the bill on a furnished property that is nobody’s main home. There are exceptions, including a 12 month exception for a property genuinely being marketed for sale or let, annexes used as part of the main home, job-related accommodation, armed forces accommodation, occupied caravan pitches and boat moorings, and homes where planning conditions prevent year-round occupation (second homes, annexes and council tax).
Some empty properties are exempt entirely, including where the occupant is in prison, has moved into hospital or a care home, or has moved to give care to someone else, and while probate is awaited and for six months after it is granted.
Contacting the council
Waverley’s council tax team is on 01483 523500, or counciltax@waverley.gov.uk. The council’s offices are at The Burys, Godalming, not in Farnham.
More Farnham local information
- Farnham bin collection days: what your borough share pays for
- Parking in Farnham: tariffs, permits and Blue Badge
- Farnham house prices: what homes actually sell for now
- Farnham planning news
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