How much is my council tax?

In this section:

Where does my council tax go?

Council tax is a tax on domestic properties to help cover the costs of local services such as education, social information services, highways, environmental health and refuse collection.

In addition, part of the council tax collected goes towards the costs of the Greater London Authority (GLA).

All domestic properties (houses, flats, mobile homes and houseboat moorings) are subject to council tax.

Council Tax guide 2024-25 (PDF) [258KB]


Our achievements in 2023/2024

Hillingdon residents are once again expected to pay amongst the lowest levels of council tax in outer London as part of the council's budget for 2024/25.

The budget also sees further investment in free weekly waste and recycling collections, roads and pavement resurfacing, parks and open spaces, educational facilities and school places, leisure and community facilities, new homes and social care support.

Some of the council's achievements for 2023/24

Safe and strong communities 

Housing

  • Proposals for a new modern library, community facility and 95 homes (100 per cent affordable) at the former swimming pool and Falling Lane site in Yiewsley were approved by the council's Planning Committee.
  • Work is underway to redevelop Avondale Drive and Hayes Town Centre estates to deliver 740 new homes (50 per cent affordable) with a combination of mixed-tenure properties.
  • Construction is also underway on 34 social homes on the site of the former Maple Day Care Centre and Poplar Care Home in Hayes.
  • Six new affordable homes were built in Nelson Road, Uxbridge by converting a former brownfield garage site.
  • The council's home extension programme continues to make social housing properties larger through extensions to bolster stock.
  • The Gouldings and Yiewsley Court sheltered accommodation will be decommissioned and turned into housing for homeless people following a review of the council's housing, which revealed a surplus of homes dedicated to older people.
  • The council launched a new housing repairs app which gives residents real-time updates on their request, appointment details and the flexibility of planning their day around it.
  • The council pioneered a new online system to track and tackle cases of damp and mould in social housing more effectively.
  • The council's private sector housing team regularly carries out inspections to investigate disrepair in privately rented properties and to combat landlords providing potentially hazardous living conditions.

Safety

  • This financial year, our fraud team identified savings related to fraud and prevented the loss of more than £9.9 million. The team also won two Public Finance awards for their outstanding work.
  • The council updated its Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) following a consultation with residents.
  • The council installed more CCTV cameras to improve road safety and crack down on drivers disregarding highway restrictions.
  • The council successfully prosecuted a wholesale and distribution company for failing to comply with health and safety rules at its warehouse in South Ruislip, which caused significant harm to a visiting delivery driver resulting in fines totalling £133,082.
  • A Hayes store specialising in imported foods was fined £66,000 after breaching hygiene conditions and causing unnecessary suffering to animals following a rat infestation.
  • The former director of a Ruislip bar was ordered to pay more than £9,000 after failing to address a cockroach infestation and breaching conditions relating to noise nuisance.
  • A Hayes man was ordered by a court to pay back £40,000 he'd made by selling counterfeit iPhone batteries on eBay. He was also ordered to pay £10,000 towards the council's court costs following Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings.
  • The directors of an Eastcote newsagents were ordered to pay more than £8,000 after selling a vape to a 15-year-old and for supplying illegal, oversized vapes.
  • A Ruislip car dealer who parked unroadworthy vehicles on the road and others in public parking bays blocking them from use was ordered to pay more than £2,300 after breaching a Community Protection Notice seven times.
  • The council invested more than £11,000 into refurbishing and installing new alley gates to protect residents from anti-social behaviour.
  • The council has upgraded eight zebra crossings across the borough (seven at or near schools) to further improve road safety.

Communities

  • £1 million was invested through the council's Chrysalis scheme to fund improvements to 17 community facilities.
  • The council's ward budget scheme, which gives the borough's ward councillors funding annually to spend on local projects, supported 27 initiatives.

Thriving, healthy households

Leisure

  • Work continues at the council's new Platinum Jubilee Leisure Centre in West Drayton, which will house a 25-metre swimming pool, gym and health suite, soft play, climbing wall, youth zone, café and terrace, and rooftop football pitch.
  • Ageing play equipment is being replaced with modern, accessible and inclusive facilities at 23 playgrounds on housing estates and in parks across the borough as part of a four-year £1.6 million refurbishment programme.
  • More than £500,000 was invested in upgrading Botwell Green Sports and Leisure Centre, Hayes, including improving the lower gym with new equipment, new changing rooms, and a four-floor soft play area for children.
  • Outdoor improvements were made to the netball courts at Queensmead Sports Centre, South Ruislip.
  • The council opened an accessible cycle hub at Pield Heath House School which gives people with health, learning and physical conditions the opportunity to use specially adapted cycles.
  • New cricket pitches were installed on unused green spaces at Grassy Meadows Field and Cowley Recreation Ground thanks to a grant from the England and Wales Cricket Board.
  • Thanks to council and Lawn Tennis Association funding, improvements were made to the tennis courts at Rosedale Park, Harmondsworth Recreation Ground, Swakeleys Park and Northwood Recreation Ground.
  • The council agreed a five-year Library Strategy which sets out a commitment to continuing to provide a first-class service for people while ensuring it's efficient and sustainable for the future.
  • The council's Cabinet agreed proposals to relocate Uxbridge Library to the Civic Centre subject to planning approval being granted to deliver a new, more accessible facility with enhanced facilities that helps the council meets its commitment to becoming carbon neutral and reduces running costs.

Children and young people

  • Family hubs will be expanded boroughwide, building on existing services, such as children's centres, to offer enhanced and joined up support for families from pregnancy to adulthood within their local communities.
  • The council formally opened its second state-of-the-art family hub in Hayes.
  • A new Specialist Resource Provision (SRP) was built at Charville Academy in Hayes, providing an additional eight students with autistic spectrum conditions (ASC) with support, which will double to 16 in September 2024. An SRP is also being completed at Ruislip Gardens Primary School, where initially 12 primary aged children with ASC will receive support. Nursery-aged children who may also need access to SEND provision will also benefit from a new 16-place early years assessment centre. Work is also underway at Meadow High School in Uxbridge, which the council is expanding in two phases, creating a satellite school in Harefield with 90 extra places and a new classroom block at the existing site. This is all part of a multi-million-pound project to expand local school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
  • A new Youth Offer was agreed, which will reflect the diverse needs of today's young people by offering a more flexible format, delivering services locally using existing council buildings, family hubs and digital services.
  • Hillingdon's Children's Services were judged one of the best in England, following an 'Outstanding' Ofsted report.
  • Hillingdon was ranked first in west London for offering children their first-choice school on Primary National Offer Day, and 95 per cent of secondary schoolchildren were also offered one of their preferred places.
  • Two more young people received funding support from the Tashan Daniel Award scheme which can be used to pay for sports equipment, competitions, qualifications in art and culture and vocational courses.
  • During the summer holidays, children across the borough joined in the annual Summer Reading Challenge at local libraries, with 6,666 young people taking part and nearly 112,000 children's books issued over the summer. Hillingdon was ranked second in London for participants and completion rates.
  • More than 400 hundred children, carers, family and friends were brought together to recognise children and care leavers' determination and successes at a special Kids in Care Awards ceremony.
  • The council's Youth Justice Service was awarded the Youth Justice SEND Quality Lead status with a Child First Commendation, recognising consistently high levels of good practice and strengths in partnership working to help children who have SEND.

Cost of living support

  • The council continues to offer and promote a range of initiatives to support residents, including the Household Support Fund.
  • The council's Holiday Activities and Food programme continued to support families by providing activities for children in receipt of free school meals during the school holidays, with 2023 the most extensive yet.
  • Warm welcome centres and a varied activities programme were in operation across the borough during winter.

Older people

  • Over-65s continue to benefit from free swimming and swimming lessons, free allotments, a winter heater loan scheme and MOVES exercise classes. Over-75s can also receive the TeleCareLine service for free.
  • More than 2,500 falls prevention toolkits were distributed and falls prevention workshops held to help older people identify risks that could affect them.
  • Residents and carers living with dementia can access a range of council support and activities, including reminiscence sessions, chair exercise, bingo and music.

Health

  • To celebrate February's National Heart Month, the council organised an array of events at the borough's libraries to encourage residents to improve their health and wellbeing.
  • The council launched a new blood pressure monitor loan scheme in three libraries to make it easier for residents to keep on top of their health and wellbeing.
  • The council's commissioned smoking cessation, substance misuse and sexual and reproductive health services, NHS Health Checks, Health Lifestyle Action programme and the NHS Healthy Start scheme are providing health support to residents.

A green and sustainable borough

  • The council continues to offer free, weekly and easy to use waste and recycling collections.
  • Hillingdon was awarded 67 Green Flag Awards - the most held by any local authority for the eleventh year running.
  • The council approved plans to deliver hundreds of charging points in the borough to meet demand as more drivers switch to electric vehicles.
  • A new decarbonisation programme got underway at the Civic Centre, Uxbridge, with air source heat pumps and a high-capacity heat recovery cylinder delivered to bring the council's flagship building in line with the latest standards in carbon efficiency.
  • The council expanded its free food waste recycling service to council-owned blocks of flats. More than 130 units have been installed for 2,000 council flats to use, resulting in the collection of more than 50 tonnes of food waste.
  • 8,378 trees have been planted across the borough.
  • The council introduced a new road repair method which uses 80 per cent less energy than traditional asphalt, 85 per cent less carbon and halves the overall cost.
  • Pink collection bins have been rolled out in all libraries to offer residents another way to recycle their small electrical items.
  • Recycling rates at Harefield Civic Amenity Site have increased by 20 per cent to 50 per cent following an engagement campaign by staff at the facility.
  • The council's award-winning rain gardens in Eastcote, which help to prevent localised flooding, were given a £12,000 makeover with hundreds of new plants.
  • Seven nature reserves and country parks across Hillingdon are benefitting from a new conservation partnership between the council, British Airways, Heathrow and London Wildlife Trust.

Heritage

  • The council installed a unique sound clock at the entrance to Station Approach in Hayes. Its 12 chimes use bespoke stereo sound recordings of local people passing through the town as well as train sounds. Special permission was given for it to be inscribed in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.
  • The council has installed a new permanent light and sound feature at the Blyth Road underpass in Hayes to honour the work of Alan Dower Blumlein, an engineer who invented stereo sound.
  • Works to transform Cranford Park into a thriving visitor attraction are due to complete in late spring. With an overall budget of approximately £4 million, highlights of the scheme include restoration of the historic high garden walls and 'ha-ha', improving pedestrian access via St Dunstan's subway, with new paintwork, lighting, planting, signage and an attractive mural, access to the 18th century stable block where visitors can listen to an interactive audio exhibit, a new audio trail so that visitors can discover the flora and fauna of the park, cafe and playground in the Pleasure Gardens.
  • £1.2 million restorations were carried out to protect and weatherproof the 84-year-old Grade I listed Battle of Britain Bunker.

A thriving economy

  • £6.7 million was invested into highways, roads, pavements and transport services.
  • The council invested £460,000 to transform Sutton Court Parade in Hillingdon with a suite of improvements aimed at boosting footfall.
  • The council has started work to improve the public areas and car park at West Drayton station. This investment, in conjunction with TfL, will see attractive improvements to the station environment, including additional cycling stands, new paving, seating, and landscaping outside the train station.
  • A set of six retro-style posters highlighting the local history of South Ruislip were unveiled at South Ruislip railway bridge.
  • The council supported 28 council-led and four community Christmas light schemes across the borough's 21 wards.
  • The council delivered 361 adult learning courses and qualifications.
  • The council supported the annual Hillingdon Business EXPO at Brunel University London.

A digital-enabled, modern, well-run council

  • Hillingdon launched a Judicial Review, alongside other councils, to challenge Transport for London and the Mayor of London's decision to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to outer London because of significant concerns about its social and economic impact. Although the challenge was dismissed by the High Court, our fight continues by lobbying government.
  • Hillingdon marked the Coronation of King Charles III, with residents enjoying the council's programme of coronation events. The council also supported more than 80 street parties with free public liability insurance and road closures.
  • The council launched PayByPhone across the borough, giving residents and visitors the added option of paying for their parking 'on the go' using an app on their phone.
  • Since the council introduced a new voice automated call centre system in December 2022, which supports the caller by providing a digital link to make a report or to request information quickly without having to queue on the phone, digital transactions have increased by 76 per cent.
  • The council partnered with the Good Things Foundation through the National Databank Project to provide residents on low incomes with free SIM cards and/or monthly top-ups at some of the borough's libraries.
  • Uxbridge Mortuary was given a high-tech overhaul following a two-year £2.5 million refurbishment and extension scheme.
Page last updated: 01 Mar 2024