Consultation outcome

Improving enforcement of council tax

• From: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
• Published: 1 July 2026
• Last updated: 12 October 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 12 October 2026

     Government response added.

  2. 1 July 2026

     First published.

Applies to England

This consultation has concluded

Read the full outcome

Improving enforcement of council tax: government response

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Detail of outcome

We have published our response to this consultation, setting out how we will be implementing these changes to council tax enforcement.

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Original consultation

Summary

We are seeking views on the steps councils should take ahead of taking council tax enforcement action.

This consultation ran from
10am on 1 July 2026 to 11:59pm on 29 July 2026

Consultation description

This consultation seeks views on amending regulations to introduce steps that councils will be required to take before moving to formal enforcement.

It outlines the steps that councils should follow ahead of seeking a liability order for unpaid council tax and proceeding to formal enforcement action.

This consultation covers the:

• statutory steps which councils must follow ahead of this process
• guidance and best practice for councils to consider in recovering council tax debt
• practical barriers to these potential steps and how these may be addressed

Documents

Improving enforcement of council tax

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