Unpaid council tax causes rise in bailiff referrals

Increases in unpaid council tax and arrears being referred to bailiffs are above the national average, data shows

Two Surrey councils have seen above-average rises in unpaid council tax, and in the number of accounts in arrears being referred to bailiffs, new data shows.

Data collated by the BBC England Data Unit reveals that between 2021/22 and 2024/25 there was a 25% increase nationwide in the number of accounts in arrears, with Surrey Heath seeing an increase of almost 600%.

Surrey Heath Borough Council (SHBC) said more accounts were now in arrears by smaller amounts.

In the same period Waverley Borough Council reported an increase of over 220% in the number of accounts referred to bailiffs compared to the national rise of less than 50%.

Surrey Heath

The figures show that in Surrey Heath, 381 accounts were in council tax arrears in 2021/22. Three years later this number had risen to 2,606 - a 584% increase.

The number of accounts in arrears being referred to bailiffs jumped from 1,050 to 2,190 across the same timeframe.

Surrey Heath Borough Council (SHBC) said: "The trend appears to be in line with the cost of living crisis."

SHBC said it started using a new enforcement agent in July 2024 and referred some older cases to bailiffs to try to recover outstanding amounts which may have resulted in "duplicate" cases in the figures.

Waverley

According to the data, in Waverley there were 1,337 accounts in council tax arrears in 2021/22. This number had risen to 4,322 by 2024/25 - a 223% increase.

The number of accounts in arrears being referred to bailiffs jumped from 601 to 782 across the same period.

A spokesperson for Waverley Borough Council said: "As arrears from individual accounts are cleared, the number of outstanding accounts left in arrears for any given financial year will drop considerably over time."

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