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Overview

South East · Non-metropolitan district

Sevenoaks

2026/27 view

Sevenoaks · ONS E07000111

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources
COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

54/ 100
COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Mixed

Compared only with non-metropolitan district councils using central government returns.

164 councils in peer group Rank 70 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover22
Debt burden58
Liquidity71
Debt direction98
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £-95.0k 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
−£304.0k 145.5%
Service expenditure £18.70m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
−£4.60m 19.7%
Unallocated reserves £2.00m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£200.0k 11.1%
FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL TREND

How this council's finances have changed

Official annual outturn. Each line uses its own scale so direction remains easy to read.

Through 2024/25
Service expenditure £18.70m
6.4%
2020/21: £19.99m 2021/22: £18.66m 2022/23: £17.31m 2023/24: £23.30m 2024/25: £18.70m
Net revenue expenditure £18.71m
18.1%
2020/21: £22.85m 2021/22: £25.63m 2022/23: £20.18m 2023/24: £24.95m 2024/25: £18.71m
Council Tax requirement £18.33m
15.3%
2020/21: £15.90m 2021/22: £16.22m 2022/23: £16.82m 2023/24: £17.54m 2024/25: £18.33m
Unallocated reserves £2.00m
33.3%
2020/21: £1.50m 2021/22: £1.70m 2022/23: £1.80m 2023/24: £1.80m 2024/25: £2.00m
COUNCILMETRICS COMMUNITY SCORE Share your experience 0 of 25 responses collected before results are published
Score this council
Political controlNot yet recordedAdministration not identified
Council leaderNot identifiedParty not identified
Resident population122,7482024 estimate
Latest net debt£-95.0k2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

Official Defra measures for Sevenoaks, with like-for-like comparison against collection authorities.

2024/25
36.6%recycled
Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

1.6 percentage points vs 2023/24
136 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste548.3 kgper household−6.6 kg year on year
Waste collected367.6 kgper resident−18.8 kg year on year
Household waste45,521tonnes collected16,647 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

16,647 t recycled, composted or reused 28,874 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

36.6%
2015/16: 31.9%2016/17: 38.3%2017/18: 38.1%2018/19: 37.5%2019/20: 38.0%2020/21: 36.6%2021/22: 38.8%2022/23: 35.5%2023/24: 38.2%2024/25: 36.6%
2015/162024/25
Official Defra waste statistics · Annual local-authority return · Figures may not sum exactly because of published rounding.View source
EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Sevenoaks.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
65 Open schools
17,192 Pupils
19,900 School places
86.4% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Sevenoaks.

Attainment 8
50.9
South East 47.0
England 46.1
4.8 points above England
English & maths grade 5+
55.0%
South East 47.9%
England 45.4%
9.6 percentage points above England
EBacc entry
55.8%
South East 41.6%
England 40.5%
15.3 percentage points above England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

0.04

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

51.5 18/19
55.2 19/20
56.2 20/21
53.6 21/22
50.3 22/23
51.0 23/24
50.9 24/25
Education context

Sevenoaks's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes are above both South East and England benchmarks across all three headline measures.

Department for Education · Key Stage 4 performance · Pupil residency
HOUSING & AFFORDABILITY

Housing costs and local earnings

House prices and affordability for Sevenoaks, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025
Median house price
£480,000
+ 15.8% over five years
Median resident earnings
£44,581
+ 19.9% over five years
House price to earnings
10.77×
Improved from 11.15× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Sevenoaks.

£1,803 / month
+ 4.2% in the last year
July 2026
Sevenoaks
£1,803
+ 4.2%
South East
£1,419
+ 2.9%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with South East £384 more per month
Compared with England £352 more per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

Median house price as a multiple of median resident earnings. Lower is more affordable.

Sevenoaks
10.77×
South East
9.20×
England
7.64×
Compared with South East Less affordable
Compared with England Less affordable
Source: Office for National Statistics · Housing affordability in England and Wales · House prices year ending September · Residence-based earnings
PLANNING & HOUSING DELIVERY

Is development moving through the system?

Quarterly planning decisions and the government's latest three-year Housing Delivery Test.

2026 Q1
Applications received288this quarter−6 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided266this quarter+18 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
89.5%approved
Overall approval rate238 granted28 refused+3.2 pts vs previous quarter
DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

95.1%
Rank 98 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

1.2 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major887.5%100.0% Minor7991.1%96.2% Other17988.8%94.4%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 3712024 Q3: 3192024 Q4: 3082025 Q1: 3602025 Q2: 3172025 Q3: 2842025 Q4: 2942026 Q1: 2882024 Q2: 3092024 Q3: 3382024 Q4: 2812025 Q1: 3292025 Q2: 3182025 Q3: 2982025 Q4: 2482026 Q1: 266
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

25%
Required2,130homes over three years
Delivered523homes over three years
100% requirement
Presumption in favourHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

Latest police-recorded crime figures for Sevenoaks, excluding fraud.

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 6,462 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 52.6 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change − 10.2% compared with the previous year
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Sevenoaks Your council
52.6 − 10.2%
South East Region
70.5 − 2.7%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Sevenoaks has a recorded crime rate 25.3% below South East. It is 36.9% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Kent
Violence 2,418
19.7 per 1,000 − 7.9%
Theft 2,097
17.1 per 1,000 − 17.3%
Public order 286
2.3 per 1,000 − 11.5%
Criminal damage 838
6.8 per 1,000 − 5.0%
Shoplifting 526
4.3 per 1,000 − 20.1%
Vehicle offences 563
4.6 per 1,000 − 12.3%
Burglary 327
2.7 per 1,000 − 37.1%
Drug offences 285
2.3 per 1,000 + 3.6%
ONS / Home Office · Police-recorded crime · Community Safety Partnership data
SCHOOLS & OFSTED

Schools and inspection outcomes

Open schools, pupil numbers and the latest published Ofsted inspection position for Sevenoaks.

65 schools
Open schools 65
Pupils 17,192
School places 19,900
Capacity used 86.4%
Primary 42 schools
9,309 pupils
Other / specialist 20 schools
4,766 pupils
Secondary 3 schools
3,117 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 2
3.1% of open schools
Previous full framework 26
40.0% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 19
29.2% of open schools
No Ofsted record 17
26.2% of open schools
No published outcome 1
1.5% of open schools
RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

2 schools assessed
Achievement 2 assessed
Needs attention 1
Strong standard 1
Attendance & behaviour 2 assessed
Needs attention 1
Strong standard 1
Curriculum & teaching 2 assessed
Needs attention 1
Strong standard 1
Inclusion 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Leadership & governance 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Personal development 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Safeguarding 2 assessed
Met 2
PREVIOUS FRAMEWORK

Legacy Ofsted ratings

These ratings apply only to schools whose latest full inspection remains under the previous Ofsted framework. Schools assessed under the renewed framework are shown separately above.

Outstanding 2
Good 14
Not judged 10
LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
Amherst School URN 136499 · TN13 2AX Primary 385 384 Good
Chevening, St Botolph's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School URN 118715 · TN13 2SA Primary 196 210 Good
Chiddingstone Church of England School URN 137728 · TN8 7AH Primary 209 210 Not judged
Churchill Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School URN 118616 · TN16 1EZ Primary 203 210 Not judged
Crockenhill Primary School URN 118254 · BR8 8JG Primary 203 210 Not judged
Crockham Hill Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School URN 118615 · TN8 6RP Primary 142 140 Ungraded inspection
Downsview Community Primary School URN 134515 · BR8 8AU Primary 140 210 Renewed framework
Dunton Green Primary School URN 118272 · TN13 2UP Primary 160 210 Good
School information: Get Information about Schools (GIAS). Inspection information: Ofsted monthly management information. Inspection frameworks differ over time, so renewed-framework standards and previous overall effectiveness grades are shown separately.
Published expenditure£0.00No spending file imported
Revenue budget£0.00Not imported
Reported overspend£0.00Not imported outturn
Contracts00 active
Identified suppliers0Normalised entities
PEOPLE AND PLACE

Population snapshot

View full People profile
Population 122,748 2024
South East region 9,642,942
Sevenoaks represents 1.27% of the region's population
Five-year population change
+3,173 residents ↑ 2.7%
2019: 119,575 residents2020: 120,051 residents2021: 120,823 residents2022: 121,194 residents2023: 121,774 residents2024: 122,748 residents
Sevenoaks +2.7%
South East +4.9%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Sevenoaks's population grew over five years. Its change was 2.2 percentage points below the South East and 1.6 percentage points below England.

2019–2024 ONS mid-year estimates
Population estimates and labour-market measures from ONS/Nomis.Official profile
BENEFITS & FINANCIAL PRESSURE

How is Universal Credit changing in Sevenoaks?

People receiving Universal Credit and how the caseload has changed over the latest 24 months.

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 8,756 7.1% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +9.2% +738 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.6% +54 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Sevenoaks LOCAL AUTHORITY
7.1%
South East REGION
9.5%
England COUNTRY
12.3%
Percentage of the resident population receiving Universal Credit. This is not an unemployment rate.
24-MONTH TREND

People receiving Universal Credit

Monthly caseload recorded on the DWP Universal Credit system.

June 2024 May 2026
8,756 7,895 7,033
June 2024 May 2026
What does this measure?

Universal Credit provides financial support to people who are on a low income or out of work. These figures count people receiving Universal Credit, not households and not the number of people who are unemployed.

DWP Stat-Xplore
HOUSING LICENSING

HMOs and property licensing

Coverage not assessedNational HMO explorer
Licensed HMOsAwaiting registerOnly licensed properties will be counted
Register accessNot assessedNo register record available
Identifiable HMO expenditureNot identifiableNot separately described in published transactions
Inspection and enforcement dataAwaiting dataNo activity source imported yet
Coverage note

A licensed HMO register has not yet been located for this council. CouncilMetrics does not estimate HMO expenditure from broad housing or social-care descriptions.

FINANCE

How this council raises and spends money

Comparable official outturn for 2024/25, reported to central government.

MHCLG official outturn
Total service expenditure
£18.70m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£18.71m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£18.33m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£2.00m 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £152
Median for councils of the same type £166 7.9% below peer median
2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn
Environmental and regulatory services Gross £18.40m · Income £10.79m
£7.60m
Central services Gross £7.60m · Income £1.56m
£6.04m
Planning and development Gross £9.96m · Income £4.31m
£5.65m
Housing Gross £5.80m · Income £4.67m
£1.13m
Culture and related services Gross £2.30m · Income £1.31m
£997.0k
Children's social care Gross £61.0k · Income £1.0k
£60.0k
Public health Gross £59.0k · Income £1.0k
£58.0k
Highways and transport Gross £2.15m · Income £4.99m
£-2.84m
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£18.33m
Retained business rates£3.96m
Revenue Support Grant£198.0k
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £1.80m
Closing £2.00m
£200.0k increase during 2024/25
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · Revenue Outturn RS and RSX · values shown in pounds Official dataset
BORROWING AND INVESTMENTS

Balance-sheet position

A point-in-time view of debt and liquid investments at the end of 2026/27 Q1.

MHCLG quarterly return
Outstanding borrowing
£18.18m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£18.28m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£-95.0k 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£-1 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £-1
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 100.8% lower than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£304.0k quarterly reduction
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement −£304.0k −145.5%
Change across the series +£20.97m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1
What changed?

Net debt reduced during the latest quarter as the balance between borrowing and investments improved.

BORROWING COMPOSITION

Where the borrowing sits

PWLB, other longer-term borrowing and short-term borrowing.

2026/27 Q1
Public Works Loan Board£10.58m
Short-term borrowing£7.60m
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment live table · 2026/27 Q1 · values shown in pounds Official dataset
COUNCIL TAX & COLLECTION

How much council tax remains unpaid?

Council tax collection, outstanding arrears and write-offs reported to central government.

MHCLG 2025/26
Outstanding arrears
£8.00m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
97.77% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£533,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£126.08m Receipts relating to the financial year
FIVE-YEAR TREND

How has unpaid council tax changed?

Outstanding arrears at each financial year-end.

2021/22–2025/26
OUTSTANDING ARREARS 2025/26
£8.00m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 22.6%
+ £1.47m
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£6.53m 2021/22 £6.48m 2022/23 £6.63m 2023/24 £7.15m 2024/25 £8.00m 2025/26

Figures represent total outstanding council tax balances, including arrears carried forward from earlier years. Changes in council boundaries can affect historical comparisons.

OUTSTANDING ARREARS

Where does the unpaid council tax come from?

Breakdown of outstanding balances at the end of 2025/26.

£8.00m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £2.99m

37.3% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £5.02m

62.7% of outstanding arrears

Current-year arrears Earlier-years arrears

Earlier-years arrears represent unpaid council tax carried forward from previous financial years. These figures do not identify individual households or establish whether balances are recoverable.

COLLECTION PERFORMANCE

How does this council compare?

England 2025/26
In-year collection rate 97.77%

England average: 95.60%  ·  2.17 percentage points above England

Outstanding arrears include unpaid balances from earlier financial years and are not the same as council tax uncollected during 2025/26. Monetary values are rounded for display. Official MHCLG source

SPENDING

Published directorate expenditure

Explore all 0 records
CONTRACTS

Largest contracts

Explore all 0 contracts
ContractSupplierStatusEnd dateOriginal value
SUPPLIERS

Largest supplier exposure

Dated transactions
SupplierPaymentsPublished expenditure
PROVENANCE

Source documents

39 imported
DocumentDatasetPeriodStatusOfficial source
Housing Delivery Test 2025 results — Sevenoaksmhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Sevenoaksmhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Sevenoaksmhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Sevenoaks District Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Sevenoaksmhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Sevenoaksmhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Sevenoaksmhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Sevenoaksmhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Sevenoaksmhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Sevenoaksmhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Sevenoaksmhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Sevenoaksmhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Sevenoaksmhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Sevenoaksmhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Sevenoaksmhclg revenue outturn rs2024/25importedOpen
How to read these figures and the Financial Health Score

Budget summaries and financial positions retain the reporting year and assurance status of their original source. Draft or unaudited values are labelled separately from audited outturn figures. The Financial Health Score uses reserves cover, net debt per resident, liquidity and quarterly debt direction from central MHCLG returns. Each component is converted to a percentile among councils of the same authority type; available components are weighted 35%, 30%, 20% and 15% respectively. A score is published only when at least three components covering 65% of the weighting are available. It is a comparative financial indicator, not an assessment of service quality or political performance.