South East · Non-metropolitan district

Thanet

2026/27 view

Thanet · ONS E07000114

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

33/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Significant pressure

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 124 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover12

Debt burden37

Liquidity49

Debt direction51

YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.

Net debt £46.06m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

−£2.19m 4.5%

Service expenditure £35.07m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

+£6.77m 23.9%

Unallocated reserves £2.01m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

£0.00 0.0%

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 £35.07m

43.8%

Net revenue expenditure £32.56m

35.3%

Council Tax requirement £14.85m

16.2%

Unallocated reserves £2.01m

0.0%

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 population142,6912024 estimate

Latest net debt£46.06m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25

34.7%recycled

Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.1 percentage points vs 2023/24

150 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%

Residual waste443.9 kgper household−7.7 kg year on year

Waste collected333.3 kgper resident−9.0 kg year on year

Household waste47,565tonnes collected16,490 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

16,490 t recycled, composted or reused 31,075 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

34.7%

2015/162024/25

EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Thanet.

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

58 Open schools

20,123 Pupils

22,454 School places

89.6% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Thanet.

Attainment 8

41.3

South East 47.0

England 46.1

4.8 points below England

English & maths grade 5+

36.4%

South East 47.9%

England 45.4%

9.0 percentage points below England

EBacc entry

31.6%

South East 41.6%

England 40.5%

8.9 percentage points below England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.26

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

40.6 18/19

43.3 19/20

43.8 20/21

42.2 21/22

42.4 22/23

41.6 23/24

41.3 24/25

Education context

Thanet's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes are below 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 Thanet, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025

Median house price

£291,000

+ 18.3% over five years

Median resident earnings

£35,775

+ 33.2% over five years

House price to earnings

8.13×

Improved from 9.16× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Thanet.

£1,114 / month

+ 3.8% in the last year

July 2026

Thanet

£1,114

+ 3.8%

South East

£1,419

+ 2.9%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with South East £305 less per month

Compared with England £337 less per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Thanet

8.13×

South East

9.20×

England

7.64×

Compared with South East More 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 received153this quarter−24 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided159this quarter−17 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

91.8%approved

Overall approval rate146 granted13 refused+0.9 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

87.4%

Rank 215 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

2.3 percentage points lower than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major7100.0%100.0% Minor5190.2%84.3% Other10192.1%88.1%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

70%

Required3,451homes over three years

Delivered2,427homes over three years

100% requirement

Presumption in favourHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 14,750 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate 103.4 offences per 1,000 residents

Annual change − 3.7% compared with the previous year

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents

Thanet Your council

103.4 − 3.7%

South East Region

70.5 − 2.7%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

Thanet has a recorded crime rate 46.7% above South East. It is 23.9% above the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Kent

Violence 6,851

48.0 per 1,000 − 2.8%

Theft 3,382

23.7 per 1,000 − 12.2%

Public order 768

5.4 per 1,000 − 13.2%

Criminal damage 1,497

10.5 per 1,000 − 2.8%

Shoplifting 1,295

9.1 per 1,000 − 2.3%

Vehicle offences 533

3.7 per 1,000 − 22.9%

Burglary 335

2.3 per 1,000 − 27.3%

Drug offences 809

5.7 per 1,000 + 29.6%

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 Thanet.

58 schools

Open schools 58

Pupils 20,123

School places 22,454

Capacity used 89.6%

Primary 31 schools

9,698 pupils

Other / specialist 18 schools

1,525 pupils

Secondary 7 schools

7,310 pupils

16+ provision 1 school

0 pupils

All-through 1 school

1,590 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 3

5.2% of open schools

Previous full framework 22

37.9% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 19

32.8% of open schools

No Ofsted record 14

24.1% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

3 schools assessed

Achievement 3 assessed

Needs attention 1

Strong standard 1

Urgent improvement 1

Attendance & behaviour 3 assessed

Needs attention 2

Strong standard 1

Curriculum & teaching 3 assessed

Expected standard 1

Needs attention 1

Strong standard 1

Inclusion 3 assessed

Strong standard 2

Expected standard 1

Leadership & governance 3 assessed

Expected standard 1

Needs attention 1

Strong standard 1

Personal development 3 assessed

Expected standard 2

Strong standard 1

Safeguarding 3 assessed

Met 3

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 12

Not judged 8

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
Birchington Church of England Primary School URN 118693 · CT7 0AS	Primary	422	420	Not judged
Bromstone Primary School, Broadstairs URN 118534 · CT10 2PW	Primary	407	420	Not judged
Callis Grange Nursery and Infant School URN 118406 · CT10 3DG	Primary	291	296	Good
Chilton Primary School URN 141766 · CT11 0LQ	Primary	418	420	Ungraded inspection
Christ Church Church of England Junior School, Ramsgate URN 139255 · CT11 0ZZ	Primary	223	240	Ungraded inspection
Cliftonville Primary School URN 140012 · CT9 3LY	Primary	845	862	Good
Dame Janet Primary Academy URN 138972 · CT12 6QY	Primary	291	360	Ungraded inspection
Drapers Mills Primary Academy URN 139021 · CT9 2SP	Primary	246	420	Ungraded inspection

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 142,691 2024

South East region 9,642,942

Five-year population change

+2,067 residents ↑ 1.5%

Thanet +1.5%

South East +4.9%

England +4.3%

Growth context

Thanet's population grew over five years. Its change was 3.4 percentage points below the South East and 2.8 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 Thanet?

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

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 23,848 16.7% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +7.3% +1,620 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.6% +145 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

Thanet LOCAL AUTHORITY

16.7%

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

23,848 22,009 20,169

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

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

£35.07m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£32.56m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£14.85m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£2.01m 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £246

Median for councils of the same type £166 48.5% above peer median

2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn

Environmental and regulatory services Gross £16.57m · Income £4.85m

£11.72m

Housing Gross £10.50m · Income £3.53m

£6.96m

Planning and development Gross £8.37m · Income £1.97m

£6.40m

Central services Gross £35.43m · Income £29.21m

£6.22m

Culture and related services Gross £6.21m · Income £1.06m

£5.15m

Highways and transport Gross £2.74m · Income £4.13m

£-1.39m

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£14.85m

Retained business rates£11.74m

Revenue Support Grant£382.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £2.01m

Closing £2.01m

£0.00 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

£90.47m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£44.41m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£46.06m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£323 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £323

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 239.0% higher than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£2.19m quarterly reduction

2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1

Latest quarterly movement −£2.19m −4.5%

Change across the series +£68.50m 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£90.47m

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

£34.26m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

93.97% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£479,000 Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£110.30m 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

£34.26m

CHANGE SINCE 2021/22

+ 59.4%

+ £12.77m

ENGLAND CHANGE

+49.5%

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.

£34.26m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £6.99m

20.4% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £27.27m

79.6% 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 93.97%

England average: 95.60% · 1.63 percentage points below 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

Contract	Supplier	Status	End date	Original value

SUPPLIERS

Largest supplier exposure

Dated transactions

Supplier	Payments	Published expenditure

PROVENANCE

Source documents

39 imported

Document	Dataset	Period	Status	Official source
Housing Delivery Test 2025 results — Thanet	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Thanet	mhclg planning ps2	1979 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Thanet	mhclg planning ps1	1996 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — Thanet District Council	defra local authority waste	2010/11–2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Thanet	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Thanet	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Thanet	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Thanet	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Thanet	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Thanet	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Thanet	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Thanet	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Thanet	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Thanet	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Thanet	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2024/25	imported	Open

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.