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Overview

South East · Non-metropolitan district

Tunbridge Wells

2026/27 view

Tunbridge Wells · ONS E07000116

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources
COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

70/ 100
COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Good

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 39 of 164 Medium confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover56
Debt burden85
Debt direction73
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £-47.20m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
−£5.70m 13.7%
Service expenditure £16.71m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£3.34m 25.0%
Unallocated reserves £4.36m 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 £16.71m
9.4%
2020/21: £18.45m 2021/22: £14.13m 2022/23: £13.65m 2023/24: £13.37m 2024/25: £16.71m
Net revenue expenditure £18.03m
10.1%
2020/21: £16.38m 2021/22: £15.17m 2022/23: £13.20m 2023/24: £20.42m 2024/25: £18.03m
Council Tax requirement £13.58m
21.3%
2020/21: £11.20m 2021/22: £11.34m 2022/23: £11.99m 2023/24: £12.82m 2024/25: £13.58m
Unallocated reserves £4.36m
1.3%
2020/21: £4.30m 2021/22: £4.34m 2022/23: £4.36m 2023/24: £4.36m 2024/25: £4.36m
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 population119,6942024 estimate
Latest net debt£-47.20m2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25
51.4%recycled
Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.8 percentage points vs 2023/24
38 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste381.6 kgper household+17.6 kg year on year
Waste collected347.3 kgper resident+6.4 kg year on year
Household waste41,570tonnes collected21,382 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

21,382 t recycled, composted or reused 20,187 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

51.4%
2015/16: 45.6%2016/17: 49.1%2017/18: 48.4%2018/19: 47.8%2019/20: 50.2%2020/21: 47.5%2021/22: 47.8%2022/23: 47.8%2023/24: 52.2%2024/25: 51.4%
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 Tunbridge Wells.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
54 Open schools
23,110 Pupils
24,321 School places
95.0% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Tunbridge Wells.

Attainment 8
53.9
South East 47.0
England 46.1
7.8 points above England
English & maths grade 5+
60.2%
South East 47.9%
England 45.4%
14.8 percentage points above England
EBacc entry
65.6%
South East 41.6%
England 40.5%
25.1 percentage points above England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

0.31

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

54.6 18/19
57.3 19/20
59.4 20/21
57.0 21/22
53.9 22/23
54.6 23/24
53.9 24/25
Education context

Tunbridge Wells'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 Tunbridge Wells, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025
Median house price
£430,000
+ 10.3% over five years
Median resident earnings
£47,896
+ 11.1% over five years
House price to earnings
8.98×
Improved from 9.05× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Tunbridge Wells.

£1,529 / month
+ 4.6% in the last year
July 2026
Tunbridge Wells
£1,529
+ 4.6%
South East
£1,419
+ 2.9%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with South East £110 more per month
Compared with England £78 more per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Tunbridge Wells
8.98×
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 received297this quarter−9 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided266this quarter−4 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
89.9%approved
Overall approval rate239 granted27 refused−6.8 pts vs previous quarter
DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

98.5%
Rank 32 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

0.0 percentage points lower than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major785.7%100.0% Minor7181.7%97.2% Other18893.1%98.9%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 3362024 Q3: 2862024 Q4: 3342025 Q1: 3682025 Q2: 3062025 Q3: 2992025 Q4: 3062026 Q1: 2972024 Q2: 3712024 Q3: 2952024 Q4: 2882025 Q1: 3052025 Q2: 3562025 Q3: 2862025 Q4: 2702026 Q1: 266
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

93%
Required1,999homes over three years
Delivered1,863homes over three years
100% requirement
Action planHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

Latest police-recorded crime figures for Tunbridge Wells, excluding fraud.

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 26 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 0.2 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change — change not available at council level
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Tunbridge Wells Your council
0.2
South East Region
70.5 − 2.7%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Tunbridge Wells has a recorded crime rate 99.7% below South East. It is 99.7% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Kent
Violence 7
0.1 per 1,000
Theft 13
0.1 per 1,000
Public order 1
0.0 per 1,000
Criminal damage 4
0.0 per 1,000
Shoplifting 10
0.1 per 1,000
Vehicle offences 1
0.0 per 1,000
Burglary 0
0.0 per 1,000
Drug offences 0
0.0 per 1,000
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 Tunbridge Wells.

54 schools
Open schools 54
Pupils 23,110
School places 24,321
Capacity used 95.0%
Primary 32 schools
8,340 pupils
Other / specialist 14 schools
4,415 pupils
Secondary 8 schools
10,355 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 6
11.1% of open schools
Previous full framework 21
38.9% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 16
29.6% of open schools
No Ofsted record 11
20.4% of open schools
RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

6 schools assessed
Achievement 6 assessed
Strong standard 3
Expected standard 2
Needs attention 1
Attendance & behaviour 6 assessed
Strong standard 4
Expected standard 2
Curriculum & teaching 6 assessed
Expected standard 4
Needs attention 1
Strong standard 1
Inclusion 6 assessed
Expected standard 5
Strong standard 1
Leadership & governance 6 assessed
Expected standard 4
Strong standard 2
Personal development 6 assessed
Expected standard 3
Strong standard 3
Safeguarding 6 assessed
Met 6
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 9
Requires improvement 2
Inadequate 1
Not judged 7
LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
Benenden Church of England Primary School URN 118597 · TN17 4EH Primary 213 210 Ungraded inspection
Bidborough Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School URN 118598 · TN3 0UE Primary 200 210 Ungraded inspection
Bishops Down Primary and Nursery School URN 118468 · TN4 9SU Primary 194 210 Renewed framework
Brenchley and Matfield Church of England Primary School URN 142689 · TN12 7NY Primary 209 210 Ungraded inspection
Broadwater Down Primary School URN 118566 · TN2 5RP Primary 109 210 Good
Capel Primary School URN 118271 · TN12 6RP Primary 209 212 Ungraded inspection
Claremont Primary School URN 118456 · TN2 5EB Primary 436 436 Good
Colliers Green Church of England Primary School URN 118716 · TN17 2LR Primary 109 112 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 119,694 2024
South East region 9,642,942
Tunbridge Wells represents 1.24% of the region's population
Five-year population change
+4,536 residents ↑ 3.9%
2019: 115,158 residents2020: 115,271 residents2021: 115,650 residents2022: 116,263 residents2023: 117,741 residents2024: 119,694 residents
Tunbridge Wells +3.9%
South East +4.9%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Tunbridge Wells's population grew over five years. Its change was 0.9 percentage points below the South East and broadly in line with 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 Tunbridge Wells?

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

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 9,640 8.1% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +8.6% +760 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.4% +36 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Tunbridge Wells LOCAL AUTHORITY
8.1%
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
9,640 8,720 7,800
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
£16.71m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£18.03m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£13.58m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£4.36m 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £140
Median for councils of the same type £166 15.6% 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 £11.27m · Income £6.00m
£5.27m
Culture and related services Gross £10.29m · Income £5.41m
£4.88m
Planning and development Gross £11.61m · Income £7.29m
£4.33m
Central services Gross £6.60m · Income £2.87m
£3.73m
Housing Gross £4.10m · Income £1.24m
£2.86m
Highways and transport Gross £4.14m · Income £8.50m
£-4.36m
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£13.58m
Retained business rates£3.74m
Revenue Support Grant£189.0k
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £4.36m
Closing £4.36m
£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
£0.00 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£47.20m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£-47.20m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£-394 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £-394
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 514.1% lower than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£5.70m quarterly reduction
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement −£5.70m −13.7%
Change across the series −£27.20m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1
What changed?

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

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
£9.75m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
97.37% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£275,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£113.52m 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
£9.75m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 71.5%
+ £4.07m
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£5.69m 2021/22 £6.59m 2022/23 £7.06m 2023/24 £8.27m 2024/25 £9.75m 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.

£9.75m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £3.24m

33.2% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £6.52m

66.8% 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 97.37%

England average: 95.60%  ·  1.77 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 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Tunbridge Wells Borough Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Tunbridge Wellsmhclg 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.