More than 7,000 vulnerable and low-income residents in Waltham Forest could face bigger council tax bills next year — and right now, the decision is still open to your input.
The Green-led council is consulting on cutting its council tax support scheme by 10% for two groups: people assessed as having "limited capability for work", and households with children under five. At the moment, residents in those groups can get an 85% reduction on their council tax bill. Under the proposal, that reduction would drop to 75%.
If that sounds like a small change on paper, here is what it means in practice. Council tax support is the scheme that decides how much of your bill you actually have to pay if you are on a low income. The more support you get, the smaller your bill. Cutting the reduction from 85% to 75% means the share you pay goes up.
This is not the first time the scheme has been trimmed. The former Labour administration reduced it in 2024. Before that, working-age residents on low incomes paid as little as 15% of their council tax bill. They now pay up to 43%.
The council puts the saving from the new proposal at £970,000 a year. Its own figures show 7,079 households would lose support under the changes, while 2,343 households would get more help than they do now. For households with no earnings and no special protection, the maximum share of the bill they could be asked to pay would rise from 57% to 75%.
Councillor Em Dean, cabinet member for finances, said: "We review the council tax support scheme every year to make sure it remains fair, affordable, and sustainable." The council says it will keep a £750,000 hardship fund in place for residents who run into financial difficulty.
Labour opposition leader Kizzy Gardiner called the move "deeply concerning", pointing to the tension between the proposal and the Green Party's manifesto pledges on cost-of-living support.
Here are the dates that matter if you want a say. The consultation closes on 6th November 2026. A final decision is expected in December 2026. If the changes are approved, they would take effect on 1st April 2027.
That leaves a clear window — just over a month — in which residents, and anyone who supports them, can put their view on the record before councillors decide. Consultations like this one are often decided by who turns up. If this scheme is the thing that makes your bill manageable, this is the stage at which saying so counts for most.
