Merton Council is freezing the main element of your Council Tax. This means the main part of your bill won’t be going up this year, leaving more money in your pocket. We’re only able to do this because we’ve been good with money – managing our budgets well, attracting funding into the borough, and paying down debt so that we can spend more on what matters to you.

The freeze means that you will continue to pay significantly less than you would in neighbouring Croydon, Sutton, Richmond, or Kingston – who have the highest Council Tax in London.

We know how important it is to look after our older and vulnerable residents, and we’re determined to keep providing excellent care and support our NHS. An increase of 2% in the adult social care precept will help fund this. There will also be an increase from the Greater London Authority in their precept, to invest in neighbourhood policing and tackling crime.

As well as keeping bills low, by managing the finances well this budget also invests in what you have told us to prioritise:

• More Safer Streets Wardens out on patrol, cracking down on anti-social behaviour 
• A new graffiti removal service to clean up shop fronts 
• Protecting the Freedom Pass to preserve free travel for thousands of older and disabled residents  
• £30 million to kickstart Morden’s regeneration, benefitting the whole borough with new jobs and opportunities 
• Building a brand-new Sports Hall at Morden Leisure Centre and four new Multi-Use Games Areas, and continuing to offer Free Swimming for under-16s and over-65s  
• Continuing to run Pop-up Tips four times a year in every neighbourhood 
• Investing £5 million to fix potholes and improve our roads 

Councillor Ross Garrod, Leader of Merton Council said:

“We promised to keep bills as low as possible to help with the cost of living. By freezing the main element of Council Tax, that’s exactly what we are doing. 

“Whether it’s keeping bills down, building new council homes, cleaning up your streets, or offering you things you wouldn’t get if you lived elsewhere – we’re on the side of people in Merton. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved so far, and we’ll keep on striving to offer our residents better services and better value.” 

The freeze was confirmed as part of Merton’s Budget for 2026/27, which was agreed by councillors on Wednesday 25 February. 

Councillor Stephen Alambritis, Merton’s Cabinet Member for Finance said:

“Even with the freeze this year, we’re still able to offer our residents more of the things that matter to them. We’re putting our money where our mouth is by making our streets even safer, putting more resources into street cleanliness, breathing new life into our town centres, and expanding our popular pop-up tips. 

“All of this is only possible because we’ve managed our money well for years. You don’t have to take our word for it, the independent experts at Peopletoo recently gave us a financial health check and found that we have lower debt, higher reserves and more spent per resident that almost all of our comparable London boroughs. This means that whilst other councils look to cut back, we are able to do more.”