Rates 2025/26

Derry and Strabane agrees its budget for 2025/26 

Derry City and Strabane District Council today agreed its budget for the incoming 2025/26 financial year and set a District Rates increase for ratepayers of 4.92%. 

This will see an average rates bill increasing by £28.96 per annum or 56 pence per week. The regional rate, set by Central Government, will be determined by the end of March, and will also have an impact on the overall rates bill. 

The budget was set at a Special Meeting of Council today, Monday, 10th February 2025, where it was highlighted that the increase comprised a 3.42% baseline increase to cover the significant statutory financial challenges and service demands facing Council along with a 1.50% rates investment towards the financing of Council’s hugely ambitious and exciting capital strategy.  

In terms of the baseline increase, Members were advised of the range of statutory pressures and new service demands facing Council services including pay pressures, Employer’s national insurance costs and cost inflation which have been partially offset by some rate-base growth, additional waste income and continued efficiencies across Council services. 

It was outlined to Members at the meeting that pay pressures continue to be a significant issue for Council, particularly in the current year whereby the Employer’s national insurance increases imposed by the recent UK budget have added circa £1.1m to Council’s pay bill and have had a direct 1.21% impact on rates bills. Unfortunately, despite ongoing lobbying by Councils, no funding has been confirmed from Treasury to offset this additional cost for public sector employers in Northern Ireland. 

Facilitated by new waste income, the baseline rates position also includes investment of £1.266m (1.64%) towards the reinstatement of previously implemented service cuts as well as new service pressures and demands. These include costs associated with assuming the responsible reservoir manager role at Creggan Reservoir; addressing budgetary and resourcing pressures within our key core front line services e.g. grounds maintenance, refuse collection, street cleansing and cemeteries; additional investment into grant aid programmes within sports development, community centre venues, consensual local growth partnerships, advice and cultural organisations; additional resources within community services to address emerging and immediate priorities e.g. Whole Systems approach to Obesity and Ending Violence against Women and Girls strategy; as well as additional tourism resource focused on screen and food tourism.    

This year’s budget will therefore allow Council to continue to provide critical frontline services to ratepayers with a clear focus and commitment to protecting jobs as well as the continued provision of funding to organisations who rely on Council support to deliver community services and projects.   

Central to this year’s rates process is the substantial positive progress made to Council’s capital funding strategy and our ambitious capital development plans. To date over £200m of capital projects have been completed or are progressing with full funding in place. These include Acorn Farm, Derg Active, Daisyfield Sports Hub, new Northwest cemetery provision at Mullenan Road, the DNA Museum and COVID recovery small settlements investment across the District, as well as the recently approved Riverine and Strabane Public Realm projects. 

The additional 1.50% rates capital investment agreed today along with funding expected to be secured from the Northern Ireland Executive towards City of Derry Airport will go towards financing Council’s hugely ambitious and exciting capital financing strategy. Building on the investment secured following the signing of the transformative City Deal and Inclusive Future Fund investment plan in September 2024, Council will now have financing of up to £100m in place towards it’s 2 key strategic leisure aspirations in Templemore and Strabane. This will enable the 2 projects to progress to detailed design, consultation and planning with some further rates investment in 2026/27 and 2027/28 allowing the projects to progress to construction.  2025/26 will also see options and costings being further progressed and detailed designs developed for new civic/ commercial office development as a key component of the wider aspirations for the future Central Riverfront development and university expansion.  

Members were also informed that, whilst work progresses across the Council District on Council’s fully funded programme of community and statutory capital projects, this years’ rates investment would ensure an additional £10m of funding could be made available to progress several further projects. This will supplement the £4m funding previously earmarked for a range of these projects and the hope that Council investment can be further leveraged through the securing of external investment from Central Government. Following the conclusion of the rates process, immediate considerations by the Capital and Corporate projects Planning Group in respect of the prioritisation of projects will progress.   

In conclusion, members in approving the agreed District rates increase have given Council authority to continue to press ahead with its ambitious plans to drive growth and investment across the City and Region as well deliver critical front-line services across the City and District.  

The new agreed District rate for the year ending 31st March 2026 is 39.5993 p in the £ for Non-Domestic properties and of 0.6369p in the £ for Domestic properties. This represents a 4.92% District rates increase for all ratepayers.  

The Special Council meeting is available to watch back on the Council’s Youtube channel. 

The accompanying reports and papers are available online here –  

For more information on the rates visit our website at www.derrystrabane.com/rates 

Rates Breakdown 

The Councils estimated revenue expenditure (net of specific grant income and fees and charges from council services) in 2025/26 will be £81.850m. 

Net Revenue Expenditure 

The following chart demonstrates how this money will be spent across each of our Service Directorates:- 

Total Income 

For the financial year 2025/26, the net expenditure will be funded from the following sources of income- 

Rates breakdown per household 

The following table is based on the average property value and details what the average ratepayer in the Derry City and Strabane District Council pays in 2024/25 compared to the N. Ireland Council average: 

Domestic Ratepayer Examples Based on Average House Values 

This year’s District rates increase of 4.92% will mean an average increase of £28.96 per annum or 56p per week and will see the average domestic District rates bill increase to £617.57.  

NON-DOMESTIC RATES 

Non-domestic rates are a rate for all business properties, such as offices, factories and shops, with bills based on the rental value of your property as at March 2023.. 

Further information and the updated Non domestic valuation list can be found online at the attached link:- 

Non domestic ratepayers will also see District rates bills increase by an average of 4.92%.   

There are a range of reliefs available to business ratepayers. These include the following:-  

• Small Business Rate Relief 
• Small Business Rate Relief for small Post Offices 
• Charitable Exemption for rates 
• Sports and Recreation Rate Relief 
• Residential Homes Rate Relief 
• Industrial Derating 
• Non-Domestic Vacant Rating 
• Hardship Rate Relief 
• Rural ATMs 

Of the 5,654 non domestic properties in this Council area, 15% of business ratepayers are fully exempt from rates; 65% are small businesses who can avail of small business rates relief ranging between 20% and 50% of their rates bills; and a further 7% avail of de-rating relief of between 70%-80% of their rates bills. 

More details can be found at the attached link:- 

Rates 2025/26 

The 4.92% District rates increase has resulted from the following factors and impacts:- 

UPDATED SERVICE COSTS 2025/26 

A summary of costs and income for all Council service areas for 2025 26 is provided in the table below:- 

When will I receive my rates bill for 2025-2026? 

All ratepayers will receive their 2025-2026 rates bill, which is made up of the district rate (55%) and regional rate (45%) set by central government, from Land and Property Services. The date of issue will be confirmed by Land and Property Services in early April 2025.