Households in England who miss a council tax payment will have to receive both a reminder and a final notice before they can lose the right to pay by instalments under requirements due to start in April 2027.
The new rules set minimum intervals for the final notice. It cannot be sent until at least 41 days after the first missed payment and must also come at least 14 days after the most recent reminder. Once the final notice arrives, the taxpayer will have a further 21 days to bring the account up to date before instalment rights are lost.
The process will reset if an account is brought back up to date during the financial year. The measures set out a required warning sequence before a household loses instalment rights; they do not remove councils’ existing tools for recovering unpaid tax.
What changes in 2027
At least one reminder and one final notice will be required. The rules specify both the time from the first missed payment and the gap after the last reminder, so a final notice must satisfy both minimum periods. The additional 21-day window begins after the final notice.
The government says it will work with local authorities, debt-support organisations and other representatives on guidance for collection and enforcement. That guidance is expected to include an optional template for the reminder and final notices, with the aim of making the process clearer and more consistent. The template will be optional; the notice sequence itself will be required.
Local authorities, software providers and representative bodies are also expected to work together ahead of implementation. Further delivery information remains to be issued. The government says it will conduct another data-collection exercise to assess potential new burdens for councils, after acknowledging that authorities needed more clarity before estimating implementation costs. The timing and requested data are still to be circulated.
Part of a wider package
The notice requirements sit alongside reforms announced earlier this year. Those measures include a £100 cap on the costs of seeking a liability order and extending the period before a household can lose the right to pay in instalments to 63 days from the first missed payment. These were earlier commitments; the October response adds the specific notice and minimum-timing requirements following a technical consultation.
The government says councils will retain their recovery tools. Separately, bodies that employ or contract certificated enforcement agents, including councils with in-house agents, will have to be accredited by the Enforcement Conduct Board. That is a distinct measure associated with the Ministry of Justice, rather than one of the new notice intervals.
Billing timetable is separate
The same October response also clarifies the approach to council tax billing, but the billing timetable should not be confused with enforcement rules. From April 2027, newly liable households are to be told they can request payment across 12 months. Councils will not be expected to switch those households automatically unless they ask.
A default of 12-month billing for all households remains planned for April 2028. Households will retain the right to ask for the traditional 10-month schedule. The 2028 default is therefore not a new April 2027 enforcement rule.
For taxpayers, the immediate change in 2027 is a defined sequence of notices and additional time to respond before instalment rights can be lost. The measures do not cancel council tax debts or prevent later recovery action. Guidance, council implementation details and the assessment of new burdens funding remain forthcoming.
