What our budget means

A Council Tax freeze and hundreds of millions to keep restoring pride in our town

Dear resident,

In February we agreed our budget for 2023 to 2024. Despite it being one of the most challenging budgets ever due to the economic situation, we will freeze our share of the Council Tax bill. This delivers on a commitment we made to you last year when we set our historic budget.

While your overall Council Tax bill will go up, you won’t pay a penny more in Council Tax for the services Harlow Council provides you.

We also plan to keep freezing our share of Council Tax up to 2026. That is because we will do everything we can to help you and your family with the cost of living.

As well as a Council Tax freeze, we are also continuing to invest in Harlow’s regeneration to restore pride in our town. There’s now £39 million to build much-needed new council homes for Harlow families, £102 million over 5 years for improving existing council homes, £79 million over 5 years to improve council-owned facilities and another £170,000 for the Estate Renewal Fund to restore pride in our estates and neighbourhoods.

There will be over £25 million this year to improve the standard of council homes. I know many of our tenants have concerns about damp and mould, roofing and the energy efficiency of their homes. That’s why, along with fire safety, we will be prioritising these issues which will be funded through the income we receive from rent.

We are doing all this with no cuts to the essential and popular services you love and there will be no detrimental impact on the council’s future finances.

The money the council has is not our money. It is your money. Therefore, we are continuing to invest your money into your priorities and getting on with making Harlow the best town in Britain to raise your family, to live and to be.

Councillor Russell Perrin Leader of Harlow Council