Durham County Council

Bins, council tax and planning, and what the council covers

Durham County Council is the one council for County Durham: there is no county council above it, so it runs bins, council tax and planning, and schools, roads and social care. ONS places 16,354 postcodes in use in County Durham, in 34 postcode districts across 5 postcode areas.

85% of homes and businesses in County Durham can get gigabit broadband, Ofcom says. The Environment Agency puts 1,998 homes and businesses in County Durham in an area at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.

Its own pages listed
27
Postcodes in use
16,354
Postcode districts
34
Towns and villages
62

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) Postcode Directory, August 2026, loaded 20 October 2026. See all our data sources

Its website

Durham County Council

durham.gov.uk

Name and website as GOV.UK gives them.

Do it on Durham County Council's own website

Each link goes straight to the page on the council's own website for that task. We opened every one on 14 October 2026.

Bins and recycling

Council tax

Planning and building

Housing

Roads and parking

Report a problem

Schools

Care, support and libraries

Councillors, voting and complaints

The pages are the ones GOV.UK lists for Durham County Council. If one has moved since, tell us.

What broadband can you get in County Durham?

Across County Durham, 85% of homes and businesses can get gigabit broadband and 84% full fibre, Ofcom says.

Full fibre84% can get it
Gigabit (1,000 Mbit/s)85% can get it
Superfast (30 Mbit/s or more)98% can get it
Cannot get decent broadband (10 Mbit/s)Under 1%

For one street, look up its postcode: each postcode page has its own figures. A provider's checker answers for one address.

Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations, Spring 2026, data for January 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it

How much is council tax in County Durham?

Band D for 2026‑27: £2,622 a year

Every other band is a fixed share of Band D, set in law. Band A is two thirds of it; band H is twice it.

BandA year
Band A£1,748
Band B£2,039
Band C£2,331
Band D£2,622
Band E£3,205
Band F£3,788
Band G£4,370
Band H£5,244

Band D is the average across the area, including the county council, police, fire and combined authority charges, and parish or town council charges, so a home's own bill can be a little different. Bands other than D are worked out by us from Band D and rounded to the pound. A home's bill also takes off any discount, such as 25% for one adult living alone.

Check one home's band on GOV.UK

Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027, Table 10, published 25 March 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it

How many homes in County Durham are at risk of flooding?

Across County Durham, the Environment Agency puts 1,998 homes and businesses in an area at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, at 640 postcodes with any property at risk.

Homes and businesses in an area at risk, at 640 postcodes High: 1,300Medium: 698Low: 2,401Very low: 607

High: 3.3% or more a year (1 in 30). Medium: 1% to 3.3% a year. Low: 0.1% to 1% a year. Very low: under 0.1% a year (1 in 1,000). Each band is the chance of flooding in any one year.

Homes and businesses in an area at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, as the Environment Agency counts them. It leaves out surface water, groundwater and sewers. Each postcode page has its own figures and its flood warning areas.

Source: Environment Agency, Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea (postcodes in areas at risk), published 6 July 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it

Surface water

In County Durham the Environment Agency counts 7,652 properties at high risk of flooding from surface water (2.4% of all its properties), 6,171 at medium risk (2%) and 20,607 at low risk (6.6%). Surface water is rain that cannot drain away fast enough.

Source: Environment Agency, Risk of Flooding from Surface Water, properties at risk by local authority, version 2025-09, listed 18 September 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it

Postcode districts with postcodes in County Durham

Counted from the ONS Postcode Directory. A postcode district is drawn for sorting post, so many cross a council's edge.

Its postcode areas

DH postcode area: Durham, postcodes in use here:7,372 of 9,174DL postcode area: Darlington, postcodes in use here:5,996 of 13,555NE postcode area: Newcastle upon Tyne, postcodes in use here:240 of 33,857SR postcode area: Sunderland, postcodes in use here:1,847 of 6,881TS postcode area: Cleveland, postcodes in use here:899 of 17,884

Beside each area: how many of its postcodes in use are in County Durham.

Towns and villages

DurhamConsettNewton AycliffeBishop AucklandChester-le-StreetSeahamStanleyPeterleeSpennymoorAnnfield PlainShildonCrookFerryhillBrandonMurtonEasingtonHordenBarnard CastleSedgefieldWillingtonSacristonUshaw Moor and BearparkWingateCoxhoe

The 24 with the most postcodes in County Durham, of 62. Browse places A to Z.

Is an address in County Durham?

A council's edge does not follow postcodes exactly. Check the postcode.

All councils, A to Z

What County Durham covers: Office for National Statistics (ONS) Postcode Directory, August 2026, loaded 20 October 2026. Its name, website and own pages: GOV.UK, Local authority services, downloaded 14 October 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0; every link opened on 14 October 2026. See all our data sources

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