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Overview

East of England · Non-metropolitan district

Maldon

2026/27 view

Maldon · ONS E07000074

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources
COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

78/ 100
COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Good

Compared only with non-metropolitan district councils using central government returns.

164 councils in peer group Rank 21 of 164 Medium confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover88
Debt burden75
Debt direction60
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £-17.35m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
−£1.08m 6.6%
Service expenditure £13.21m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£500.0k 3.9%
Unallocated reserves £8.64m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£4.83m 126.6%
FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL TREND

How this council's finances have changed

Official annual outturn. Each line uses its own scale so direction remains easy to read.

Through 2024/25
Service expenditure £13.21m
24.3%
2020/21: £17.45m 2021/22: £10.46m 2022/23: £11.43m 2023/24: £12.71m 2024/25: £13.21m
Net revenue expenditure £11.95m
32.1%
2020/21: £17.61m 2021/22: £10.25m 2022/23: £10.77m 2023/24: £10.65m 2024/25: £11.95m
Council Tax requirement £7.74m
16.5%
2020/21: £6.64m 2021/22: £6.75m 2022/23: £7.03m 2023/24: £7.32m 2024/25: £7.74m
Unallocated reserves £8.64m
88.6%
2020/21: £4.58m 2021/22: £4.58m 2022/23: £4.58m 2023/24: £3.81m 2024/25: £8.64m
COUNCILMETRICS COMMUNITY SCORE Share your experience 0 of 25 responses collected before results are published
Score this council
Political controlNot yet recordedAdministration not identified
Council leaderNot identifiedParty not identified
Resident population69,1312024 estimate
Latest net debt£-17.35m2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

Official Defra measures for Maldon, with like-for-like comparison against collection authorities.

2024/25
57.8%recycled
Household recycling rate

More waste recycled

0.6 percentage points vs 2023/24
11 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste343.2 kgper household−7.0 kg year on year
Waste collected359.9 kgper resident−1.9 kg year on year
Household waste24,879tonnes collected14,391 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

14,391 t recycled, composted or reused 10,488 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

57.8%
2015/16: 47.0%2016/17: 58.0%2017/18: 59.3%2018/19: 59.4%2019/20: 58.9%2020/21: 57.9%2021/22: 58.3%2022/23: 56.7%2023/24: 57.2%2024/25: 57.8%
2015/162024/25
Official Defra waste statistics · Annual local-authority return · Figures may not sum exactly because of published rounding.View source
EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Maldon.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
23 Open schools
7,382 Pupils
8,268 School places
89.3% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Maldon.

Attainment 8
43.7
East of England 46.2
England 46.1
2.4 points below England
English & maths grade 5+
37.8%
East of England 45.9%
England 45.4%
7.6 percentage points below England
EBacc entry
22.9%
East of England 40.0%
England 40.5%
17.6 percentage points below England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.48

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

47.1 18/19
48.5 19/20
50.8 20/21
48.1 21/22
45.8 22/23
43.0 23/24
43.7 24/25
Education context

Maldon's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes are below both East of England and England benchmarks across all three headline measures.

Department for Education · Key Stage 4 performance · Pupil residency
HOUSING & AFFORDABILITY

Housing costs and local earnings

House prices and affordability for Maldon, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025
Median house price
£385,000
+ 18.5% over five years
Median resident earnings
£43,385
+ 16.6% over five years
House price to earnings
8.87×
Higher from 8.74× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Maldon.

£1,143 / month
+ 4.4% in the last year
July 2026
Maldon
£1,143
+ 4.4%
East of England
£1,285
+ 3.7%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with East of England £142 less per month
Compared with England £308 less per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

Median house price as a multiple of median resident earnings. Lower is more affordable.

Maldon
8.87×
East of England
8.52×
England
7.64×
Compared with East of England Less affordable
Compared with England Less affordable
Source: Office for National Statistics · Housing affordability in England and Wales · House prices year ending September · Residence-based earnings
PLANNING & HOUSING DELIVERY

Is development moving through the system?

Quarterly planning decisions and the government's latest three-year Housing Delivery Test.

2026 Q1
Applications received130this quarter−5 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided134this quarter+47 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
86.6%approved
Overall approval rate116 granted18 refused−7.7 pts vs previous quarter
DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

97.0%
Rank 59 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

12.0 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major1163.6%90.9% Minor4783.0%97.9% Other7692.1%97.4%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 1172024 Q3: 1352024 Q4: 1102025 Q1: 1232025 Q2: 1352025 Q3: 1392025 Q4: 1352026 Q1: 1302024 Q2: 1742024 Q3: 1082024 Q4: 1192025 Q1: 842025 Q2: 1132025 Q3: 1102025 Q4: 872026 Q1: 134
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

143%
Required868homes over three years
Delivered1,245homes over three years
100% requirement
No consequenceHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

Latest police-recorded crime figures for Maldon, excluding fraud.

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 3,096 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 44.8 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change − 0.2% compared with the previous year
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Maldon Your council
44.8 − 0.2%
East of England Region
68.4 − 0.1%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Maldon has a recorded crime rate 34.6% below East of England. It is 46.3% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Essex
Violence 1,510
21.8 per 1,000 + 7.9%
Theft 617
8.9 per 1,000 − 21.8%
Public order 260
3.8 per 1,000 + 3.2%
Criminal damage 267
3.9 per 1,000 + 2.7%
Shoplifting 161
2.3 per 1,000 − 10.1%
Vehicle offences 132
1.9 per 1,000 − 32.7%
Burglary 104
1.5 per 1,000 − 23.5%
Drug offences 159
2.3 per 1,000 + 16.1%
ONS / Home Office · Police-recorded crime · Community Safety Partnership data
SCHOOLS & OFSTED

Schools and inspection outcomes

Open schools, pupil numbers and the latest published Ofsted inspection position for Maldon.

23 schools
Open schools 23
Pupils 7,382
School places 8,268
Capacity used 89.3%
Primary 19 schools
4,291 pupils
Other / specialist 2 schools
199 pupils
Secondary 2 schools
2,892 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 1
4.3% of open schools
Previous full framework 8
34.8% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 12
52.2% of open schools
No Ofsted record 1
4.3% of open schools
No published outcome 1
4.3% of open schools
RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

1 schools assessed
Achievement 1 assessed
Needs attention 1
Attendance & behaviour 1 assessed
Expected standard 1
Curriculum & teaching 1 assessed
Needs attention 1
Inclusion 1 assessed
Expected standard 1
Leadership & governance 1 assessed
Needs attention 1
Personal development 1 assessed
Expected standard 1
Safeguarding 1 assessed
Met 1
PREVIOUS FRAMEWORK

Legacy Ofsted ratings

These ratings apply only to schools whose latest full inspection remains under the previous Ofsted framework. Schools assessed under the renewed framework are shown separately above.

Good 7
Not judged 1
LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
All Saints Maldon Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School URN 115103 · CM9 6HY Primary 316 315 Ungraded inspection
Burnham-on-Crouch Primary School URN 114821 · CM0 8LG Primary 421 420 Ungraded inspection
Christchurch Church of England Primary School URN 142252 · CM3 6JS Primary 109 175 Renewed framework
Cold Norton Primary School URN 114904 · CM3 6JE Primary 157 147 Good
Great Totham Primary School URN 115244 · CM9 8PN Primary 431 436 Ungraded inspection
Heybridge Primary School URN 138994 · CM9 4TU Primary 428 420 Good
Limebrook Primary School and Nursery URN 150739 · CM9 6NE Primary 137 420 No published outcome
Maldon Primary School URN 143122 · CM9 5DQ Primary 171 240 Good
School information: Get Information about Schools (GIAS). Inspection information: Ofsted monthly management information. Inspection frameworks differ over time, so renewed-framework standards and previous overall effectiveness grades are shown separately.
Published expenditure£0.00No spending file imported
Revenue budget£0.00Not imported
Reported overspend£0.00Not imported outturn
Contracts00 active
Identified suppliers0Normalised entities
PEOPLE AND PLACE

Population snapshot

View full People profile
Population 69,131 2024
East of England region 6,576,306
Maldon represents 1.05% of the region's population
Five-year population change
+4,650 residents ↑ 7.2%
2019: 64,481 residents2020: 65,090 residents2021: 66,611 residents2022: 67,624 residents2023: 68,400 residents2024: 69,131 residents
Maldon +7.2%
East of England +4.8%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Maldon's population grew over five years. Its change was 2.4 percentage points above the East of England and 3.0 percentage points above England.

2019–2024 ONS mid-year estimates
Population estimates and labour-market measures from ONS/Nomis.Official profile
BENEFITS & FINANCIAL PRESSURE

How is Universal Credit changing in Maldon?

People receiving Universal Credit and how the caseload has changed over the latest 24 months.

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 5,486 7.9% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +6.9% +353 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.6% +32 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Maldon LOCAL AUTHORITY
7.9%
East of England REGION
10.3%
England COUNTRY
12.3%
Percentage of the resident population receiving Universal Credit. This is not an unemployment rate.
24-MONTH TREND

People receiving Universal Credit

Monthly caseload recorded on the DWP Universal Credit system.

June 2024 May 2026
5,486 5,016 4,545
June 2024 May 2026
What does this measure?

Universal Credit provides financial support to people who are on a low income or out of work. These figures count people receiving Universal Credit, not households and not the number of people who are unemployed.

DWP Stat-Xplore
HOUSING LICENSING

HMOs and property licensing

Coverage not assessedNational HMO explorer
Licensed HMOsAwaiting registerOnly licensed properties will be counted
Register accessNot assessedNo register record available
Identifiable HMO expenditureNot identifiableNot separately described in published transactions
Inspection and enforcement dataAwaiting dataNo activity source imported yet
Coverage note

A licensed HMO register has not yet been located for this council. CouncilMetrics does not estimate HMO expenditure from broad housing or social-care descriptions.

FINANCE

How this council raises and spends money

Comparable official outturn for 2024/25, reported to central government.

MHCLG official outturn
Total service expenditure
£13.21m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£11.95m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£7.74m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£8.64m 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £191
Median for councils of the same type £166 15.4% above peer median
2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn
Central services Gross £6.50m · Income £1.73m
£4.77m
Environmental and regulatory services Gross £7.83m · Income £3.63m
£4.20m
Planning and development Gross £3.66m · Income £1.82m
£1.84m
Culture and related services Gross £2.18m · Income £527.0k
£1.66m
Housing Gross £2.17m · Income £514.0k
£1.65m
Other services Gross £23.0k · Income £5.0k
£18.0k
Highways and transport Gross £1.20m · Income £2.12m
£-923.0k
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£7.74m
Retained business rates£7.20m
Revenue Support Grant£86.0k
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £7.26m
Closing £8.64m
£1.38m increase during 2024/25
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · Revenue Outturn RS and RSX · values shown in pounds Official dataset
BORROWING AND INVESTMENTS

Balance-sheet position

A point-in-time view of debt and liquid investments at the end of 2026/27 Q1.

MHCLG quarterly return
Outstanding borrowing
£0.00 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£17.35m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£-17.35m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£-251 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £-251
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 363.6% lower than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£1.08m quarterly reduction
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement −£1.08m −6.6%
Change across the series +£4.04m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1
What changed?

Net debt reduced during the latest quarter as the balance between borrowing and investments improved.

MHCLG Borrowing and Investment live table · 2026/27 Q1 · values shown in pounds Official dataset
COUNCIL TAX & COLLECTION

How much council tax remains unpaid?

Council tax collection, outstanding arrears and write-offs reported to central government.

MHCLG 2025/26
Outstanding arrears
£3.71m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
98.00% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£213,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£60.72m Receipts relating to the financial year
FIVE-YEAR TREND

How has unpaid council tax changed?

Outstanding arrears at each financial year-end.

2021/22–2025/26
OUTSTANDING ARREARS 2025/26
£3.71m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 13.3%
+ £436,000
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£3.28m 2021/22 £3.32m 2022/23 £2.87m 2023/24 £3.05m 2024/25 £3.71m 2025/26

Figures represent total outstanding council tax balances, including arrears carried forward from earlier years. Changes in council boundaries can affect historical comparisons.

OUTSTANDING ARREARS

Where does the unpaid council tax come from?

Breakdown of outstanding balances at the end of 2025/26.

£3.71m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £1.45m

39.1% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £2.26m

60.9% of outstanding arrears

Current-year arrears Earlier-years arrears

Earlier-years arrears represent unpaid council tax carried forward from previous financial years. These figures do not identify individual households or establish whether balances are recoverable.

COLLECTION PERFORMANCE

How does this council compare?

England 2025/26
In-year collection rate 98.00%

England average: 95.60%  ·  2.40 percentage points above England

Outstanding arrears include unpaid balances from earlier financial years and are not the same as council tax uncollected during 2025/26. Monetary values are rounded for display. Official MHCLG source

SPENDING

Published directorate expenditure

Explore all 0 records
CONTRACTS

Largest contracts

Explore all 0 contracts
ContractSupplierStatusEnd dateOriginal value
SUPPLIERS

Largest supplier exposure

Dated transactions
SupplierPaymentsPublished expenditure
PROVENANCE

Source documents

39 imported
DocumentDatasetPeriodStatusOfficial source
Housing Delivery Test 2025 results — Maldonmhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Maldonmhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Maldonmhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Maldon District Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Maldon DCmhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Maldon DCmhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Maldonmhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Maldonmhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Maldonmhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Maldonmhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Maldon DCmhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Maldon DCmhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Maldonmhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Maldon DCmhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Maldon DCmhclg revenue outturn rs2024/25importedOpen
How to read these figures and the Financial Health Score

Budget summaries and financial positions retain the reporting year and assurance status of their original source. Draft or unaudited values are labelled separately from audited outturn figures. The Financial Health Score uses reserves cover, net debt per resident, liquidity and quarterly debt direction from central MHCLG returns. Each component is converted to a percentile among councils of the same authority type; available components are weighted 35%, 30%, 20% and 15% respectively. A score is published only when at least three components covering 65% of the weighting are available. It is a comparative financial indicator, not an assessment of service quality or political performance.