⌘ K
Overview

South East · Non-metropolitan district

Woking

2026/27 view

Woking · ONS E07000217

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources
COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

9/ 100
COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Significant pressure

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 163 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover13
Debt burden0
Liquidity0
Debt direction32
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £2,153.26m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
+£5.59m 0.3%
Service expenditure £18.66m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£1.25m 7.2%
Unallocated reserves £1.50m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
£0.00 0.0%
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 £18.66m
42.6%
2020/21: £13.08m 2021/22: £14.04m 2022/23: £18.05m 2023/24: £17.41m 2024/25: £18.66m
Net revenue expenditure £-21.58m
188.3%
2020/21: £24.44m 2021/22: £20.49m 2022/23: £21.73m 2023/24: £27.98m 2024/25: £-21.58m
Council Tax requirement £12.23m
19.8%
2020/21: £10.21m 2021/22: £10.10m 2022/23: £10.61m 2023/24: £11.21m 2024/25: £12.23m
Unallocated reserves £1.50m
0.0%
2020/21: £1.50m 2021/22: £1.50m 2022/23: £1.50m 2023/24: £1.50m 2024/25: £1.50m
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 population105,6792024 estimate
Latest net debt£2,153.26m2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25
55.0%recycled
Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

1.4 percentage points vs 2023/24
22 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste348.8 kgper household+0.7 kg year on year
Waste collected326.1 kgper resident−11.9 kg year on year
Household waste34,498tonnes collected18,958 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

18,958 t recycled, composted or reused 15,540 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

55.0%
2015/16: 58.7%2016/17: 59.4%2017/18: 57.1%2018/19: 57.2%2019/20: 55.4%2020/21: 54.3%2021/22: 51.5%2022/23: 55.8%2023/24: 56.4%2024/25: 55.0%
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 Woking.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
38 Open schools
15,379 Pupils
16,577 School places
92.8% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Woking.

Attainment 8
50.0
South East 47.0
England 46.1
3.9 points above England
English & maths grade 5+
52.6%
South East 47.9%
England 45.4%
7.2 percentage points above England
EBacc entry
49.0%
South East 41.6%
England 40.5%
8.5 percentage points above England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

0.19

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

50.2 18/19
54.2 19/20
54.5 20/21
52.8 21/22
50.9 22/23
50.3 23/24
50.0 24/25
Education context

Woking's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes are above both South East 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 Woking, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025
Median house price
£435,000
+ 8.8% over five years
Median resident earnings
£43,719
+ 8.7% over five years
House price to earnings
9.95×
Higher from 9.94× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Woking.

£1,619 / month
-1.7% in the last year
July 2026
Woking
£1,619
-1.7%
South East
£1,419
+ 2.9%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with South East £200 more per month
Compared with England £168 more per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Woking
9.95×
South East
9.20×
England
7.64×
Compared with South East 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 received208this quarter+37 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided173this quarter+24 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
85.0%approved
Overall approval rate147 granted26 refused+1.1 pts vs previous quarter
DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

86.7%
Rank 224 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

1.9 percentage points lower than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major2100.0%100.0% Minor3171.0%77.4% Other14087.9%88.6%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 1472024 Q3: 1932024 Q4: 1862025 Q1: 1862025 Q2: 2032025 Q3: 1682025 Q4: 1712026 Q1: 2082024 Q2: 1752024 Q3: 1892024 Q4: 1982025 Q1: 1852025 Q2: 2172025 Q3: 1972025 Q4: 1492026 Q1: 173
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

97%
Required1,308homes over three years
Delivered1,272homes over three years
100% requirement
No consequenceHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 6,585 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 62.3 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change + 4.5% compared with the previous year
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Woking Your council
62.3 + 4.5%
South East Region
70.5 − 2.7%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Woking has a recorded crime rate 11.6% below South East. It is 25.3% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Surrey
Violence 2,620
24.8 per 1,000 + 5.9%
Theft 1,833
17.3 per 1,000 + 5.5%
Public order 741
7.0 per 1,000 − 6.0%
Criminal damage 601
5.7 per 1,000 + 6.4%
Shoplifting 643
6.1 per 1,000 + 18.4%
Vehicle offences 280
2.6 per 1,000 − 10.3%
Burglary 219
2.1 per 1,000 + 11.2%
Drug offences 210
2.0 per 1,000 − 9.5%
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 Woking.

38 schools
Open schools 38
Pupils 15,379
School places 16,577
Capacity used 92.8%
Primary 25 schools
7,980 pupils
Other / specialist 7 schools
1,561 pupils
Secondary 5 schools
5,838 pupils
16+ provision 1 school
0 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 4
10.5% of open schools
Previous full framework 18
47.4% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 11
28.9% of open schools
No Ofsted record 5
13.2% of open schools
RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

4 schools assessed
Achievement 4 assessed
Expected standard 3
Strong standard 1
Attendance & behaviour 4 assessed
Expected standard 2
Strong standard 2
Curriculum & teaching 4 assessed
Expected standard 3
Needs attention 1
Inclusion 4 assessed
Expected standard 3
Strong standard 1
Leadership & governance 4 assessed
Expected standard 3
Strong standard 1
Personal development 4 assessed
Expected standard 2
Needs attention 1
Strong standard 1
Safeguarding 4 assessed
Met 4
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.

Outstanding 4
Good 10
Not judged 4
LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
Barnsbury Primary School and Nursery URN 140540 · GU22 0BB Primary 435 420 Ungraded inspection
Beaufort Primary School URN 140508 · GU21 3RG Primary 469 480 Renewed framework
Broadmere Primary Academy URN 139479 · GU21 5QE Primary 253 261 Good
Brookwood Primary School URN 142084 · GU24 0HF Primary 211 238 Good
Byfleet Primary School URN 147671 · KT14 7AT Primary 175 210 Ungraded inspection
Goldsworth Primary School URN 137850 · GU21 6NL Primary 624 630 Good
Horsell CofE Junior School URN 151668 · GU21 4TA Primary 354 360 Ungraded inspection
Kingfield Primary School URN 148169 · GU22 9EQ Primary 252 210 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 105,679 2024
South East region 9,642,942
Woking represents 1.10% of the region's population
Five-year population change
+1,256 residents ↑ 1.2%
2019: 104,423 residents2020: 103,882 residents2021: 103,900 residents2022: 104,432 residents2023: 105,053 residents2024: 105,679 residents
Woking +1.2%
South East +4.9%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Woking's population grew over five years. Its change was 3.7 percentage points below the South East and 3.0 percentage points below 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 Woking?

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

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 8,336 7.9% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +10.0% +755 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.5% +38 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Woking LOCAL AUTHORITY
7.9%
South East REGION
9.5%
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
8,336 7,518 6,700
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
£18.66m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£-21.58m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£12.23m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£1.50m 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £177
Median for councils of the same type £166 6.7% above peer median
2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn
Housing Gross £9.94m · Income £3.06m
£6.88m
Central services Gross £8.31m · Income £1.74m
£6.57m
Environmental and regulatory services Gross £6.98m · Income £1.88m
£5.09m
Planning and development Gross £3.65m · Income £1.47m
£2.17m
Culture and related services Gross £4.99m · Income £2.84m
£2.14m
Adult social care Gross £3.49m · Income £1.52m
£1.97m
Children's social care Gross £1.24m · Income £280.7k
£960.2k
Highways and transport Gross £4.85m · Income £7.06m
£-2.21m
Other services Gross £10.42m · Income £15.35m
£-4.93m
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£12.23m
Retained business rates£5.27m
Revenue Support Grant£99.0k
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £1.50m
Closing £1.50m
£0.00 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
£2,182.64m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£29.38m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£2,153.26m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£20,375 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £20,375
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 21,299.0% higher than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£5.59m quarterly increase
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement +£5.59m +0.3%
Change across the series +£718.28m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1
What changed?

Net debt increased despite borrowing not rising because investments and cash fell during the quarter.

BORROWING COMPOSITION

Where the borrowing sits

PWLB, other longer-term borrowing and short-term borrowing.

2026/27 Q1
Public Works Loan Board£2,157.64m
Other longer-term borrowing£25.00m
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
£8.25m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
97.86% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£1,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£105.96m 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
£8.25m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 72.7%
+ £3.47m
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£4.78m 2021/22 £5.59m 2022/23 £6.61m 2023/24 £7.65m 2024/25 £8.25m 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.

£8.25m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £2.61m

31.6% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £5.64m

68.4% 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 97.86%

England average: 95.60%  ·  2.26 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 — Wokingmhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Wokingmhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Wokingmhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Woking Borough Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Woking BCmhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Woking BCmhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Wokingmhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Wokingmhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Wokingmhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Wokingmhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Woking BCmhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Woking BCmhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Wokingmhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Woking BCmhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Woking BCmhclg 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.