Only the Green Party voted against the rate hike
Ards and North Down Borough is to receive a new district rate hike at 4.74 percent, a rise over the level of inflation, and an increase on last year’s hike by over a full percentage point.
At the full monthly meeting of Ards and North Down Borough Council on Wednesday January 28 at Bangor Castle, elected representatives announced the 4.74 percent rise for both domestic and non-domestic properties for 2025/26. The UK inflation rate in December was 3.4 percent.
At a special 50 minute meeting of the council, unionist politicians spent most time criticising the rates increases outlined in the 2026 Reval, and passed a motion demanding the Sinn Féin Finance Minister reviews the process or provides funding to prevent widespread business closures and job losses in the hospitality sector.
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This was before Thursday’s news Finance Minister John O’Dowd had announced a pause in the rates revaluation for pubs, hotels, hospitality and small retail businesses.
35 councillors voted in favour of the local district rate increase and an amendment to write to the Finance Minister, while two voted against the increase from the Green Party. The 4.74 percent rate rise amounts to an increase of approximately £2.40 per month for the average household on last year’s bill and a rise of £13 per month for the average business in the borough.
Last year, the council set a district rate at 3.65 percent, amongst the lowest in Northern Ireland. For 2024/25, the council set a rate with an increase of 5.98 percent for residents and businesses, for 2023/24 the council carried through a 6.8 percent increase.
Domestic rates are made up of a regional rate, set by Stormont or the Northern Ireland Office, and a district rate, set by Northern Ireland’s councils, with both parts of the rate funding the respective responsibilities of Stormont and local government.
The district rate is for home and business owners, and pays for multiple public services, including waste management leisure/community centres, parks, building control, environmental health, events and recreation, arts, tourism, and a host of other services and funds.
The Lord Mayor, Alliance Councillor Gillian McCollum, said at the meeting in Bangor Castle: “This budget will enable us to protect essential services, support vibrant communities, strengthen the conditions for business growth and investment, and fund the infrastructure our borough needs into the next decade and beyond.”
She said: “As a Borough we have clear ambitions for the next decade: modern services, resilient infrastructure and places that attract residents, visitors and businesses.
“Our capital plan represents over £250 million investment, supported by central government partners who are providing over 50 percent of the funding. Managing that ambition responsibly means smoothing the cost of borrowing and ensuring our capital financing provision is predictable. This requires us to make provision this year for capital spend over the coming decade.”
Green Councillor Bary McKee told the chamber: “Unfortunately we cannot support this above-inflation increase in the district rate. People, like businesses across Ards and North Down, are already struggling with rising food costs, energy bills, and housing pressures. Many households are stretched to the limit.
“Asking them to pay more than inflation is not a neutral decision, it is a political choice, and it is a choice that hits ordinary people first and hardest.”
Alliance Councillor Chris McCracken said he was “disappointed” with the Green Party’s position, calling it “performative politics rather than practical politics.” He said: “We have costs we have to meet, we have investments we need to make. It would be more damaging not to have a rate increase.”
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