AL5 postcode: council tax bands, what homes pay and house prices in Harpenden
The AL5 postcode district covers 13,157 homes across 1,058 live postcodes in Harpenden. The most common council tax band is Band G (22% of homes), which St Albans charges £4,032 for 2026/27.
Council tax bands in AL5
| Band | Homes | Share | St Albans 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band A | 136 | 1.0% | £1,613 |
| Band B | 556 | 4.2% | £1,882 |
| Band C | 1,392 | 11% | £2,150 |
| Band D | 2,373 | 18% | £2,419 |
| Band E | 2,694 | 20% | £2,957 |
| Band F | 2,257 | 17% | £3,494 |
| Band G | 2,927 | 22% | £4,032 |
| Band H | 822 | 6.2% | £4,838 |
Weighting every band by how many homes sit in it, the typical council tax bill in AL5 is about £3,164 a year (£264 a month) at St Albans’s 2026/27 charges — Band D itself is £2,419, up 4.9% on 2025/26. Bands were set from 1 April 1991 values in England and Wales (2003 values in Wales) and only change on a revaluation or a successful challenge, so the mix below shifts slowly.
Across England and Wales 3.5% of homes are Band G, so AL5 is heavier than average in that band; 5.3% of homes here are Band A or B (43% nationally) and 66% are Band E or above (20% nationally).
These are the Valuation Office Agency’s counts for the statistical areas that make up AL5, not a look-up of your address — for the exact band of one property use the VOA band search. Charges include the adult social care precept and police, fire and parish precepts where St Albans reports them in its Band D figure; single-person and other discounts come off afterwards.
House prices in AL5
HM Land Registry recorded 350 standard sales in AL5 in the twelve months to 31 July 2026. The median price paid was £795,000; half of sales fell between £534,000 and £1,200,000, with the cheapest at £135,000 and the dearest at £4,700,000. That is up 6.1% on the previous twelve months (median £749,625 from 286 sales).
| Type | Sales | Median price |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | 116 | £1,362,500 |
| Semi-detached | 100 | £875,000 |
| Terraced | 63 | £595,000 |
| Flat / maisonette | 71 | £340,000 |
Gross yield at the AL5 median
ONS puts the average private rent in St Albans at £1,931 a month (July 2026). Against the AL5 median sale price of £795,000 that is a gross yield of 2.9% before void periods, agent fees, repairs and tax. The St Albans rent and prices page breaks rent down by bedrooms, and the rental yield calculator takes your own purchase price and rent.
How old the homes are
| Built | Homes | AL5 | England & Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1900 | 588 | 4.5% | 15% |
| 1900–1939 | 3,100 | 24% | 20% |
| 1945–1972 | 4,644 | 36% | 26% |
| 1973–1999 | 3,029 | 23% | 21% |
| 2000–2008 | 492 | 3.8% | 6.3% |
| 2009 onwards | 986 | 7.6% | 12% |
28% of homes in AL5 were built before 1939, against 35% across England and Wales. Older stock usually means lower EPC ratings and higher heating bills — relevant because privately rented homes need EPC C by 1 October 2030, and St Albans’s EPC page shows how far the local stock is from that line.
If you let a home in AL5
- Empty between tenants: the landlord is liable for council tax during a void, and St Albans sets its own empty-home discount or premium — see St Albans council tax 2026/27 and council tax in void periods as a deductible expense.
- Second homes and long-term empties: a 100% premium can apply from April 2025 — the premium tracker lists each council’s decision.
- HMOs: since 1 December 2023 a licensed HMO is banded as one dwelling in England, with the landlord liable — check licensing rules by council.
- Buying to let here: run the second-home stamp duty and buy-to-let stress test at the AL5 median, then the rental income tax calculator.
Other AL postcodes
AL1 · AL2 · AL3 · AL4 · AL6 · AL7 · AL8 · AL9 · AL10 · all AL districts
Sources
Open data this page is built from; figures are recomputed each time the site is rebuilt.
- Valuation Office Agency — Council Tax: stock of properties, 2025 — table CTSOP4.1, dwellings by band and build period at 31 March 2025, weighted from statistical areas into postcode districts
- HM Land Registry — Price Paid Data — standard sales registered to 31 July 2026. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
- ONS — Postcode Directory, August 2026 — live postcodes, statistical areas and local authorities. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026
- Council tax charges 2026/27 — MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax levels, as used on this site’s council pages
- VOA — check your council tax band — the official per-address lookup
Asked about this postcode
Band G — 22% of the 13,157 homes the VOA lists in AL5. Bands A–D together cover 34% of homes here.
Band D in St Albans is £2,419 a year; Band G, the most common band in AL5, is £4,032. Weighted across every band the typical bill is about £3,164.
St Albans — 100% of live postcodes in AL5 fall in that authority.
The median price paid in the twelve months to 31 July 2026 was £795,000 across 350 standard sales registered with HM Land Registry; a quarter of sales were below £534,000 and a quarter above £1,200,000.
Use the Valuation Office Agency’s free search (linked above) — it returns the band for any address in England and Wales. If you think the band is wrong you can ask the VOA to review it; a successful challenge is backdated.