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Birmingham council debt
Metropolitan borough, England. Latest figures: Jun 2026.
Total debt
£3.49bn
£3,486,107,000
Debt per person
£2,962
1,176,960 residents
Net debt
£3.21bn
after £275m of investments
Change in a year
+5.4%
+£182m since Mar 2025
Debt to budget
1.0×
times net current spending, 2025-26
Local economy
£35,043
GDP per person; debt is 8.5% of the area's £41.2bn GDP
Debt cost
£283
per person: £333m of interest and repayment in 2025-26 (£148m interest)
Financial distress
- Section 114 notice issued on 5 September 2023: the council's finance officer stopped all new spending except on legal duties.
- Exceptional Financial Support for 2024-25: £685m agreed by the government, allowing the council to borrow or sell assets to balance its budget.
- Exceptional Financial Support for 2025-26: £180m agreed by the government, allowing the council to borrow or sell assets to balance its budget.
Sources: GOV.UK Exceptional Financial Support; section 114 notices as listed in Section 114 notice (Wikipedia).
Birmingham has the 46th highest debt per person of 197 single-tier councils in the UK (Jun 2026).
Birmingham debt over time
Outstanding borrowing at each date, Mar 2010 to Jun 2026.
What Birmingham spent capital money on
Councils borrow to pay for capital spending: buildings, roads, housing, loans to their own companies, commercial property. Capital spending by service in each financial year, and how much of it was paid for by new borrowing, 2018-19 to 2024-25.
HousingCentral services and corporate propertySchools and educationRoads and transportPlanning and regenerationSocial careEnvironment and wasteCulture, leisure and sportDigitalPublic health
| Year | Capital spending | Borrowed | Biggest items |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | £462m | £158m | Housing £299m, Roads and transport £51.2m, Planning and regeneration £43.5m |
| 2023-24 | £389m | £127m | Housing £218m, Roads and transport £40.9m, Schools and education £33.2m |
| 2022-23 | £391m | £219m | Central services and corporate property £161m, Housing £103m, Roads and transport £32.8m |
| 2021-22 | £506m | £296m | Central services and corporate property £217m, Housing £117m, Planning and regeneration £47.9m |
| 2020-21 | £485m | £196m | Central services and corporate property £201m, Housing £106m, Schools and education £78.6m |
| 2019-20 | £406m | £96.8m | Central services and corporate property £131m, Housing £107m, Schools and education £74.3m |
| 2018-19 | £330m | £76.5m | Housing £121m, Schools and education £65.9m, Central services and corporate property £50.6m |
"Borrowed" is new borrowing and credit used to finance that year's spending; it can exceed the spending when a council borrows to cover earlier costs or, with government permission, day-to-day losses. Source: MHCLG capital outturn (England, from 2018-19); StatsWales capital outturn (Wales). Not yet available for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Who Birmingham borrows from
| Lender | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Public Works Loan Board (PWLB)the government's lending facility for councils, run by the UK Debt Management Office; most council borrowing comes from it | £2.99bn | 86% |
| Bonds and stock issuesbonds and other securities the council has issued to investors | £215m | 6% |
| Other councilsloans from other local authorities, usually short term | £140m | 4% |
| Banksloans from UK banks, including LOBO loans (lender option, borrower option) | £81.0m | 2% |
| Pension funds, insurers and other financial institutionslenders that are financial institutions but not banks: pension funds, insurance companies, investment funds, the Municipal Bonds Agency | £52.0m | 1% |
| Other sourcesborrowing the council did not assign to any of the groups above | £3.1m | 0% |
| Householdsmoney lent by individuals, for example community municipal investments | £1.3m | 0% |
Outstanding loans by type of lender as reported by the council to MHCLG, short and long term together, as at Jun 2026. The return groups lenders by sector, not by name.
Birmingham debt by year
| Date | Debt | Investments | Net debt | Per person | Population | Debt cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2026 | £3.49bn | £275m | £3.21bn | £2,962 | 1,176,960 | £333m |
| Mar 2026 | £3.53bn | £318m | £3.22bn | £3,003 | 1,176,960 | £333m |
| Dec 2025 | £3.39bn | £343m | £3.05bn | £2,883 | 1,176,960 | £270m |
| Sep 2025 | £3.36bn | £338m | £3.02bn | £2,851 | 1,176,960 | £270m |
| Jun 2025 | £3.33bn | £325m | £3.00bn | £2,811 | 1,182,920 | £270m |
| Mar 2025 | £3.35bn | £220m | £3.13bn | £2,834 | 1,182,920 | £270m |
| Dec 2024 | £3.35bn | £384m | £2.97bn | £2,831 | 1,182,920 | £275m |
| Sep 2024 | £3.35bn | £252m | £3.10bn | £2,834 | 1,182,920 | £275m |
| Jun 2024 | £3.40bn | £286m | £3.11bn | £2,903 | 1,169,606 | £275m |
| Mar 2024 | £3.50bn | £242m | £3.26bn | £2,992 | 1,169,606 | £275m |
| Dec 2023 | £3.25bn | £68.3m | £3.18bn | £2,775 | 1,169,606 | £259m |
| Sep 2023 | £3.24bn | £145m | £3.09bn | £2,767 | 1,169,606 | £259m |
| Jun 2023 | £3.24bn | £170m | £3.07bn | £2,807 | 1,153,436 | £259m |
| Mar 2023 | £3.29bn | £106m | £3.18bn | £2,852 | 1,153,436 | £259m |
| Dec 2022 | £3.27bn | £86.8m | £3.19bn | £2,838 | 1,153,436 | £260m |
| Sep 2022 | £3.22bn | £71.1m | £3.15bn | £2,794 | 1,153,436 | £260m |
| Jun 2022 | £3.04bn | £61.5m | £2.97bn | £2,655 | 1,143,285 | £260m |
| Mar 2022 | £3.11bn | £147m | £2.96bn | £2,718 | 1,143,285 | £260m |
| Dec 2021 | £3.14bn | £113m | £3.03bn | £2,751 | 1,143,285 | £272m |
| Sep 2021 | £3.19bn | £199m | £2.99bn | £2,791 | 1,143,285 | £272m |
| Jun 2021 | £3.21bn | £217m | £2.99bn | £2,796 | 1,148,692 | £272m |
| Mar 2021 | £3.36bn | £194m | £3.16bn | £2,921 | 1,148,692 | £272m |
| Dec 2020 | £3.42bn | £260m | £3.16bn | £2,977 | 1,148,692 | £280m |
| Sep 2020 | £3.45bn | £154m | £3.30bn | £3,006 | 1,148,692 | £280m |
| Jun 2020 | £3.37bn | £126m | £3.25bn | £2,933 | 1,150,646 | £280m |
| Mar 2020 | £3.24bn | £247m | £3.00bn | £2,820 | 1,150,646 | £280m |
| Mar 2019 | £3.29bn | £79.8m | £3.21bn | £2,873 | 1,146,050 | £277m |
| Mar 2018 | £3.39bn | £163m | £3.22bn | £2,972 | 1,139,893 | £176m |
| Mar 2017 | £3.09bn | £66.0m | £3.03bn | £2,735 | 1,131,271 | – |
| Mar 2016 | £3.05bn | £160m | £2.89bn | £2,732 | 1,114,932 | – |
| Mar 2015 | £3.12bn | £202m | £2.92bn | £2,831 | 1,103,724 | – |
| Mar 2014 | £3.06bn | £213m | £2.85bn | £2,800 | 1,094,531 | – |
| Mar 2013 | £3.09bn | £248m | £2.84bn | £2,850 | 1,084,661 | – |
| Mar 2012 | £2.92bn | £291m | £2.63bn | £2,722 | 1,074,283 | – |
| Mar 2011 | £2.50bn | £176m | £2.33bn | £2,360 | 1,061,074 | – |
| Mar 2010 | £2.27bn | £74.2m | £2.20bn | £2,163 | 1,050,072 | – |
Similar councils
| Council | Debt | Per person |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | £1.16bn | £3,053 |
| Brent | £1.07bn | £3,048 |
| Clackmannanshire | £153m | £2,964 |
| Birmingham | £3.49bn | £2,962 |
| Plymouth | £800m | £2,950 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | £795m | £2,919 |
| South Lanarkshire | £974m | £2,914 |
Single-tier councils closest in debt per person, Jun 2026.