High cost area supplement
HCAS is described as a percentage of basic salary, but for most staff it is not one — a minimum and a maximum payment sit either side of it, and on the current scale one of those two governs far more often than the percentage does.
Updated for 2026/27Pay circular effective 1 April 2026 - 31 March 2027
The three zones
Staff working in and around London receive a high cost area supplement on top of basic salary. There are three zones, and each is described as a percentage of basic salary with a minimum and a maximum payment.
| Zone | Percentage of basic | Minimum payment | Maximum payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inner London | 20% | £5,794 | £8,746 |
| Outer London | 15% | £4,870 | £6,137 |
| Fringe | 5% | £1,346 | £2,270 |
Figures above from: NHS Employers / NHS Staff Council pay circular for 2026/27 (England), HCAS tables. Effective from 2026-04-01. This site is not affiliated with the NHS, NHS Employers or the NHS Business Services Authority.
Why the percentage usually is not what you get
The minimum and maximum are not edge cases. Across the 31 pay points and three zones — 93 combinations in total — the percentage actually governs in only 17 of them. The minimum payment governs 18 and the maximum governs 58.
The reason is arithmetic. At the bottom of the scale the percentage of a £25,272 salary is less than the zone minimum, so the minimum is paid instead. At the top, the percentage of a £129,783 salary exceeds the zone maximum, so the maximum caps it. Only the middle of the scale sits between the two.
What each zone pays a given salary
Worked for a Band 1 salary of £25,272:
| Zone | Supplement | Total with basic | Set by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inner London | £5,794 | £31,066 | the minimum payment |
| Outer London | £4,870 | £30,142 | the minimum payment |
| Fringe | £1,346 | £26,618 | the minimum payment |
And for a Band 9 salary of £129,783:
| Zone | Supplement | Total with basic | Set by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inner London | £8,746 | £138,529 | the maximum payment |
| Outer London | £6,137 | £135,920 | the maximum payment |
| Fringe | £2,270 | £132,053 | the maximum payment |
Where HCAS does and does not count
HCAS is part of your taxable pay, so it is taxed and it raises the pay your pension tier is assessed on. It is not part of the base used to work out unsocial hours payments — Section 2.8 excludes it by name. Those two facts are easy to conflate, and conflating them produces an unsocial-hours figure that is too high for every member of staff in a high cost area.
Part-time staff receive a pro-rated supplement: the minimum and maximum are full-time figures.