Council Tax reductions for occupied properties

Adults who are the only person aged 18 or over in a property

You can get 25% off your bill if you're the only person aged 18 or over living in the property as a main home. This is known as the Single Person Discount. To apply, fill in our online single person discount form .

You must tell us if your circumstances change and you are no longer the only person aged 18 or over living in the property. To notify us, fill in our cancel a single person discount form. 

People on benefits or a low income

You might be able to get a reduction in your Council Tax if you are on benefits or a low income. This type of reduction is called Council Tax Support. You apply for Council Tax Support through the benefits system.

Full-time students (including halls of residence)

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if someone in your household is a full-time student.

To count as a full-time student, the person must be one of the following:

• on a university or college course for 24 or more weeks a year for which they have to study at least 21 hours a week during term time
• 18 or 19 years old and on a course that lasts at least 3 months and for which they have to study at least 12 hours a week - evening classes, job-related study and day-release courses don't count
• a student nurse or student midwife
• a foreign language assistant (for example, in a school)

Full-time students: What reduction you might get and how to apply

Where students are living with people who aren’t students, the amount of any reduction is set by the rules for disregard reductions.

Where everyone in the property is a full time student, there might be a 100% reduction so there is nothing to pay. To apply, fill in our online Council Tax exemption form.online Council Tax exemption form

People with severe mental impairments

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if someone in your household has a severe mental impairment.

To get a reduction, the person must be able to get one of these benefits or allowances, even if they don't claim it (for example, because they are of pension age):

• Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)
• Unemployability Supplement
• The disability element of Working Tax Credit
• Disability Living Allowance - higher or middle rate care component
• Attendance Allowance (AA)
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit (IB)
• Increased Disablement Pension for constant attendance
• Income Support that includes a disability premium
• Employment Support Allowance (ESA) (Limited capacity for work related activity)
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

How to claim a Council Tax reduction for someone with a severe mental impairment

There are 2 steps to claim this reduction in your Council Tax.

Step 1 - the medical declaration

You will need to download and ask your doctor or medical professional to sign and stamp the medical declaration form (PDF, 240KB) to confirm the impairment. You should post that to us when it's signed and stamped, or upload it with your application form, as we need it to process your application. 

Step 2 - the application form

You will need to upload

• proof of when your benefit entitlement began
• the medical declaration, if you haven't posted it

You can and submit the application form before you send the doctors form.

People with severe mental impairments: What reduction you might get

Where severely mentally impaired people are living with people who are not severely mentally impaired, the amount of any reduction is set by the rules for disregard reductions.

Where everyone in the household has a severe mental impairment, there might be a reduction of 100% so there is no Council Tax to pay.

Long-term hospital patients and care home or hostel residents

There are reductions in Council Tax for households where people have gone into long-term care. People living in residential units that house ex-offenders such as a a bail or probation hostel should use the same form.

Long-term hospital patients: What reduction you might get

Where someone has gone into long-term care or a bail or probation hostel and other people are still living in the property, the amount of any reduction is set by the rules for disregard reductions. 

Where everyone from the household has gone into care, there might be a 100% reduction so there is nothing to pay.

People with physical disabilities

If you have a physical disability, or someone with a physical disability lives with you permanently, you might be able to apply for a disabled band reduction. The person can be an adult or a child. We give the reduction by treating the property as if it's in a Council Tax band lower than the actual band. This means if your property is in band B, for example, you only pay the amount of Council Tax for a band A property. If your property is in band A, the lowest band, we will cut your bill by a sixth.

To get a disabled band reduction, the disability must be permanent and substantial, you or the person living with you must live in the property as your main home, and the property must have at least one of these features:

1. Use of a wheelchair indoors

If the person needs to use a wheelchair indoors and doorways and hallways are wide enough for them to do so. Just storing a wheelchair indoors doesn't count. A specialised buggy for a disabled child might count.

2. An extra bathroom or kitchen used to meet the needs of the disabled person

This doesn't need to be used only by the disabled person. A shower room counts as a bathroom, but an extra toilet doesn't.

3. A room other than a bedroom, kitchen or toilet used mainly to meet the needs of the disabled person.

This might be a room used for treatment or therapy, or to store equipment used by the disabled person. A room converted to a bedroom doesn't count, neither does a bedroom you have converted to a bed-sitting room. We may ask to visit your home so we can decide if the property counts for a disabled band reduction.

Child Benefit is still being paid for 18 and 19 year-old

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if someone in your household is 18 or 19 years old and child benefit is still being paid for them.

Child Benefit for 18 and 19 year-old: What reduction you might get

To find out what reduction you might get see disregard reductions.

School/College leavers

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if someone in your household is a school/college leaver.

To count as a school/college leaver for Council Tax purposes, the person must be aged 18 or 19 and have left school or college between 1 May and 31 October.

School/College leavers: What reduction you might get

Where school or college leavers are living with people who are not school or college leavers, the amount of any reduction is set by the rules for disregard reductions.

Carers

People who are a carer for a person they live with can sometimes get a Council Tax reduction.

To count as a carer for a Council Tax reduction, the person must:

• look after someone who is not their husband, wife, partner, or child under 18
• live with the person they are looking after
• care for them at least 35 hours a week

For the carer reduction to apply, the person the carer looks after must be entitled to at least one of these:

• Attendance Allowance (AA)
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - higher or middle rate care component
• increased Disablement Pension
• increased Constant Attendance Allowance
• the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Carers: What reduction you might get 

To find out what reduction you might get, see disregard reductions.

Care leavers

In certain circumstances, we can give reductions for care leavers under the age of 25. To find out if you can get a reduction, contact the Care Leavers team on 01606 271500. This number is only for enquiries about Council Tax reductions for Care Leavers.

Care workers

Households where there is a live-in care worker can sometimes pay less Council Tax.

To count as a live-in care worker for a Council Tax reduction, the person must be all of these: 

• working at least 24 hours a week
• employed by a charity or local authority
• earning no more than £44 a week

For the care worker reduction to apply, the person they care for must be able to get at least one of these:

• Attendance Allowance (AA)
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - higher or middle rate care component
• increased Disablement Pension
• increased Constant Attendance Allowance
• the daily living component of the highest rate of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Care workers: What reduction you might get 

To find out what reduction you might get, see disregard reductions.

Apprentices and youth trainees

You might be able to pay less tax if there are one or more apprentices or youth trainees in your household.

To count as an apprentice or youth trainee, the person must be all of these:

• under 25
• studying for a recognised qualification (for example, recognised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA))
• Earning less than £195 per week net

Apprentices and youth trainees: What reduction you might get

To find out what reduction you might get, see disregard reductions.

People in detention

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if someone who normally lives in your household is in prison or has been detained under the Mental Health Act or under immigration law.

People in detention: What reduction you might get

Where there are still other people living in the household, reductions for people in detention are set by the rules for disregard reductions.

Where everyone in the household is in detention there might be a 100% reduction so there is no Council Tax to pay.

Job-related second homes

You might be able to get a reduction if you are living in a furnished home provided by an employer and you have another home somewhere else. You can only get a reduction if there is a job-related need for you to live in the specific property the employer provides. An example would be a pub landlord living in a flat above the pub.

Job-related second homes: What reduction you might get

You could get a 50% reduction if we agree your circumstances count.

Everyone is under 18

If there is no one aged 18 years or over in the property, you might not have to pay Council Tax.

Annexes lived in by relatives

Where an annex gets a separate Council Tax bill, you might be entitled to a reduction if the person who lives there is related to the people in the main house.

Dependent relatives

Where the relative is dependent, you don't have to pay any Council Tax for the annex.

A relative is dependent if they're any of these:

• over the age of 65
• substantially or permanently disabled
• severely mentally impaired

Other relatives

If the relative doesn't count as dependent, you might still be entitled to a reduction. We will work out the reduction depending upon your circumstances.

Members of religious communities

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if you are a member of a religious community.

To count as a member of a religious community, you must depend on the religious community for your material needs. You can't have any income or capital of your own, except a pension from a former job. Your religious community must be mainly involved in:

• prayer or contemplation
• education
• caring or similar charitable work

Religious communities: What reduction you might get

To find out what you might get, see disregard reductions.

Partners and dependants of overseas students

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if someone in your household is a partner or adult dependent of an overseas student. To count for the reduction the person must be prevented from taking paid work or claiming benefits.

What you might get

Where the partner or dependant of an overseas student is living with other people in a household who are neither students nor partners or dependants of an overseas student, the amount of any reduction is set by the rules for disregard reductions.

Where the only people in a property are students or partners or other dependants of an overseas student, you might get a 100% reduction so you pay no Council Tax.

Diplomats

If you are a diplomat you might be able to get a reduction of 100% in your Council Tax so you pay nothing. You can only get the reduction if you are the person liable for Council Tax.

You can't get a diplomat reduction if you are a British citizen or subject, Dependent Territories citizen, National Overseas citizen, protected person, or permanent UK resident.

To apply, download and fill in our Diplomat claim form (PDF, 635KB)

Members of visiting armed forces, international headquarters and defence organisations

Members and dependants of members of visiting armies and some international headquarters and defence organisations can sometimes get a reduction in their Council Tax.

Visiting armed forces: What reduction you might get and how to apply

Where a member or dependent of the member of a visiting army is the person liable for Council Tax they might get a reduction of 100%, which means there is no Council Tax to pay. You can't get the reduction if you are a British citizen or are ordinarily resident in the UK. To apply, download the visiting forces Council Tax exemption form (PDF, 93KB).

Other reductions for members of visiting armies and international organisations are set by the rules for disregard reductions. To apply, download the visiting forces Council Tax reduction form (PDF, 222KB).

Property held as living accommodation for UK armed forces

Property held as living accommodation for UK armed forces and owned by the Secretary of State for defence can get a reduction of 100% so there is no Council Tax to pay. The reduction applies whether the property is occupied or not.

To apply, download and fill in our UK Armed forces form (PDF, 320KB)

Other discounts

We can sometimes give short-term reductions to people who find themselves in exceptional and unforeseen circumstances. To apply, contact the Council Tax team to explain why you need a reduction.

We will need evidence of your situation and that you have taken reasonable steps to resolve the problems that are causing you to ask for the reduction.