Anyone who has a liability to pay Council Tax can apply for Local Council Tax Reduction, even if you already get a discount on your Council Tax i.e. if you live alone.

You can claim even if you work and have a low income.

In some cases, even though you have a liability to pay council tax you would not be entitled to Local Council Tax Reduction. For example when someone:
•    Has income which is too high to qualify
•    Is of working age and has capital or savings in excess of £6,000 (pensionable age level is £16,000)

To check if you are eligible you can use an independent, free and anonymous benefits calculator at Benefits calculators - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

More detailed information on Local Council Tax Reduction can be found here

Localised Council Tax Support factsheet .pdf (116.05 KB)

To make a claim please visit our Online Forms page

If you are the only person aged 18 or over living in your property, you can apply for a 25% Single Person Discount.

To apply for a discount on the basis that you are the only person over 18 years old who lives in your home please complete this form.

You can also use this form if you need to cancel your Single Person Discount

You might be able to apply for a discount or exemption on your Council Tax bill if you or someone you live with is severely mentally impaired.

To qualify you will need to:

• provide a certificate to say you’re severely mentally impaired from a healthcare professional, such as your GP
  click here to download a printable version of the certificate for you to take to your GP/healthcare professional     
   
• provide proof of that you are entitled to a qualifying benefit:
   
  • Personal Independence Payment (standard or enhanced daily living element)
  • Attendance Allowance
  • Disability Living Allowance (middle or high rate care component)
  • Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance
  • Constant Attendance Allowance
  • Universal Credit which includes the Limited Capability for Work/Work-related Activity element
  • Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Jobseekers Allowance (where received by the partner of the person applying for discount)
  • Income Support (with disability of severe disability premium included)
  • Disablement Pension (with unemployability supplement or an increase due to constant attendance need)
  • War Disablement Pension (with unemployability supplement)
  • Armed Forces Independence Payment

If you qualify as severely mentally impaired:

You’ll get a 100% discount if you qualify as severely mentally impaired and one of the following applies:

• you live on your own or;
• any other adults in your household either qualify as severely mentally impaired or are full-time students

There’ll be a 50% discount on the council tax bill if everyone else in your household is disregarded.

If you live with someone who is severely mentally impaired:

You’ll get a 25% discount if you live with someone who qualifies as severely mentally impaired and either:

• there are no other adults in your household or;
• everyone else in your home is disregarded

To apply for a discount on the basis that you or somebody you live with is severely or mentally impaired please complete this form 

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.

You might be entitled to a Council Tax discount if someone in your household is 18 or 19 years old and Child Benefit is still being paid for them.

We will need you to provide proof of receipt of Child Benefit and the date this is due to end.

If you need further information on the above, please submit a Council Tax Enquiry    

Alternatively you can contact us on 01543 464285

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.

If someone who lives in your household is a school leaver or entitled to Child Benefit they can be disregarded for Council Tax purposes.

A school leaver is defined as:

Somebody under the age of 20 who has left school or college after 30 April.

They will be disregarded until 31 October of the same year, or until their 20th birthday, whichever comes first.

You will need to provide a student certificate from their college or university.

If you need further information on the above, please submit a Council Tax Enquiry    

Alternatively you can contact us on 01543 464285

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.

Student / Apprentice discount
If you are a student, student nurse or an apprentice you may be entitled to a discount on your Council Tax.

For Council Tax purposes, full-time students and those on certain apprenticeship schemes, are not counted when looking at the number of adults living in a property. This may mean that the Council Tax bill is reduced by 25%, depending on who else lives with you.

Students
To qualify you must be either:

a) attending a full time course of further or higher education at a University, College or other educational establishment. The course must last for at least 1 year and involve at least 21 hours attendance per week for at least 24 weeks in the year.

OR

b) under 20 years of age and attending a course which lasts more than 3 calendar months and involves at least 12 hours of attendance per week between 8am and 5.30pm.

You will need to ask your college or university for a student certificate, your application cannot be processed without this. You can photograph or scan this and upload it with your application form.

Student nurses
As a student nurse you can get a discount on your council tax bill if you are taking a degree course which, if successfully completed, would lead to employment as a nurse, midwife or health visitor.

Apprentices
An apprentice will be disregarded if they are:

• employed for the purpose of learning a trade, profession, business, office, employment or vocation
• undertaking a programme of training leading to an accredited qualification
• receiving a salary or allowance of less than £195 per week, and that salary or allowance is substantially less than he/she would expect to receive when qualified

If you are an apprentice you will need to

• provide a recent wage slip
• ask your employer to provide a letter/complete an employers certificate confirming your status as an apprentice

If you need further information on the above, please submit a Council Tax Enquiry    

Alternatively you can contact us on 01543 464285

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.

If you provide care for someone who lives with you, you may be disregarded for Council Tax purposes.

There are 2 types of carer (defined by Council Tax legislation), the professional carer and the unpaid carer or relative.

Either could be entitled to a Council Tax discount provided the following criteria are met.

To qualify as a professional or paid carer you must:

• be employed to provide support or care to a person, and were introduced to him or her by a charity or local authority
• earn no more than £44 per week
• work for at least 24 hours per week live where the care is given or in premises which have been provided for the better performance of the work.

To qualify as an unpaid carer or relative:

• you must live in the same home as the person you provide care for and;
• be providing care for at least 35 hours a week on average and;
• the person you care for must not be your spouse, partner or your child aged under 18.

The person you are caring for must also be entitled to certain disability benefits:

• Personal Independence Payment (standard or enhanced daily living element)
• Disability Living Allowance (middle or higher rate care component)
• Attendance Allowance
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Armed Forces Independence Payment

If you need further information on the above, please submit a Council Tax Enquiry    

Alternatively you can contact us on 01543 464285

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.

You might be able to apply for a discount or exemption on your Council Tax bill if you or someone you live with lives in hospital or a care home as their main residence.

We would need to know:

• the address of the hospital or care home
• the date the individual first went into the home or hospital (such as the start of the assessment period for residential homes)
• whether or not the stay is permanent

If you need further information on the above, please submit a Council Tax Enquiry    

Alternatively you can contact us on 01543 464285

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.

If your sole or main residence is a hostel or night shelter you will not normally need to pay Council Tax. For example, accommodation run by the Salvation Army or Church Army.

Most of the accommodation must be communal and most agreements to occupy the accommodation must be under licences which do not constitute tenancies.

In these cases, the person who is liable to pay the Council Tax will probably be the owner of the hostel or night shelter and the owner will need to apply for the discount.

If you need further information on the above, please submit a Council Tax Enquiry    

Alternatively you can contact us on 01543 464285

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.

If you live on your own, you will be entitled to a 50% discount off your Council Tax bill.

If you are a member of a religious community and apart from you there is only 1 adult living in your home, you can apply for a 25% discount on your Council Tax.

To count as a member of a religious community, you must depend on the religious community for your material needs such as food and clothing. You cannot 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.

If you need further information on the above, please submit a Council Tax Enquiry    

Alternatively you can contact us on 01543 464285

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.

For Council Tax purposes, people who are detained are not counted when looking at the number of adults living in a property. This may mean that the Council Tax bill is reduced by 25%, depending on who else lives with you.

This includes:

• people on remand
• people detained for mental health reasons in a hospital or somewhere else as a result of a court order
• people detained under immigration law

It also applies if the usual occupier is imprisoned, detained or in custody for more than 48 hours under the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955, or the Naval Discipline Act 1957.

This does not include:

• people who are in prison as a result of not paying their Council Tax or a fine
• people in police custody before their first court appearance

We will need to know:

• the address where the person is detained
• the date they were detained
• their expected release date
• for prisoners, their prisoner number (if known)

If you need further information on the above, please click here Council Tax Enquiry     

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.

Visiting Forces

A property is exempt from Council Tax if the person who is liable is either of the following:

• a member of a visiting force from a country to which the Visiting Forces Act 1952 applies
• a member of a civilian component of the force.

A dependant of a member is also exempt, providing that the dependant is neither a British citizen nor ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom.

You will need to provide a letter from your organisation or a certificate issued under Section 11 of the Visiting Forces Act 1952 to support your application.

Diplomats

If you are a Diplomat and you lease or own the property in which you live, your property may be exempt from Council Tax.

You must not be permanently resident in the United Kingdom and the property concerned must not be your second home.

If you are responsible for Council Tax and you allow a Diplomat to live with you, you can disregard (not count) the diplomat when you are counting up the number of adults in your property.

If this means that only 1 person is counted, you will be entitled to a 25% discount off your Council Tax bill.

Members Of International Headquarters and Defence Organisations

Members of International Headquarters and Defence Organisations and their dependants are disregarded (not counted) when you are adding up the number of adults who live in a property.

If this means that only 1 person is counted, you will be entitled to a 25% discount off your Council Tax bill.

If no-one is counted, you will be entitled to a 50% discount off your Council Tax bill.

If you need further information on any of the above, please submit a Council Tax Enquiry     

Alternatively you can contact us on 01543 464285

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.

From the 1st April 2014, a 50% reduction is available for people living in annexes provided they are related to the person liable to pay Council tax of the main residence.  A discount is also available for people living in properties with an annexe which is unoccupied as the annexe is being used as part of the main residence.

Examples

• For a property occupied by 2 adults there will be a 100% Council Tax charge.
• For a property occupied by 1 adult there will be 75% Council Tax charge. (25% discount)For a property that is unfurnished and where there are no adults resident there will be a 100% Council Tax charge, after 28 days.  In some circumstances there might be no bill to pay if the property falls into an exemption class.
• For a property occupied by 2 adults, one of whom is disregarded, there will be a bill of 75% of the Council Tax charge. (25% discount)
• A property occupied by 3 adults, one of whom is disregarded, will attract no discount. There will be 100% Council Tax charge.

If you need further information on any of the above, please submit a Council Tax Enquiry     

Alternatively you can contact us on 01543 464285

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.

If you, or someone who lives with you, need an additional room, or additional facilities i.e. an extra bathroom or kitchen, or an extra space in your property to meet special needs arising from a disability, you may be entitled to a reduced council tax bill.

Additional Room

This would include a room (not a bathroom, kitchen or toilet) which is used mainly by the person. This could be an extension or extra room used for storing dialysis equipment, wheelchairs etc.

Additional Facilities

A second kitchen, or bathroom for the use of the person.

Space for wheelchair use

If there is sufficient floor space for a disabled resident to use a wheelchair (the wheelchair must be required by the disabled person for day to day living).

Before the reduction can be given the Council will have to decide whether:

1. There is a resident with a disability who would find it impossible or extremely difficult to live in the dwelling without the extra feature.
2. His or her health would suffer, because of the nature of the disability, if the extra feature was not available.

If you are entitled to the reduction the Council Tax bill maybe reduced to that of a property in the band immediately below yours. If your home is in Band A your bill will be calculated on 5/9 fraction instead of 6/9

If you need further information on any of the above, please submit a Council Tax Enquiry     

Alternatively you can contact us on 01543 464285

If you need to cancel a discount or exemption you can use this form.