Reducing your council tax
Disregard Discounts
To establish if you are entitled to receive a discount, you should count the number of people who live in the property as their main home, but do not fall into one of the discount categories. If you are left with two or more people, there will be no entitlement to receive a discount.
If one person is left, a 25% discount applies.
If all the residents of a property qualify for a discount and are not counted (see people who may qualify for a discount, below), you can claim 50% off your Council Tax.
But if everyone is a student, severely mentally impaired or detained in prison or under the Mental Health Acts, the property will be exempt.
People who may qualify for discounts are:
- aged 18 but still at school, attracting child benefit
- a full time student,student nurse, trainee on youth training course, apprentice, foreign language assistant or part time student under the age of 20
- a patient in hospital, nursing or care home
- a carer for someone with a disability who is not a spouse, partner or child under 18
- severely mentally impaired
- a member of international headquarters and defence organisations
- member of a religious community
- a resident of certain types of hostel
- a person in prison
If you are the person liable for the payment of Council Tax, but get a discount or are not counted, you will still be liable for paying the reduced Council Tax.
The Council are required to review all discounts on an on-going basis. You will, from time to time, receive letters asking you to confirm that the circumstances that gave rise to the discount still exist and, where applicable, be asked to provide supporting evidence. Failure to provide supporting evidence when requested, will mean that your discount will be cancelled and you will be liable to pay the full Council Tax.
There are a number of situations that can occur which mean you may be eligible for a discount. See the following pages to determine whether you might qualify. If you believe you do, please contact us by calling 020 8871 8081 to obtain a relevant application form, or where online forms are available, you may download, print and return by post.
