If you’re on a low income you might be able to get your council tax reduced. If you get benefits or have other people living with you, this might affect how much your council tax is reduced by.
Your local council will ask you details about your income and your circumstances, so they can work out if you’re entitled to Council Tax Reduction (CTR). They will then work out your new bill and tell you how much council tax you need to pay.
If you have other people living with you who are aged 18 or over, you might all be responsible for paying council tax. Only one person in the household needs to apply for Council Tax Reduction.
If you're awarded Council Tax Reduction, you won't normally get an actual payment. The council will reduce the amount of council tax you have to pay.
You'll need to show that the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man is your main home and you plan to stay - this is known as being ‘habitually resident’.
If you've recently returned to the UK after a period of living or working abroad you might have difficulty showing that you are habitually resident.
If you're from the UK, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland you can check if you have the right to reside for benefits. The EEA includes EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. If you have the right to reside, you’ll be eligible for benefits if you have one of the following:
If you’re subject to immigration control you need to check if you can access UK benefits and services.
If you need help with checking you can claim UK benefits, you should get support and advice from your local Citizens Advice.
Which rules apply usually depends on whether you’ve reached State Pension age.
If you’re under State Pension age, the ‘working age CTR rules’ apply.
If you’ve reached State Pension age, the ‘pension age CTR rules’ usually apply.
Even if you’ve reached State Pension age, the working age CTR rules will apply if you or your partner get:
The pension age CTR rules are usually more generous than the working age CTR rules. If you have a partner and one of you is under State Pension age, it’s usually best for the person who’s reached State Pension age to apply.
If you’re eligible for CTR, it’s best to apply as soon as you can.
You can apply early if you know when you’re going to be eligible. If you apply early, you won’t have to wait as long to get CTR when you become eligible.
You can apply for CTR up to 8 weeks before you’re first responsible for paying council tax on your home – for example if you haven’t moved in yet. If you’re already responsible for paying council tax, you can apply for CTR up to 13 weeks before you become eligible for CTR – for example if you’ve recently found out you’ll be made redundant. You can make the application up to 17 weeks early if the pension age CTR rules apply to you – or if they will apply to you by the time you become eligible.
You can fill in a form or apply online. Your local council might also let you apply by telephone.
If you live with a partner, only one of you needs to apply.
If you’re already eligible for CTR when you make the application, you might be able to get it backdated. The rules depend on whether the working age CTR rules or the pension age CTR rules apply.
If the working age CTR rules apply, check your local council’s CTR policy. You might be able to ask for your CTR to be backdated if there’s a good reason you couldn’t make the application earlier – for example because you were ill.
If the pension age CTR rules apply, you can ask your local council to backdate your CTR for up to 3 months before you made the application. You don’t need to give a reason why you didn’t claim earlier.
Ask for your CTR to be backdated on the CTR application form. The form might have a section about backdating – it’s sometimes called a ‘late application’. If there isn’t a section about backdating or late applications, write on a separate piece of paper and send it to the council with your form. Explain when your CTR should be backdated to and why.
The Citizens Advice website has full details of the Council Tax Reduction schemes in each country of the UK – www.citizensadvice.org.uk