Discounts and exemptions

In short

• If only one adult counts as living in your home, you get 25% off.
• Some people are not counted, such as students and carers, and some homes pay nothing at all.
• A severe mental impairment, such as dementia, can remove much of the bill and be backdated for years.
• Council Tax Reduction is separate help for low incomes. Backdating is limited, so claim straight away.

Before you agree a repayment plan, check that your bill is right. Help with council tax comes in several separate forms, and people regularly qualify for one without realising the others exist. You can often get more than one at the same time.

The five kinds of help

The first three are rights. If you meet the conditions, your council has to give them to you. Council Tax Reduction is a right too, but the rules for working-age people in England are set by each council. Discretionary help is exactly that: your council decides.

Quick check

Could you be paying too much?

Tick anything that applies to your home.

• Only one adult lives in the home

  Single person discount: 25% off. How it works

• Someone is a full-time student, an apprentice, or under 18

  They are not counted. That can mean 25% off, or no bill at all if everyone is a student. How it works

• Someone has dementia, a severe learning disability or a similar condition, and gets a disability benefit

  Severe mental impairment: 25% off, 50% off, or no bill at all. It can be backdated for years. How it works

• Someone gives 35 hours or more of care a week to a person they live with

  The carer may not be counted, which can bring a discount. How it works

• A disabled person lives here and needs an extra room, a second bathroom or kitchen, or uses a wheelchair indoors

  Disabled band reduction: charged at one band lower. Not means-tested. How it works

• Your income is low, or you get Universal Credit, Pension Credit or another benefit

  Council Tax Reduction can cut the bill, and on Pension Credit it often covers all of it. How it works

• The home is empty because the person who lived there died, moved into care, or is in prison

  The home may be exempt: no council tax at all. How it works

• Someone aged 18 to 24 has left local authority care

  Care leavers are exempt in Wales and Scotland, and most councils in England exempt them too. How it works

Not sure what you are entitled to? We can check for you.

Ask us to check, free

Discounts

Council tax assumes that two or more adults live in a property. If fewer than two adults count, you get a discount.

• 25% off if only one adult counts. This is the single person discount.
• 50% off if nobody counts, for example because everyone living there is disregarded (see below) but the property is not exempt.

The key word is count. Some adults are ignored, or disregarded, when the council counts the people living in a home. So a household of two adults can still get the single person discount if one of them is disregarded.

People who are disregarded

The main groups of people who do not count, in England, are:

Young people

• Anyone under 18
• 18- and 19-year-olds for whom someone still gets Child Benefit, or would if they were not in local authority care
• Young people under 20 studying at school or college, and recent school and college leavers under 20

Students and trainees

• Full-time students in higher education, and student nurses
• Apprentices on low pay working towards an accredited qualification
• Youth trainees under 25
• The husband, wife or dependant of a student, where immigration rules stop them working or claiming benefits

Carers and care workers

• Carers who provide at least 35 hours a week of care to someone they live with. The person they care for must get a qualifying benefit, such as the daily living part of Personal Independence Payment, the middle or higher care rate of Disability Living Allowance, or Attendance Allowance. The carer cannot be the person’s husband, wife or partner, or the parent of a child under 18 they are caring for.
• Care workers living in the home of the person they care for, in some circumstances, where they are employed or introduced by a council or charity and are paid very little.

People away from home long term

• Hospital patients, where hospital has become their main home
• People living in care homes
• People detained in prison or elsewhere, apart from those in prison only for not paying council tax or a fine
• People living in certain hostels and night shelters for homeless people

Other groups

• People who are severely mentally impaired (see below)
• Members of some religious communities who have no income of their own
• Members of visiting armed forces, and people with diplomatic immunity
• Some people who came to the UK from Ukraine under the government’s visa schemes

Severe mental impairment: the most missed of all

This is the help most often overlooked, and it can be worth the most.

For council tax, someone is severely mentally impaired if they have a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning, however caused, which appears to be permanent. It is not limited to learning disabilities. Conditions that often qualify include:

• dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease
• severe learning disabilities
• the effects of a stroke or brain injury
• Parkinson’s disease, and other conditions affecting the brain, where they have progressed far enough

What you need

1. A certificate from a medical professional, usually a GP or consultant, confirming that the person is severely mentally impaired. Most councils have a form for this.

2. Evidence of a qualifying benefit. The person must be entitled to one of a list of benefits, which includes:

• the daily living part of Personal Independence Payment
• the middle or higher care rate of Disability Living Allowance
• Attendance Allowance
• Employment and Support Allowance, or Incapacity Benefit
• Universal Credit that includes an amount for limited capability for work, or for work and work-related activity
• Severe Disablement Allowance, or Constant Attendance Allowance
• Income Support that includes a disability premium

What you get

The government announced in April 2026 that it intends to change the name and definition of this disregard in England, and to introduce a standard application form designed with disability charities, “when parliamentary time allows”. Until then, the rules above apply.

Students

A full-time student is broadly someone on a course that lasts at least one academic year, for at least 24 weeks a year, with at least 21 hours of study a week during term. Your college or university can give you a council tax exemption certificate that confirms this.

• If everyone living in a property is a full-time student, the property is exempt. Student halls of residence are exempt too.
• If students live with someone who is not a student, the students are disregarded. If that leaves one adult, that person gets the 25% discount.
• A property owned by students and left empty while they study can also be exempt.

Part-time students are not disregarded, whatever their income.

Properties that are exempt

Some properties pay no council tax at all. In England these are grouped into lettered classes.

Occupied homes

Empty homes

See empty properties for more on these, including the premiums that can apply once a home has been empty for a year.

Differences in Wales and Scotland

• Wales still has two exemptions for empty homes that England abolished in 2013: Class A, for empty homes that need or are having major repairs or structural work, and Class C, for empty and unfurnished homes, for a limited period in each case. Wales also exempts care leavers aged 18 to 24.
• Scotland exempts care leavers aged 18 to 25, and exempts empty and unfurnished homes for their first six months. See our Scotland guides.
• England has no national exemption for care leavers, but most councils now give one locally using their discretionary powers. Ask yours.

Annexes

An annexe is a self-contained part of a property, such as a granny flat. It is usually banded separately. In England:

• An annexe lived in by a dependent relative is exempt (Class W). A dependent relative is someone aged 65 or over, or who is severely mentally impaired, or who is substantially and permanently disabled.
• An annexe used by the household of the main home as part of that home, or lived in by a relative of the people in the main home, gets a 50% discount if it is not exempt.
• An empty annexe that cannot be let separately without breaching planning rules is exempt (Class T).

Council Tax Reduction

Council Tax Reduction, sometimes called council tax support, is help with your bill if you are on a low income. It replaced Council Tax Benefit in 2013. You can claim whether you rent or own your home, and whether or not you are in work.

England

• People over State Pension age are covered by a national scheme. If you get the guarantee part of Pension Credit, you can usually get your whole bill paid.
• Working-age people are covered by a scheme your council designs. The rules vary from one council to the next, and many require working-age people to pay at least some council tax however low their income. Two people in identical circumstances can get different amounts in neighbouring boroughs.

Wales and Scotland

Wales and Scotland each have a national scheme, so the rules are the same wherever you live in that country.

How to claim

Apply to your own council, usually online. If you are claiming Universal Credit, you still need to claim Council Tax Reduction separately: it is not included automatically.

Claim as soon as your circumstances change. Backdating is limited. People over State Pension age in England can have a claim backdated by up to three months without giving a reason. For working-age people it depends on the council’s scheme, and it is often short.

Discretionary reductions and hardship help

Councils in England and Wales can reduce anyone’s council tax, by any amount, under section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. Many run a hardship fund, and many use the same power to help care leavers or people affected by floods.

It is discretionary, so there is no automatic right to it. But if you are in genuine difficulty, and especially if Council Tax Reduction does not cover the whole bill, it is always worth asking in writing and explaining why.

How far back each kind of help goes

Always ask for backdating explicitly and in writing. Councils do not apply it automatically, and if you do not ask, you may only get help from the date of your application.

Telling the council when things change

If you get a discount or exemption and your circumstances change so that you should no longer get it, you must tell your council within 21 days. The most common example is someone moving in with a person who gets the single person discount.

If you do not, the council can charge a £70 penalty, and a further £280 if you fail to answer a later request for the same information. The discount will also be taken back for the period you should not have had it, which can create a sudden debt.

Councils regularly review single person discounts by checking them against other records, such as the electoral register and credit reference data. If you get a review letter, answer it. Not answering can lead to the discount being removed.

If your council refuses

Ask for the decision in writing, with reasons. Then:

• Discounts, disregards and exemptions: write to the council explaining why you disagree. If it does not change its decision within two months, or does not reply, appeal to the Valuation Tribunal for England or the Valuation Tribunal for Wales.
• Council Tax Reduction: ask your council to reconsider first. You can then appeal to the Valuation Tribunal in England or Wales. The tribunal can decide whether the council applied its scheme correctly to you, but not whether the scheme itself is fair. Scotland has its own review process.

Appeals are free, and you do not need a solicitor.

Questions people often ask

Can I get the single person discount if my partner works away?

It depends on where your partner’s main home is. If they work away for long periods but your home is still their main home, they still count and you will not get the discount. If they have genuinely made their main home somewhere else, you may qualify.

My mum has dementia and lives with me. What can I get?

If she has a certificate from her doctor and gets a qualifying benefit, such as Attendance Allowance, she is disregarded. If you are the only other adult, you get the 25% single person discount. If you care for her for at least 35 hours a week, you may also be disregarded as a carer, which could take the discount to 50%. Ask for both to be backdated.

Is there a discount for pensioners?

There is no discount just for being over State Pension age. But pensioners on low incomes can get Council Tax Reduction under a national scheme in England, which can cover the whole bill. Many older people who are entitled to it do not claim.

I claim Universal Credit. Does that sort out my council tax?

No. Universal Credit does not include help with council tax. You need to claim Council Tax Reduction from your council separately.