Claim Council Tax Support

You can apply for Council Tax Support whether you own your home, rent, are unemployed or working.

You may get Council Tax Support if you:

• live at the property
• pay council tax; and
• have a low income or are entitled to a benefit paid by the Department for Work and Pensions or the Pension Service.

More on Council Tax Support for working age and pension age people

You can’t get Council Tax Support if you are:

• not the householder nor the person responsible for paying council tax
• of working age and have more than £6,000 in savings
• of pension age and have more than £16,000 in savings, unless you receive guaranteed Pension Credit
• excluded from receiving public funds, due to your status in the UK.

For Council Tax Support, pension age means anyone who has reached the qualifying age for Pension Credit.

Most asylum seekers and people sponsored to be in the UK can't get Council Tax Support.

Full-time students can't usually get Council Tax Support, but may get a student council tax discount.

See if you can get a student council tax discount

More on Council Tax Support for working age and pension age people

You should apply as soon as you think you may be entitled to help. It is important that your application form is handed in as soon as possible.

We aim to pay your award within 14 days of getting all the information we need to work out the amount you can receive. However, applications are often delayed because we are waiting for information.

We can normally only pay your award from the Monday following the date we receive your application.

If you are entitled, we will send you a revised council tax bill reduced by your Council Tax Support award.

If you can’t get all the proof needed to send with the claim form, send the form to us anyway and include a covering letter explaining that you will send further information later.

We will normally give you one calendar month to send in everything we need. We may be able to give you longer if there is a good reason why you can’t give us the information in that time.