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If you are working age, Council Tax Support won't cover the whole of your council tax bill. You must pay at least 10% of the bill, even if you get benefits or have a low income.
You won’t be able to get any Council Tax Support if you or your partner have more than £6,000 in savings (unless you or your partner are receiving Jobseeker's Allowance (income-based), Income Support, or Employment and Support Allowance (income-related).
We work out the maximum amount of Council Tax Support you can get based on:
you and your partner’s net income, and
the number of children you have (up to a maximum of two).
Your net income means any money you get from employment, self-employment, benefits and other income, including any money you get from people who lodge with you.
If you or your partner get one of the following benefits, you will automatically be placed in the highest band of the scheme and only pay 10% of your council tax bill:
Income Support
Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based)
Employment and Support Allowance (income-related).
We don’t include the following benefits when we work out your net income for Council Tax Support:
Carers' Allowance
Child Benefit
child maintenance payments
Disability Living Allowance
pension contributions
Personal Independence Payments
Armed Forces Independence Payments.
We look at your net income after disregarding the above benefits and work out which band your income falls into.
We also disregard £25 for all claimants' earned income, as an incentive to work. Council Tax Support will then be awarded in line with the table below.
If you receive Carer’s Allowance, it will count as part of your income. However, we’ll give you an income allowance that cancels it out, so it won’t affect your net income — £83.30 from April 2025.
If you have someone aged 18 or over living with you (that isn’t your partner), it will affect how much Council Tax Support you get because they are expected to make a contribution towards your household expenses.
A standard deduction of £10 per week will be taken from your entitlement for each adult that is living with you (certain exceptions apply).
If you make a claim for Universal Credit with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), also make a claim for Council Tax Support.
The DWP will let us know that you have claimed Universal Credit and we can then treat that as your claim date for Council Tax Support, as long as you send us any other information we need within one calendar month of us writing to you.
Self-employed people are those workers who are not employed under a contract.
A person can be self-employed as a sole trader or as part of a business partnership. Directors of limited companies are not treated as being self-employed.
What you need to provide
You need to provide details of all the income of the business as well as any other money coming into your household. This includes interest from business bank accounts, tips and royalties. We do not need to see individual receipts; if we need further information about any of your business accounts we will contact you.
If you have recently started trading on a self-employed basis, you will need to complete a self employed income form to provide an estimate of the likely income and expenses for the business over the first few months trading.
This will help us to pay your Council Tax Support sooner rather than having to wait until you have been trading for a few months.
If you have been trading for over 12 months, we will ask for a full year's trading figures, normally in the way of a profit and loss account. If you can’t provide business accounts, you will need to complete a self employed income form.
We may also ask for the most recent tax assessment form received from HM Revenues and Customs.
How we work out how much you can get
To work out your income for Council Tax Support purposes, we look at all the income and expenses of the business as well as any other money coming into your household. If you have been trading for less than one year, we will use this income to work out how much help you can get.
The Council Tax Support scheme has a minimum income of 35 hours a week for people who have been self-employed for over a year.
This means that even if you work for less than 35 hours a week, we assume you earn at least National Living Wage for 35 hours per week. This helps to calculate your Council Tax Support.
Income disregards are incomes that you receive that are ignored by us when we work out how much Council Tax Support to pay you.
For example, if you get Carers' Allowance, it will show on your award breakdown that we have taken this off you, but we have added it back in as an income disregard equal to the amount of the weekly award.
If you are pension age, Council Tax Support can cover the whole of your council tax bill, depending on your income and household circumstances.
To get Council Tax Support you will need to provide evidence of your circumstances so any entitlement can be decided. You can also apply for housing benefit at the same time if you are responsible for paying rent.
If you are pension age and receiving a working age benefit, for example Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based) or Employment and Support Allowance (income-related), you will be treated as a working age applicant and Council Tax Support won't cover the whole council tax bill.
If you have savings of more than £10,000, we will take into account £1 per week for every £500 over £10,000. If you have savings of more than £16,000, you can't normally get Council Tax Support (unless you receive the guarantee credit element of Pension Credit).
Second adult rebate
Second adult rebate is only available for applicants who are of pension age.
Second adult rebate is Council Tax Support that is paid when you share your home with another adult (not your partner), but the second adult in the property is on a low income. It is paid based on the income of the other adult(s) and can cover up to 25% of your council tax charge.
If there is more than one second adult in the property, their income is added together to work out this award.
To make an application you must apply for Council Tax Support and give full details of the second adult's income and savings.
