Apply for Council Tax discounts and exemptions

If your income or capital is too high for Council Tax Reduction you can apply for a second adult rebate, as the qualifying second adult will be the person assessed, not you. 

You cannot get Council Tax Reduction and a second adult rebate. If you qualify for both, you'll get whichever is higher.

How to qualify

If you live with one or more adults who are on a low income, a second adult rebate can help with your Council Tax. If you qualify you will get a 25% reduction on your Council Tax bill.

You can only get a 100% reduction if the second adult qualifies and you are a full time student.

Second adult that gets benefits

A second adult is someone who is 18 years older and gets any of these benefits:

• Income Support
• Pension Credit
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

Second adult on a low income

If none of the adults get the qualifying benefits, you could still get a discount for low income, if their total gross weekly income is less than £292.

There are 2 levels of discount, if their total gross weekly income is:

• less than £224, you'll get a 15% reduction
• between £224 and £291.99, you'll get a 7.5% reduction

Who is not a second adult

A second adult cannot:

• be your partner; if you live with a partner you can claim, as long as they are disregarded for Council Tax
• be liable for the Council Tax with you
• pay you rent
• be someone disregarded for Council Tax purposes: you will not need to claim for them anyway as they will not be assessed as part of your Council Tax bill

How to apply

Apply using our Council Tax Reduction form.

Apply for a second adult rebate