Apply for a Council Tax Reduction
Check if you can get a reduction to your Council Tax and apply online.
Who can apply
If you're in a low income household and need help paying your Council Tax, you could get a Council Tax Reduction (CTR).
You can reduce your Council Tax bill if your savings are less than:
- £6,000 if you're of working age
- £16,000 if you're of state pensionable age
We'll also compare your weekly income with your applicable amount, which is the amount the Government says you need to live on.
If your income is the same or less than your applicable amount, you get the highest reduction you can on your Council Tax.
If you're of pensionable age, the highest possible reduction is 100%.
If you're of working age the highest possible reduction is 82% of the Council Tax for a Band D property.
Ending a council tax reduction
If your personal circumstances have changed you need to let us know so we can end the reduction on your council tax.
Find out how to end your council tax reduction
Changes from 1 April 2019
We'll only recalculate your CTR if your entitlement goes up or down by more than £2.
You still need to tell us if you have a change of circumstances. If we change your CTR, we'll send you an updated Council Tax bill.
You can apply for a Discretionary Payment if you need extra help to pay the rest of your bill.
You can also find out more about how we calculate Council Tax Reduction.
More information
You can find detailed information about how the scheme works by downloading our:
Council Tax Reduction Scheme for people who are not pensioners (PDF 1.98MB)
Council Tax Reduction Scheme for pensioners (PDF 1.59MB)
Discretionary Council Tax Scheme (PDF 146KB)
If, having applied for a reduction of your council tax through our council tax reduction and discretionary council tax reduction schemes, you are found not to be eligible, we will in exceptional circumstance consider if we can use S13a 1 (c) to write off all or part of your council tax. Section 13a (1c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 allows local authorities to reduce the council tax liability for a customer. This is a last resort and will only be considered once all other discounts and exemptions options have been exhausted.