Council Tax reductions for occupied properties

Adults who are the only person aged 18 or over in a property

You can get 25% off your bill if you're the only person aged 18 or over living in the property as a main home. This is known as the Single Person Discount. You cannot receive this if the property is empty/unoccupied. To apply, fill in the single person discount form:

Apply for a single person discount

You must tell us if your circumstances change and you are no longer the only person aged 18 or over living in the property. To notify us, fill in the cancel a single person discount form:

Cancel a single person discount

People on benefits or a low income

You might be able to get a reduction in your Council Tax through Council Tax Support if you are on benefits or a low income. You apply for Council Tax Support through the benefits' system.

If you are a single person of  pension credit-age and you share your property with one or more other adults who are not your partner and who are on a low income, you may be able to get Second Adult Rebate. You don’t have to be on a low income yourself to get Second Adult Rebate. 

You can't get both second adult rebate and Council Tax support. When you apply, we will work out which benefit will give you the biggest reduction.

Full-time students (including halls of residence) and school leavers

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if someone in your household is a full-time student.

To count as a full-time student, the person must be one of the following:

• on a university or college course for 24 or more weeks a year for which they have to study at least 21 hours a week during term time
• 18 or 19 years old and on a course that lasts at least 3 months and for which they have to study at least 12 hours a week - evening classes, job-related study and day-release courses don't count
• A school/college leaver, for Council Tax purposes, the person must be aged 18 or 19 and have left school or college between 1 May and 31 October.
• a student nurse or student midwife
• a foreign language assistant (for example, in a school)

Where everyone in the property is a full time student, there might be a 100% reduction, so there is nothing to pay. Otherwise, the reduction you can get is set by the disregard rules.

To apply, fill in the student Council Tax reduction form:

Apply for Council Tax reduction 3

People with severe mental impairments which appear to be permanent

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if someone in your household has a severe mental impairment. The reduction you can get is set by the disregard rules.

For the purpose of the reduction, a person is classed as severely mentally impaired if they have ‘a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning (however caused) which appears to be permanent’. This definition applies only for Council Tax purposes and differs from that of the Mental Health Act 1983.

To get a reduction, the person must be able to get one of these benefits or allowances, even if they don't claim it (for example, because they are of pension age):

• Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)
• Unemployability Supplement
• The disability element of Working Tax Credit
• Disability Living Allowance - higher or middle rate care component
• Attendance Allowance (AA)
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit (IB)
• Increased Disablement Pension for constant attendance
• Income Support that includes a disability premium
• Employment Support Allowance (ESA) (Limited capacity for work related activity)
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Universal Credit (with a limited capability for work or work-related activity element)

How to claim a Council Tax reduction for someone with a severe mental impairment

There are 2 steps to claim this reduction in your Council Tax.

Step 1 - the medical declaration

You will need to download and ask your doctor or medical professional to sign and stamp the medical declaration form (PDF, 173KB) to confirm the impairment.

The doctor must be satisfied that you meet the definition above before signing the declaration.

If the doctor needs more information they may speak to medical colleagues, or carers who know you and understand your condition. If they are still uncertain that you are severely mentally impaired, the doctor should not sign the declaration.

A decision about the presence of severe mental impairment will, in all cases, depend on the doctor's clinical judgement. In the event that the doctor is unable to sign the certificate you may choose to approach another doctor.

Step 2 - the application form

You will need to upload:

• the completed medical declaration signed by a medical practitioner and one of the following
• proof of when your benefit entitlement began or
• proof that you have now reached pensionable age, if you are not claiming any benefit, for example a copy of your birth certificate, driving licence or passport

You can submit the application before you send the medical declaration form and without evidence of your benefit eligibility, but we won’t be able to assess your claim until both the declaration and evidence have been uploaded.

Apply for Council Tax reduction 1

Associated Reductions

If your property has any features to accommodate the needs of the severely mentally impaired person, you may be eligible to claim disabled band reduction. See the People with disabilities option for more details.

If someone living in your property provides care for the severely mentally impaired person, you may be eligible to claim a carers reduction. See the Carers option for more details.

Long-term hospital patients and care home or hostel residents

There are reductions in Council Tax for households where people have gone into long-term care. People living in residential units that house ex-offenders such as a bail or probation hostel should use the same form. The reduction you can get is set by the disregard rules.

Long-term hospital patients:

People with disabilities

If you have a disability, or someone with a disability lives with you permanently, you might be able to apply for a disabled band reduction. The person can be an adult or a child and does not have to be named on the Council Tax bill. We give the reduction by treating the property as if it's in a Council Tax band lower than the actual band. This means if your property is in band B, for example, you only pay the amount of Council Tax for a band A property. If your property is in band A, the lowest band, we will cut your bill by a sixth.

To get a disabled band reduction, the disability must be permanent and substantial, you or the person living with you must live in the property as your main home, and the property must have at least one of these features:

1. Use of a wheelchair indoors

If the person needs to use a wheelchair indoors and doorways and hallways are wide enough for them to do so. Just storing a wheelchair indoors doesn't count. A specialised buggy for a disabled child might count or a rollator (rolling walker with a seat).

2. An extra bathroom or kitchen used to meet the needs of the disabled person

This doesn't need to be used only by the disabled person. A shower room counts as a bathroom, but an extra toilet doesn't.

3. A room other than a bedroom, kitchen or bathroom used mainly to meet the needs of the disabled person.

Please provide photographs of the room you are claiming for. This might be a room used for treatment or therapy, or to store equipment used by the disabled person. A room converted to a bedroom doesn't count, neither does a bedroom you have converted to a bed-sitting room.

Associated Reductions

If the disabled person is over 18 and is suffering with a permanent mental illness, you may be eligible to claim a severe mental impairment reduction. See the People with severe mental impairments which appear to be permanent option for more details.

If the disabled person is over 18 and someone living in your property provides care for them, you may be eligible to claim a carers reduction. See the Carers option for more details. 

Child Benefit is still being paid for 18 and 19 year-old

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if someone in your household is 18 or 19 years old and child benefit is still being paid for them. The reduction you can get is set by the disregard rules.

Child Benefit for 18 and 19 year-old:

Carers

People who are a carer for a person they live with can sometimes get a Council Tax reduction. The reduction you can get is set by the disregard rules.

To count as a carer for a Council Tax reduction, the person must:

• look after someone who is not their husband, wife, partner, or their own child if they are under 18
• live with the person they are looking after
• provide care for at least 35 hours a week to a person who is entitled to receive one of the following

• any rate of Attendance Allowance
• the middle or highest rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance
• any rate of the daily living activity component of Personal Independence Payment
• an increase in his or her disablement pension
• an increase in Constant Attendance Allowance.

Please note - You don't have to be in receipt of a Carer's Allowance to claim a discount.

You can claim for a child under 18, for example, You can claim for a child under 18 in certain circumstances, for example, a foster child/ stepchild, providing the other criteria have been met.

For the carer reduction to apply, the person the carer looks after must be entitled to at least one of these:

• Attendance Allowance (AA)
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - higher or middle rate care component
• increased Disablement Pension
• increased Constant Attendance Allowance
• the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Associated Reductions

If the person being cared for is suffering with a permanent mental illness, you may be eligible to claim a severe mental impairment reduction. See the People with severe mental impairments which appear to be permanent option for more details.

If your property has any features to accommodate the needs of the person being cared for, you may be eligible to claim disabled band reduction. See the People with disabilities option for more details.

Carers:

Care leavers

In certain circumstances, we can give reductions for care leavers under the age of 25. To find out if you can get a reduction, contact the Care Leavers team on 0300 123 5012 (pick option 2 and then 3). This number is only for enquiries about Council Tax reductions for Care Leavers.

Please note the care leaver must have been in the care of Cheshire East Council in order to qualify.

When the reduction ends you might be able to get a reduction in your Council Tax if you are on benefits or a low income. This type of reduction is called Council Tax Support. You apply for Council Tax Support through the benefits system.

Care workers

Households where there is a live-in care worker can sometimes pay less Council Tax. The reduction you can get is set by the disregard rules.

To count as a live-in care worker for a Council Tax reduction, the person must be all of these: 

• working at least 24 hours a week
• employed by a charity or local authority
• earning no more than £44 a week

For the care worker reduction to apply, the person they care for must be able to get at least one of these:

• Attendance Allowance (AA)
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - higher or middle rate care component
• increased Disablement Pension
• increased Constant Attendance Allowance
• the daily living component of the highest rate of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Apprentices and youth trainees

You might be able to pay less Council tax if there are one or more apprentices or youth trainees in your household. The reduction you can get is set by the disregard rules.

To count as an apprentice or youth trainee, the person must be all of these:

• under 25
• studying for a recognised qualification (for example, recognised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA))
• Earning less than £195 per week net

Apprentices and youth trainees:

People in detention

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if someone who normally lives in your household is in prison or has been detained under the Mental Health Act or under immigration law. The reduction you can get is set by the disregard rules.

People in detention:

Job-related second homes

You might be able to get a reduction if you are living in a furnished home provided by an employer and you have another home somewhere else. You can only get a reduction if there is a job-related need for you to live in the specific property the employer provides. An example would be a pub landlord living in a flat above the pub. Someone who has moved just to be nearer to their place of employment does not qualify.

Armed Forces

If you live in Ministry of Defence (MOD) Housing in England, Scotland or Wales you will pay CILOCT, which is a contribution in lieu of council tax. The MOD then distributes the funds to local authorities. If you own your own property in Cheshire East and the property is unoccupied and furnished you may be entitled to receive a 50% reduction, providing that we consider the property to be a furnished second home.

You will not qualify for the 50% reduction and will be expected to pay full council tax if:

• Your property in Cheshire East is unoccupied and substantially unfurnished.
• You live in your property in Cheshire East as your family home.
• You have never lived in your property in Cheshire East.
• You are stationed abroad and no longer live in MOD Housing in England, Scotland or Wales.

Job-related second homes:

Everyone is under 18

If there is no one aged 18 years or over in the property, you might not have to pay Council Tax.

Annexes lived in by relatives

Where an annexe gets a separate Council Tax bill, you might be entitled to a reduction if the person who lives there is related to the people in the main house.

Dependent relatives

Where the relative is dependent, you don't have to pay any Council Tax for the annexe.

A relative is dependent if they're any of these:

• over the age of 65
• substantially or permanently disabled
• severely mentally impaired

Other relatives

If the relative doesn't count as dependent, you might still be entitled to a reduction. We will work out the reduction depending upon your circumstances.

Members of religious communities

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if you are a member of a religious community. The reduction you can get is set by the disregard rules.

To count as a member of a religious community, you must depend on the religious community for your material needs. You can't have any income or capital of your own, except a pension from a former job. Your religious community must be mainly involved in:

• prayer or contemplation
• education
• caring or similar charitable work

Religious communities:

Partners and dependants of overseas students

You might be able to pay less Council Tax if someone in your household is a partner or adult dependent of an overseas student. To count for the reduction the person must be prevented from taking paid work or claiming benefits. The reduction you can get is set by the disregard rules.

What you might get

Where the only people in a property are students or partners or other dependants of an overseas student, you might get a 100% reduction so you pay no Council Tax.

Council Tax Non-British Spouse of Student Disregard form (PDF, 346KB)

Foreign Diplomats

If you are a foreign diplomat you might be able to get a reduction of 100% in your Council Tax so you pay nothing. You can only get the reduction if you are the person liable for Council Tax.

You can't get a diplomat reduction if you are a British citizen or subject, Dependent Territories citizen, National Overseas citizen, protected person, or permanent UK resident.

Members of visiting armed forces, international headquarters and defence organisations

Council Tax is not payable if at least one person who would normally be liable to pay the Council Tax is a member of a visiting force.

A person is classed as a member of a visiting force if they are:

• a member of that force, or a member of a civilian component of the force; or
• a dependant of a member, provided that the dependant is not a British citizen or normally resident in the UK.

Visiting armed forces: What reduction you might get and how to apply

Where a member or dependent of the member of a visiting army is the person liable for Council Tax they might get a reduction of 100%, which means there is no Council Tax to pay. You can't get the reduction if you are a British citizen or are ordinarily resident in the UK.

Where a member or dependent of the member of a visiting army is the person liable for Council Tax they might get a reduction of 100%, which means there is no Council Tax to pay. You can't get the reduction if you are a British citizen or are ordinarily resident in the UK.

Property held as living accommodation for UK armed forces

Property held as living accommodation for UK armed forces and owned by the Secretary of State for defence can get a reduction of 100%, so there is no Council Tax to pay. The reduction applies whether the property is occupied or not.