Council Tax Support

From 1.4.24 Council Tax Support will be assessed using an ‘income banded’ scheme based on your household size and net income. The new scheme makes it easier for you and for us to manage your claim. 

The level of support awarded will be 90%, 70%, 40% or 20% based on a comparison of your household size, weekly net income of you and your partner (if you have one), and any non-dependents that live with you.

You can find the full details of the new Council Tax Support scheme here 

New Working Age Scheme

Am I eligible to claim working-age Council Tax Support?

To be eligible for working age Council Tax Support, you must meet all of the following requirements:

• You must be of working age (below state pension age)
• You must be liable to pay Council Tax for your property
• You must be living in the property as your main home
• You must have less than £10,000 in savings and / capital (capital includes property, shares and investments)

How does the new scheme work? 

Once you have made a claim for Council Tax Support, the amount of Council Tax support you get will depend on:

1. Your Status

• Single
• Single with 1 child
• Single with 2 or more children
• Couple
• Couple with 1 child
• Couple with 2 or more children
   

2. The amount of your net weekly income – this will be joint income if you are a couple.
   
    
3. The number of non-dependants in your household
   £5.00 standard deduction for every person over the age of 18 who are no longer a dependant in your household unless they are in receipt of a passported benefits.

Passported Benefit

If you or your partner are in receipt of a ‘passported benefit’ such as Income Support, Job seekers allowance (Income based) or Employment and support allowance (income –related) you will automatically be placed in the highest band of the Council Tax Support Scheme, unless you have a non-dependant.  This means that you will receive up to 90% in support.

Disregarded income for people with disabilities

We are committed to supporting residents with disabilities, so we do not include the following benefits when we look at your income:

• Disability Living Allowance
• Personal Independence Payments
• Armed forces independence payments

This is because if we included these benefits you would receive less support and would need to pay more Council Tax.

Will also disregard up to £40 a week of your income if you, your partner or a dependent child living with you receives one of the above benefits or receive the limited capability for work element in your universal credit award.

Other disregarded income    

When we are working out your Council Tax Support we will disregard any income you get from:

• Child Benefit
• Child maintenance payments
• Carers Allowance
• War Pension
• War Disablement Benefits
• Support component of Employment and Support Allowance

How will earnings be treated?

To support people back to work we will disregard the first £25 a week from your net earnings when we are working out your Council Tax Support.

Self Employed Income - A ‘Minimum Income Floor’ will be applied to anyone who is self-employed and has been trading for more than 52 weeks. This means after being self-employed for 52 weeks or more, if your net income from self-employment is less than £355.78 per week, the minimum income figure that will be applied is £355.78 per week. This is based on working 35 hours per week at national living wage minus tax and NI. If you pay into a private pension we can disregard half of the amount you pay.

Child care costs - If you are working and receive a child care element in Universal Credits, this will be disregarded as income. If you are not in receipt of Universal Credits we can offset up to £175.00per week child care costs for one child and up to £300.00 per week for two children depending on your income, circumstances and child care provider.

Transitional Protection Payments in Universal credits - Transitional payment payments in UC will not be disregarded when calculating net income. It will be treated as income.

Disregarded elements of Universal Credits

• Limited Capability for Work element of Universal Credit
• Carer’s element of Universal Credit
• Disabled Child element of Universal Credit
• Child Care element of Universal credit
• Part or all of the Housing element of Universal Credit

How will savings and capital be treated?

In the new scheme the amount of savings and capital you can have has changed (Capital includes property, shares and investments)

• If you have less than £10,000, you may be able to get Council Tax Support, depending on your weekly income. 
• If you have £10,000 or more you will not be able to get Council Tax Support no matter what your weekly income is.

Non-Dependant Deduction

A non-dependant deduction is applied when there is an adult living in your house (usually a family member or friend) who we expect to contribute to the household bills such as rent / council tax.

We will take £5 per week deduction for each non-dependant or non-dependant couple you have living in your property, unless they in receipt of a passported benefit or disregarded in your household.   

Please note – no non-dependent deduction will apply if the person claiming support or their partner are in receipt of Disability living allowance care component or Daily living component of Person independence payment.

When will your claim for Council Tax Support be paid from?

Your claim for Council Tax Support will normally be paid from the day you make your claim. Support will be paid straight to your Council Tax Account.

If you want your claim to be paid from an earlier date you must ask for this in writing and tell us why you did not claim sooner.  We will also need proof of your income, savings and household from the date you wish to claim from. 

We can only consider paying your claim for an earlier date if you give us a good reason why you did not claim sooner.

What changes in your circumstances should you report to us?

You must notify us of any changes in your household to enable the correct Council Tax Support to be applied and this may affect other Council Discounts and Exemptions you may be getting.

You must tell us about:

• A change of address
• All income changes for everyone living in your property
• Changes in your savings or capital
• Changes in your household for example

Any children that are born

• Anyone moving in or out of your property.

 

When will we apply the change from?

Any change in your circumstances will be effective from the date of the actual change. 

Income Banded Scheme and how it works  

The following tables should help you work out how much Council Tax Support you can get.

We will look at your total income for you and your partner, and then deduct any disregarded income.  With your net income we will apply a discount level of between 20%- 90% depending on which Band you fall into. See the tables below to find out which band you fall into.  .

For example, if you are a single person with two children and your net weekly income is £250.00, you will be in Band 2 and get a discount of 70% on your Council Tax Bill.  We will then deduct any non-dependent deduction which may apply

Income Banded Scheme 2024/2025

To apply for working age council tax support click here 

What to do if you disagree with our decision

If you think that the amount of Council Tax Support you have been awarded is wrong, you can ask for a review.  You should tell us why you think the decision is wrong in writing and show evidence of why you think the decision is wrong.  We will review your details and inform you of the decision. 

If you are not happy with review then you can make an appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.  It is a free and independent organisation, which deals with Council Tax appeals.

You must make your appeal within two months of the date we told you about the result of your review.  You must have already asked us for a review and had the result of your review before you contact the Valuation Tribunal.

S13A Exceptional Hardship Scheme  

If you are suffering extreme financial hardship in 2024/2025 as a direct result of the implementation of this scheme, you may be able to make an application for a section 13A hardship payment.

To view the S13A framework please click here 

To make a claim you will need to complete both an application form please click here and a Financial Information Form click here