Council Tax support

Council Tax support, previously known as Council Tax reduction, reduces the amount you have to pay on your Council Tax bill.

You can claim if you are:

on a low income, whether you are working or unemployed.
legally responsible for paying Council Tax for the home you live in, and have savings or investments of less than £6,000.

You can check your eligibility for Housing Benefit and Council Tax support using our online benefits calculator.

How we pay

Council Tax support is applied directly to your council tax account. It is not made as a payment, but is applied through a reduced Council Tax bill. Your bill will show you what discount has been awarded and state how much you still need to pay.

If you think that your bill is wrong or if you think you may have problems making the payments, please contact us immediately.

Apply for Council Tax support

To apply complete the Council Tax support form .

Apply for Council Tax support

What you need to apply

When you make a claim you may need to provide documents as proof of:

your identity and national insurance number
any savings and investments you have
the earnings, benefits, pensions or any other income you receive
your rent and tenancy, if you are claiming housing benefit

If you do not have wage slips, download and print the Certificate of Earned Income (PDF, 51KB) form and ask your employer to complete it.

If you are self employed and your business started less than a year ago, print and return the Self Employed Form New Business (PDF, 50KB) .

Report changes that affect your Council Tax support

You must tell us about any changes that could affect your Council Tax support claim. To do this complete Report a change of circumstances .

You need to tell us as soon as possible if you, or anyone you live with, has any of the changes of circumstance listed below:

a change of address
someone moving in with you
income changes (including wages, pensions, benefits, maintenance)
changes to savings and investments
Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance starting or stopping
a change from Jobseeker’s Allowance (contribution-based) to Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based)
a dependent child leaving full-time education
rent changes (for housing benefit claims only)
going abroad or being away from home for more than two weeks

You must tell us within one month of a change happening. If you don’t you risk losing some of your entitlement and we may reduce your bill by the wrong amount.