Council Tax Reduction

Will I qualify?

Before you complete an application form please check the table below to see whether  you may qualify for a Council Tax Reduction (CTR). This will save you time filling in a form and submitting evidence if you are not going to qualify.

You may wish to use our Benefits Calculator to see if you will qualify. This will tell you about other benefits and support you may be eligible for. 

To apply you must be the person liable to pay Council Tax - this means your name is on the Council Tax bill and your savings, if you have any, must be less than £16,000. 

CTR Scheme

Details of the Scheme

Potential Council Tax Reduction (CTR)

Deductions for other adults

Pension Age

Calculated using your household composition, your income and the income of your household members (if you have any)

Up to 100% of your Council Tax liability

£4.90, £10.05, £12.60 or £15.10 per week. The amount deducted will depend on their weekly income

Working Age Scheme 1

You or your partner (if you have one) receive:

-          Disability Living Allowance

-          Personal Independence Payment

-          Armed Forces Independence Payment

-          Attendance Allowance

Up to 78% of your Council Tax liability

None

Working Age Scheme 2

You have one or more dependent child in your household, and you and your partner (if you have one) are receiving:

-          Income Support,

-          Income based Jobseekers Allowance, Income related Employment Support Allowance

OR receiving

-          Universal Credit and not working

OR receiving

-          Contribution based Employment Support Allowance and not working

Up to 65% of your Council Tax liability

£10 per week if the adult is not working or a full time student

 

£20 per week if the adult is working

 

There is no deduction if the adult receives Carers Allowance

Working Age Scheme 3

You have no dependent child in your household and you and your partner (if you have one) are receiving:

-          Income Support,

-          Income based Jobseekers Allowance, Income related Employment Support Allowance

OR receiving:

-          Universal Credit and not working

OR receiving:

-          Contribution based Employment Support Allowance and not working

Up to 55% of your Council Tax liability

£10 per week if the adult is not working or a full time student

 

£20 per week if the adult is working

 

There is no deduction if the adult receives Carers Allowance

Working Age Scheme 4

You have one or more dependent child in your household, you and/or your partner (if you have one) are working and have combined net earnings of less than £313 per week; OR not working and not receiving a state benefit that you might be entitled to

Up to 51% of your Council Tax liability

£10 per week if the adult is not working or a full time student

 

£20 per week if the adult is working

 

There is no deduction if the adult receives Carers Allowance

Working Age Scheme 5

You have no dependent children in your household and you and/or your partner (if you have one) are working and have combined net earnings of less than £234 per week; OR not working and not receiving a state benefit that you might be entitled to

Up to 41% of your Council Tax liability

£10 per week if the adult is not working or a full time student

 

£20 per week if the adult is working

 

There is no deduction if the adult receives Carers Allowance

Minimum Award

 

If Council Tax Reduction is calculated at less than £10.00 per week, Council Tax Reduction is not awarded.

What do we mean by "Deductions for other adults"?

Apart from you and your partner (if you have one), other adults living in your property are expected to contribute to your Council Tax bill. We will take a deduction (sometimes referred to as a non-dependant deduction) from any Council Tax Reduction you qualify for in respect of each adult, depending on their income and circumstances. For further information please visit Deductions

Universal Credit 

If you have recently applied for Universal Credit and ticked that you would like to apply for Council Tax Reduction, your application should be forwarded to us by the Department for Work and Pensions so you will not need to complete an online claim form.

  • We will contact you if we need more information to process your application.
  • If we have all the information we need we will process your application for Council Tax Reduction and notify you of your award either by email or letter.

If you are making an application for Council Tax Reduction and already receive Universal Credit you need to submit proof of your Universal Credit award when you complete your application form, this can be accessed from your online journal. Here is an example Universal Credit monthly statement (PDF 109KB) 

Second Adult Rebate for Pension Age applicants only

If you are single and pension age but you do not qualify for Council Tax Reduction, you can apply for Second Adult Rebate if:

  • you share your home with another adult who is not your partner, and
  • they are on a low income and unable to pay towards the Council Tax for your property.

Second Adult rebate is calculated using the income of the other adult that you share your home with. It can cover up to 25% of the Council Tax charge for your home.

If the other adult’s income is over £344.00 per week you will not qualify for Second Adult Rebate.

Apply for Council Tax Reduction

 

You will be required to provide the following documentation to support your application:

Identity for you and your partner  

  • Current Passport
  • Driving license in photo card format
  • Birth certificate
  • Marriage certificate
  • Medical card
  • UK residence permit
  • EEC identity card
  • Letter from a government department

National Insurance number for you and your partner

  • National Insurance number card
  • P60 or payslip
  • Letter from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

The benefit team will contact you if they require any further documentation.

Other evidence you will be required to submit 

  • Earnings for you, your partner (if you have one) and any other adults living with you
  • Self-employed earnings for you and your partner (if you have one)
  • Other income for you, your partner (if you have one) and other adults living with you
  • Capital, savings and investments for you and your partner (if you have one)
  • Benefits, allowances or pensions for you, your partner (if you have one) and any other adults living with you

If you are receiving Universal Credit (UC) you will need to provide your most recent monthly statement. An acceptable Universal Credit monthly statement (PDF 109KB)

The document you provide must show:

  • Payment period
  • Claimant's name(s)
  • All allowances for the claimant's circumstances
  • Any earnings that are taken into account
  • All deductions for the claimant's circumstances
  • Total payment for the month

To provide this document please download your UC statement from your online account/journal:

  • Go to the Statement summary page
  • Click into the most recent monthly statement; it will come up on your screen
  • Save this as a PDF and save the document to your device (laptop, computer or phone)

You can then attach the document to an email and send it to housing.benefits@redbridge.gov.uk remember to include your surname and benefit reference in the subject field of your email.

Although you can use 'screenshots', this can be very time consuming as we require all sections, not just the payment amount, and if you do not send all the sections and your monthly award is unclear, it will not be accepted. 

Files must be in GIF, JPG, JPEG, PDF or PNG format and be a maximum of 20mb in size.

You can:

  • take a steady, clear photograph of your documents with your smartphone or tablet
  • scan your documents using your home printer if it has scanning capabilities

You can either upload your proof when you complete the online application form or email your documents to us at housing.benefits@redbridge.gov.uk

To  find out more about the information we collect from you and how we use it, please review the privacy notice. 

To go back to an application you have started you will need to enter:

  • Your last name
  • Your National Insurance number 
  • Your postcode
  • Citizen Access benefit Key - this was sent to you by email when you saved the application you started
  • You will be required to answer three security questions 

Return to an application I have started

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