Council Tax Single Person Discount: Who Qualifies and How to Apply

Council tax assumes two adults live in a home. If only one adult is counted as living there, the bill is reduced by 25%. The council decides who is counted, and you apply to the council, not to anyone else.

Who counts

An adult is anyone aged 18 or over whose main home is the property. Children under 18 are never counted, so a single parent living with children under 18 can usually claim the discount.

Who is not counted

Some adults are disregarded, which means the council treats the home as if they were not there. A household of one counted adult and one disregarded adult can still get the discount. The groups include:

• Full-time students and student nurses
• Some apprentices and young people on training schemes
• Some live-in carers
• People with a severe mental impairment
• People living in a care home or hospital

Each has conditions, and the council decides whether they apply to your household.

How to apply

1. Find your council’s single person discount page, usually through GOV.UK.
2. Give the date you became the only adult counted, and your council tax account number from the bill.
3. The council confirms the discount and sends a new bill, usually backdated to that date if it agrees.

Tell the council when things change

If another adult moves in, or someone who was disregarded stops being so, you must tell the council. Councils check discounts regularly, and a discount claimed when it no longer applies has to be paid back, sometimes with a penalty.

How Wisemium helps

Add your council tax bill to Wisemium and it keeps the council, the amount and the bill with the rest of your household costs, so a discount that appears or stops on next year’s bill is easy to see. Wisemium does not decide eligibility and does not contact the council; you apply, and the council decides.