Discounts
You may be entitled to a discount on your Council Tax bill in certain circumstances.
The full Council Tax bill is based on two adults living in a property as their main home. Some people are not counted as adult residents if they fall into certain categories. If only one adult is counted as living there, the bill is reduced by 25 per cent. If everyone living in the property is not counted, the bill is reduced by 50 per cent.
To find out more about the Council Tax discounts available, please see below.
You can also cancel any discount using the forms below, or by logging in to your online council tax account.
If only one adult lives in a property as their main home, the bill may be reduced by 25 percent. This is known as a single person discount.
To apply for this discount, please complete the single person discount form.
If you wish to notify us of a change in circumstances due to a bereavement, please do not complete these forms. Instead, please complete the Tell Us Once form on GOV.UK. Tell Us Once is a service that lets you report a death to most central and local government services securely and confidentially without you having to inform them individually.
For the purpose of Council Tax discounts, a student may be eligible for a reduction if they are:
- Undertaking a full-time course of education provided by a recognised educational establishment where the course lasts for at least one academic or calendar year. The student must be required to study for an average of 21 hours per week for 24 weeks; or
- A PhD student who is "writing up"; or
- Under the age of 20 years and in further education. The course must last for at least 3 months, during which the student is required to study for more than 12 hours per week; or
- A practising foreign language assistant who is registered with the Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchange; or
- A student nurse or student midwife; or
- Certain apprentices and youth training trainees; or
- A person who is not a British Citizen, is a spouse or dependant of a student and is prevented by the terms of their leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom from taking paid employment or claiming benefits.
School or college leavers under 20 years old who leave after 30 April continue to qualify as students until 1 November of the same year.
To apply for this discount, please register/login to your online account and select the ‘Apply for or cancel a disregard’ button down the right-hand side of the council tax account summary page.
Severely mentally impaired adults are not counted as adult residents if they meet the following conditions:
You need to be certified by a doctor to be suffering from severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning, which appears to be permanent, for instance Alzheimer’s disease. You also need to be eligible to receive at least one of a number of benefits that include certain incapacity benefits, disability allowances, unemployment allowances or attendance allowances.
To apply for this discount, please register/login to your online account and select the ‘Apply for or cancel a disregard’ button down the right-hand side of the council tax account summary page.
Please note, you will have to complete the ‘SMI doctors certificate’ form shown at the bottom of the page and attach this to your application, along with the proof of the qualifying benefit.
If you are under 25 years of age and have previously been a resident in a care home or similar facility provided by Leicester City Council, you may qualify for a council tax discount.
A discount will be applied to 100% of the council tax liability after any other discounts have been applied for any period the care leaver is liable for council tax in Leicester, after 1 April 2018.
You will still qualify for this discount if you have moved away from Leicester and returned since you were resident in the care facility.
To apply for the discount, please complete the care leavers discount form.
If you are a member of visiting force, or a member’s dependant who is either not ordinarily a resident in the UK or a non-British resident, please email the information to us, at [email protected], quoting the council tax reference number and address concerned.
If you are a diplomat or have diplomatic immunity your main residence may be exempt from Council Tax. You may need to provide copies of your passport or diplomatic visa as part of your application.
Please email the information to us, at [email protected], quoting the council tax reference number and address concerned.
You may qualify if your home has at least one of the following features:
- A room, but not a bathroom, kitchen or toilet that is used mainly for meeting the disabled person's needs
- A second bathroom or kitchen required for meeting the disabled person's needs
- Enough floor space for the disabled person who needs to use a wheelchair indoors.
If you do qualify for a reduction and your home is in the band range B to H, your council tax bill will be based on the valuation band immediately below the one that is allocated to your home in the valuation list. If your home is already in band A, you will be given a 1/9th reduction on that charge. The disabled person reduction will be shown on your bill but it will not show in the valuation list.
We will need to visit you to confirm that your home meets the requirements, and we may also ask you to provide proof from the disabled person's doctor or other qualified professional that the disabled person needs the extra space or room due to their disability.
To apply for the discount, please complete the council tax disability reduction form.
If we do not give you the reduction and you disagree with our decision you can make an appeal.
If you would like to apply for a different discount not mentioned above, you can do so by logging in to your ‘My revenues and benefits’ online account and selecting the ‘Apply for or cancel a disregard’ button down the right-hand side of the council tax account summary page.
Other discounts include:
- Discount for apprentices
- Discount for persons residing in a hostel or night shelter
- Discount for Members of International Headquarters and Defence Organisations
- Discount for Members of religious communities
- Members of visiting forces
- Diplomats
- Persons in detention
- Hospital patients
- Persons in respect of whom Child Benefit is payable
- Carers and care workers
- Persons supported by the Ukrainian Sponsorship Scheme
- Youth Training Trainees
If you have a discount, which will be shown on your bill, you must tell us within 21 days of any change in your circumstances that may affect that discount.
We will only consider backdating a discount if there is a good reason why you have not asked for it earlier, and you can give satisfactory proof of your entitlement from an earlier date.