You can get a 25% Single Person Discount off your Council Tax bill if you meet the following criteria:

• you are the only adult (aged 18 or over) living in a property
• it is your sole or main residence

To apply for the discount please access our online portal and select apply for Council Tax reductions.

Discounts must be claimed at the time the circumstances first apply. A Single Person Discount will not be backdated for more than 3 months from the date an application is made to the Council.

Can I be penalised for failing to inform the Council about a change in circumstances regarding my discount?

Yes. If you are in receipt of a discount and your circumstances change which may affect the discount, you have a duty to inform the Council within 21 days of the change of circumstances. The Council may impose a civil penalty of £50 for failure to advise of your change in circumstances which affect your discount.

The Theft Act 1968 also applies to Council Tax where a person presents information which they know to be false with a view to obtaining a financial benefit to which they are not entitled. You could be subject to prosecution for obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.

Students do not avoid liability for Council Tax, unless they occupy a property equally with non-students. For example, you will be named on the bill (liable) if you hold a joint tenancy agreement with your housemates provided you are all students, as defined below.

However, students are disregarded in calculating the Council Tax bill, so a discount or full exemption may be due, depending on how many non-students also live with you.

If you are living in halls of residence you will not be liable for Council Tax. You do not need to provide us with any details of your student status. Please inform us if you move into your own accommodation.

To apply for a student exemption/discount, please complete the Council Tax Student Status application form.

Remember we can only award discounts and exemptions if we receive the appropriate student certificates each academic year and are kept informed of who has permanently moved in and out.

Who qualifies as a student?

You must be studying full-time at a recognised educational establishment and be one of the following.

• In Higher Education for at least one academic year (e.g. Degree/Project 2000)
• Student nurse
• Under 20 and in further education (e.g. A Levels/BTEC)
• Foreign Language Assistant
• You can also be disregarded if you are 18 or 19 and a school or college leaver (until 1 November following the end of your full-time education)

What happens in the holidays?

Provided the same students remain resident and continue to study the same course, the discount / exemption will continue when they return to the property for the term-time.

If the students change then you must inform us straight away so we can review the bill.

Some people, who are severely mentally impaired (SMI) can be disregarded when counting the number of residents in a property. If all but one resident is SMI, a 25% discount is applied. If all residents are SMI then the property is exempt and no Council Tax is due. This applies only if they are liable for the Council Tax bill.

To qualify for this discount, a person must be certified by their doctor to be severely mentally impaired on the grounds that they have "severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning, which appears to be permanent" and the person must be in receipt of one of the following state benefits:

• Incapacity Benefit/ Employment & Support Allowance
• Severe Disablement Allowance or Invalidity Pension
• Unemployability Supplement or Allowance
• Disability element of Working Tax Credit
• Attendance Allowance
• Constant Attendance Allowance (this may be included with a War Pension or Disablement Pension)
• An increase in the rate of Disablement Pension
• Personal Independence Payment (daily living component)
• Disability Living Allowance (high or middle rate care component)
• Universal Credit where the calculation includes an amount in respect of the claimant having limited capability for work/work-related activity
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Disability Working Allowance
• Disabled Element Tax Credit / Disabled Persons Tax Credit
• Income Support (which includes Disablement Premium)
• State Pension - but they would have been entitled to one of the benefits above if they had not reached retirement age.

To apply for the disregard please complete the Severely Mentally Impaired application form.

If there is a permanently disabled person living in the dwelling as their main home (not necessarily the council taxpayer) and they require at least one of the following features to meet the needs of their disability, there may be a reduction in the Council Tax payable on the property:-

• A room (other than a bathroom, kitchen or toilet) used mainly by the disabled person to meet their needs
• An additional bathroom or kitchen adapted for use by the disabled person
• Space in the dwelling to allow for the use of a wheelchair

If you are entitled to this reduction, the Council Tax will be reduced to that of a property in the valuation band immediately below that shown in the valuation list for your dwelling. A reduction will also apply to properties in band A.

If you think you might be entitled to this discount, please complete our Disabled band reduction application form.

If you sponsor a Ukrainian refugee who holds permission to enter or to stay in the United Kingdom under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, you will not lose out on your Council Tax discount or exemption. There is also a 50% discount for empty or second homes that are used to house Ukrainians on this scheme.

Moving to Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) does not affect the council tax account or exemption of a person hosting the occupiers in connection with the HFU scheme.

Where a host is eligible for a thank you payment the following will apply:

• the guest is to be disregarded for the purposes of council tax discounts, protecting the hosts’ single person discount (or the 50% discount received by households where all the occupants are already disregarded)
• the bill of guests forming their own household in accommodation provided by the host will be reduced by 50%
• the guest will not affect any council tax exemption applying to their accommodation

Where the guest leaves the sponsorship arrangements, for example moving to their own property, part way through a calendar month, the disregard and protection of exemption applying to them will expire at the end of that month.

Empty properties where full Council Tax is being paid

If the empty property is now occupied only by Ukrainian refugees who left sponsorship arrangement and hold permission to enter or to stay in the United Kingdom under the HFU scheme, there will be 50% discount on the bill. The discount lasts for as long as the residents continue to hold a Homes for Ukraine visa. Once they move to UPE Scheme, the council tax discount ends.

If you are currently in receipt of Homes For Ukraine discount and have moved to UPE scheme, please email counciltax@winchester.gov.uk providing evidence of when your UPE visa was granted.

A reduction to Council Tax is available for qualifying care leavers who are under 25 years old. For residents in Winchester it will be Hampshire County Council who will confirm that an individual is a qualifying care leaver.

The reduction on Council Tax will be 100% for a care leaver who is the sole resident of a property. If there are other residents in the property, the care leaver will be disregarded for Council Tax purposes. The reduction will be applied from the date of qualification up to the day before the care leavers 25th birthday.

To apply for this discount, please email counciltax@winchester.gov.uk.

Some properties are exempt from Council Tax. Some of the exemptions have a limit on how long they can be awarded for. After the time limit expires the full Council Tax is payable.

Please remember to tell us when circumstances change.

B - Empty and owned by a charity. 6 months time limit

C - Exemption no longer exists with effect from 1 April 2013. Replaced with a discount

D - Left unoccupied as person in detention (prison)

E - Left unoccupied as person living permanently in care home or hospital

F - Left unoccupied as person died. 6 months limit from grant of probate/letter of administration

G - Unoccupied as prohibited by law

H - Unoccupied pending Minister of Religion moving in

I - Left unoccupied as person living permanently elsewhere to receive care

J - Left unoccupied as person living permanently elsewhere to provide care

K - Left unoccupied by student, as studying elsewhere

L - Unoccupied as repossessed (mortgagee is in possession)

T - Unoccupied annexe, which cannot be let separately from main home without breach of Planning legislation

M - As a Halls of Residence

N - Only by full-time Students or School/College Leavers

O - Because it is Ministry of Defence accommodation

P - By a member of visiting armed force

R - Unoccupied caravan pitch or houseboat mooring

S - Only by persons under 18 years old

U - Only by severely mentally impaired persons

V - By a diplomat

W - By a dependent relative in an annexe who is over 65 years old or is disabled.

Please tell us if the names of the residents change even if you still think an exemption is due.