Council Tax support

If you pay Council Tax and you are on a low income you might be able to get help towards paying your Council Tax.

On this page:

Claiming Council Tax support

You can apply for Council Tax support if you and your partner:

have under £6,000 in savings if you are of working age, unless you or your partner get a disability benefit
have under £16,000 if you are of pensionable age, unless you get Guaranteed Pension Credit

How Council Tax support is worked out

The amount you get depends on your income, savings and circumstances. We will consider:

who is in your household
your income and savings
if you have a disability, or are a carer

We work out your Council Tax support by comparing your weekly income with your applicable amount.

Your applicable amount is the minimum amount the government says you and your family need to live on each week.

If you are of working age, you will pay at least 10 percent of your Council Tax bill (unless you are getting a disability benefit).

If you have other adults living with you, such as a son or daughter, it may reduce the amount of support you can receive, unless you are receiving a disability benefit. You can find out how other adults living with you can affect your Council Tax support.

For full details of the Council Tax support scheme, please open the document below.

Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2025_26 (PDF, 1 MB)

How to make your claim

To make your claim for Council Tax support you should complete the online form.

You will need to give us some information about you, your partner, any children or any other adults living in your home.

Examples include:

details about you and any other adults that live with you including names, dates of birth and national insurance numbers
your wages and any state benefits you or your partner receive
any childcare costs you pay
income details of other adults living with you

The form will also ask you to upload some evidence. This can be a photo of a document or a PDF. You might be asked to provide:

proof of identification for you and your partner
recent payslips for you and your partner
bank statements that show your savings or any regular payments you receive
proof of other income

If you can provide all the documents we ask for when you complete the form, we can process your claim more quickly.

The form should take about 15 minutes to complete.

Apply for Council Tax support

You can send any documents to us by email at benefits@nfdc.gov.uk or upload your information using our online form below.

Upload benefits information

What happens next

We will acknowledge the receipt of your claim once you submit the form. If we need more information, we will contact you.

We will make a decision about your claim as soon as we can. Our average time to process a claim is 12 days.

Please do not contact us to enquire about your claim until two weeks have passed after you submit your claim.

If you are entitled to Council Tax support, this amount will show as a reduction on your Council Tax bill.

Further help

There is support available, please look at our webpage dedicated to supporting residents with the cost of living.

If you receive Council Tax support but still have some council tax to pay and cannot afford to pay it, contact us straight away.

We may be able to defer or spread your payments. If your council tax payments are still causing you financial hardship you can apply for Exceptional Hardship Payments.

Any award is at our discretion and is intended to be a short term award to give you time to seek assistance and resolve your financial difficulties.

Each case is considered on its own merits, and as funding is limited awards will only be made in exceptional circumstances.

Before applying for this support you must ensure that you have taken all reasonable steps to resolve your own financial situation and all applicants must be willing to undertake all of the following:

make a separate application for assistance
provide full details of their income, capital, and expenditure
assist the Council in trying to reduce Council Tax liability by way of any other discount, reductions and exemptions that can be granted
maximise their income through the application for other welfare benefits, and identifying ways in which their overall household expenditure can be reduced
accept assistance from either the Council or third parties, such as the Citizens Advice, or similar organisations, to enable the applicant to manage their finances more effectively
identify potential changes in payment methods and arrangements

In making a decision we will consider the following:

the shortfall between the CTR and Council Tax Liability
steps taken by the applicant to reduce their Council Tax liability
the financial and medical circumstances (including ill health and disabilities) of the applicant, their partner, any dependants, and any other occupants of the applicant's home
reviewing Council Tax instalments or setting alternative payment arrangements to make them affordable
ensuring all discounts, exemptions and reductions are granted
the amount of savings or capital, irrespective of whether the capital is disregarded under the Council Tax Reduction scheme
the income and expenditure of the applicant, their partner and any dependants or other occupants of their home. If information being requested is not provided the council may refuse the application. All income may be considered, including those which are disregarded for CTR
the impact on the applicant and the council if the application is refused
if there has been a previous award of EHP
the length of time they have lived in the property
the exceptional nature of the applicant's circumstances

Use our online form to make your claim.

Apply for Exceptional Hardship Payments

Contact us

To help with paying Council Tax contact us by emailing counciltax@nfdc.gov.uk or you can call us on 01590 646111.