Council tax support for working age people

If you don't already get it, you need to apply for council tax support and we will backdate your application by up to three months.

How we work out how much you'll get

If you can get support and how much you can get depends on:

• How much you earn, either employed or self-employed
• If you have any private pensions or annuities
• If you get a state retirement pension or similar
• If you get Universal Credit
• Any rental income you get
• If you get any maintenance payments that are not for a child
• If you get any voluntary or charitable payments
• If you get any insurance payments against loss of income (this does not include insurance to cover mortgage payments)
• Any payments from overseas, except any equivalent to a UK disability benefit

Capital limit

If your capital amount is above £10,000 you will not be entitled to any support.

If you get Universal Credit, we'll use the DWP's assessment of your capital.

Council tax band limit

Support is limited to the value of a council tax Band D property. If you live in a property with a higher band, we'll limit the maximum award to a Band D property instead.

Non-dependent deductions

There is a standard deduction of £10 per week for a non-dependent or non-dependent couple.

No deduction will be made if you, or your partner if you have one, get:

• adult disability payment
• armed forced independence payment
• attendance allowance (or a state benefit treated as such)
• disability living allowance care component
• personal independence payment daily living component, or
• a pension age disability payment.

No deduction will be made if you, or your partner if you have one, are registered as severely sight impaired.

No deduction will be made if the non-dependent:

• is less than 18 years of age
• is a full time student
• is a member of the armed forces away on operations
• gets state pension credit
• gets income support or income-based jobseekers allowance, 
• gets income-related employment and support allowance
• is entitled to Universal Credit and does not have any earned income, or 
• is a disregarded person for the purposes of a council tax discount.

Income bands and the discount on your council tax bill

Which band you will be in depends on the following circumstances:

If you get Universal Credit and you're not working

This will put you into Band 1 and you will be awarded 100%, as long as your capital is not above the limit of £10,000. 

This award will still be limited to a band D and subject to any non-dependent deduction that would apply. Most of our applicants fall into this category at the moment.

If you get Universal Credit and you're working

The award will be based on where your household and income fall within the award bands.

To get a weekly figure from your Universal Credit incomes we will multiply the monthly award by 12 and then divide by 52.

From your Universal Credit entitlement, we will deduct amounts for:

• Housing element
• Disabled child element
• Childcare element
• Carer element, and 
• the Limited Capability for Work element.

We will also deduct any amount for transitional protection. These deductions can only reduce the Universal Credit to nil.

Universal Credit and council tax support

If you make a claim for Universal Credit with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), please also make a claim for council tax support.

The DWP will let us know that you have claimed Universal Credit and we can then treat that as your claim date for council tax support, as long as you send us any other information we need within one calendar month of us writing to you.

If you don't get Universal Credit

If you get income-related Employment and Support Allowance, you will be put in Band 1, and any capital will be fully disregarded.

If you are not entitled to Universal Credit and do not get income-related Employment and Support Allowance, we will use the incomes we take into account and award any entitlement based on where you are put in the award bands.

If you are working and paying childcare costs, then we may also allow a disregard from your earnings based on how much you pay; this is subject to the rules in the scheme and limited to up to £175 for one child and £300 for two or more children.

If you are a Kent County Council care leaver aged 21 to 24

Your award would normally fall within band 2, 3 or 4 but we will award your amount as if you were in Band 1.

Other adults living in your home

If you have someone aged 18 or over living with you (that isn’t your partner), it will affect how much council tax support you get because they are expected to make a contribution towards your household expenses.

A standard deduction of £10 per week will be taken from your entitlement for each adult that is living with you (certain exceptions apply).

If your circumstances change

You need to tell us straight away if your circumstances change.

If your household income goes up or down slightly, it might not affect the amount of council tax support you get.

You can look at the income bands above and check if your new income changes the part of the table that you are currently in. Even if it doesn’t, you still need to let us know about your change.

Extra help towards your council tax

If you get council tax support but still can’t afford to pay your council tax, you can apply for an exceptional hardship award.

An award is not guaranteed, and is looked at based on your individual circumstances. If your application is successful then you will get extra help based on your individual needs.

This will not be forever - you will need to work with us and other agencies to get help and support to improve your financial position.

We recognise the importance of protecting our most vulnerable customers. This fund is in place to make sure that we protect and support those most in need.