Some carers move in with the person they're looking after so that they can provide better care. If you have moved in with the person you're looking after, leaving your own home empty, write to your local council to let them know. If you're looking after someone because of their old age, disability, illness, drug dependency or mental ill health, the home you have left empty may be exempt from Council Tax.
How to apply for Council Tax exemption
You need to apply in writing through a letter to the council for the area where the home is located.
If you're a carer applying for Council Tax exemption because you've moved out of your own home to care for someone, your letter should state the following:
- Your home is empty because you have moved in with the person you're looking after.
- The date you left your home.
- The name of the person you're looking after.
- Your new address (send in a bill or other proof that you're living at this address).
- Why you're looking after someone (e.g. because they have a disability or are old and becoming frail).
- Whether you plan to return to live in your home.
If the application is for the person you look after, it will need to state the resons why they're applying for a Council Tax exemption. If they have moved out of their own home, the council will need to know when they moved and where they're currently living.
What happens next?
The council may then send you a form to fill out, to help it decide if you should be exempt from Council Tax (i.e. not pay anything). You must fill out this form and return it in order to receive Council Tax exemption. The council will then write to you giving its decision.
If the council decides that you qualify for Council Tax exemption, you won't have to pay the tax for as long as the reasons you gave remain the same.
If the council decides that you don't qualify for Council Tax exemption, and you disagree with its decision, you may want to seek advice. Sources of advice could include a local Citizens Advice Bureau, welfare rights organisation, or carers' centre. Speak to one of our advisors to find help in your area.
If you return to live in your home permanently, you must write to your council stating this. The council may decide that you should not receive a Council Tax exemption and that you now have to pay. You can appeal to a valuation tribunal if you disagree with its decision.
Council Tax exemption for the person you look after
The home of the person you care for may also qualify for Council Tax exemption if:
- The person is the only adult aged 18 or older who lives there and they have a severe mental impairment.
- The home is left empty because the only adult who lives there is being cared for somewhere else (including a hospital, a care home or a hostel where personal care is provided) because of old age, disability, illness, drug dependency or mental ill health.
Some properties have more than one separate self-contained dwellings. If there are family relatives who live in separate dwellings within the property and one of the relatives is dependent on the other, the flat where the dependent relative lives may qualify for Council Tax exemption. The dependant relative must be aged 65 or older, severely mentally impaired or have a substantial and permanent disability.
Example
Yasmin and Ravi care for Ravi’s 67-year-old father, Omar, who lives in a separate flat in their sub-divided house. Omar’s flat is exempt from Council Tax because he's blind and depends on Yasmin and Ravi for his care.
Other homes that qualify for Council Tax exemption include those where the only residents are:
- full-time students
- aged under 18
- severely mentally impaired
If they're empty, the following homes are exempt for a limited period:
- Unfurnished and have been empty for up to six months (they get an empty homes discount of up to 50%).
- Undergoing major repairs to make them habitable (may be exempt for up to 12 months).
- Homes that form part of the estate of someone who has died (may be exempt for up to six months after the grant of probate or letters of administration).
- Homes left empty by someone who has moved to receive personal care in a hospital or elsewhere.
- Homes left empty by someone who has moved to provide personal care in a hospital or elsewhere.
- Annexes which can't be let separately from the main dwelling without breaching planning conditions.
