Properties exempt from Council Tax

Some properties are exempt from Council Tax. If a property is exempt, you do not need to pay Council Tax for it.

Some empty properties are exempt from paying Council Tax, including:

• properties owned by a charity (exempt for up to six months)
• properties left empty by someone who has gone to prison
• properties left empty by someone who has moved to get care in hospital or a care home
• properties left empty by someone who has moved to provide care for someone else
• properties that are waiting for probate or letters of administration to be granted (and for up to six months after)
• properties that are empty because they cannot be lived in by law
• properties that are waiting to be occupied by a minister of religion
• properties left empty by students
• repossessed properties
• properties that are the responsibility of a bankrupt person’s trustee
• unoccupied caravan pitches and boat moorings
• properties that can’t be let separately from another property

Some occupied properties are exempt from paying Council Tax, including:

• student halls of residence
• properties only lived in by students – your course must be at least 21 hours a week over at least 24 weeks of the year
• armed forces accommodation
• properties that visiting armed forces live in
• properties only occupied by people under 18
• properties only occupied by people who are severely mentally impaired
• properties only occupied by foreign diplomats
• annexes lived in by an elderly and mentally impaired or disabled relative
• any other relative living in a self-contained annexe (entitled to a 50% reduction in their Council Tax bill)