Council Tax Round Here
What the bill actually is · and what you should be taking off it
Council tax is the cost that catches renters out, because it is not in the advertised rent and nobody quotes it at a viewing. On most tenancies it is yours to pay, and on a two bedroom flat it can be another £200 a month on top. This tells you what the charge is for any address in England, Scotland or Wales, and works out the discounts — a quarter off if you live alone, and more than that in cases people often do not realise they are in. Your postcode stays in your browser. It is used to work out which area file to fetch, and nothing about you is sent anywhere.
Area
Your band:
Who lives there:
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Every band here
Things worth knowing
Who pays it. On an ordinary tenancy of a whole home, the tenant is liable — not the landlord, whatever the agreement says about "bills included". If your rent is said to include council tax, the landlord collects it from you and pays it on; you are still the one the council will chase if it goes unpaid.
Renting a room in a shared house. In most HMOs the landlord is liable for the council tax, not the tenants, and cannot make you pay it separately as a fee. If you rent a room in a shared house and you are being billed for council tax on top of your rent, that is worth checking.
Full-time students. A household where everyone is a full-time student pays nothing at all — it is exempt, not discounted. If you live with one non-student, they get the 25% single person discount instead. Either way you have to apply; councils do not work it out for you.
If you cannot afford it. Council Tax Reduction is a separate, means-tested scheme run by each council, and it is not included in the figures above. It can take a large chunk off, or all of it. Apply to your own council — it is not automatic and it is not part of Universal Credit.
You can challenge the band. Bands were set on 1991 values in England and Scotland, and 2003 in Wales, and plenty are simply wrong. Challenging is free. It can go down, and it can go up, so check what similar homes near you are banded at first.
Ten payments, or twelve. Councils bill over ten months by default, which makes each payment bigger. You have the right to ask for twelve instead and the council has to agree. It does not reduce the bill, but it spreads it.
Questions renters ask: Who pays council tax in a shared house, and are students exempt? · The rent, council tax band or bills in the advert were wrong. What can I do? · all questions
Savvy Renter — savvyrenter.co.uk · free tools for renters · Data sources & licences
Band D charges compiled by PlainCouncilTax from MHCLG, the Scottish Government, StatsWales and the Valuation Office Agency; compilation CC BY 4.0, underlying figures Open Government Licence v3.0. The other bands are worked out from Band D using the statutory proportions. Figures are the standard charge for the whole authority and exclude any parish or town council precept.
Band D charges compiled by PlainCouncilTax from MHCLG, the Scottish Government, StatsWales and the Valuation Office Agency; compilation CC BY 4.0, underlying figures Open Government Licence v3.0. The other bands are worked out from Band D using the statutory proportions. Figures are the standard charge for the whole authority and exclude any parish or town council precept.