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Second Adult Rebate

You may be able to claim Second Adult Rebate if you have reached Pension Credit age, have another adult living with you that is not your partner and this other person is on a low income or claiming certain benefits.

More about Second Adult Rebate

Second Adult Rebate is available for residents that have reached pension credit age and share their house with one or more "non dependants". This is also know as an alternative Council Tax reduction

A non dependant is someone who shares your home with you, is over 18 but not a partner, lodger or tenant.

A Second Adult Rebate assessment is based on the circumstances of the second adult . Your own financial circumstances are ignored.

Second adults could be:

  • Relatives
  • Friends
  • Children no longer eligible for child benefit who have finished school or college and not a full time student.

Who can claim Second Adult Rebate?

Second adult rebate is available if the following applies to your circumstances:

  • You have reached pension credit age.
  • You are solely liable for paying your Council Tax bill.
  • You share your home with another adult so cannot claim Single Persons Discount.
  • These other adults are not your partner, tenant or lodger.
  • They have low incomes.
  • They are not already exempt from council tax.

The second adult needs to be on a low income or receiving certain benefits to qualify for Second Adult Rebate.

You do not need to be on a low income yourself.

You cannot claim a Second Adult Rebate if you have a partner unless your partner qualifies as a disregarded person for the purposes of Council Tax e.g. if they are a full time student or live with a severe mental impairment.
See who is disregarded from paying Council Tax in our discounts and exemptions section

Second adults who claim benefits

If the second adult living with you claims the following benefits you may be eligible for a 25% refund on you council tax bill.

  • Income Support
  • Pension Credit
  • Income based Job Seekers Allowance
  • Income related Employment and Support Allowance

If the second adult claims an income from the following disability benefits it is ignored when we assess Second Adult Rebate.

  • Disability Living allowance
  • Attendance Allowance
  • Personal Independent Payments
  • Arms forces independent Payments
  • Certain charitable trust payments

If the second adult living with you claims Universal Credit (UC) their UC award is not considered to be a benefit for the purposes of assessing Second Adult Rebate. This means they may not automatically qualify for the full 25% rebate.

Instead the second adults Universal Credit Award is treated as an income not a benefit.

Second adults who do not claim benefits.

If the second adult who lives with you does not claim any of the benefits listed above, is on a low income or claims UC the amount of rebate you receive will be assessed based on the amount of gross income the second adult receives each week. A UC award in this instance is treated as an income.

If you are eligible to claim Second Adult Rebate you will need to complete a Second Adult Rebate application form

Any supporting evidence we need to assess your claim can be uploaded inside this form.

Apply for Second Adult Rebate