Council Tax Reduction
How Newham's means-tested scheme works, which national discounts cut a bill regardless of income, and what to do if payments slip.
By the Ledger desk2 min read
Photo: Curran2 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Newham residents on a low income can apply to the council for Council Tax Reduction (CTR), and anyone may also be due a discount, a disregard or an exemption, or have grounds to challenge their council tax band.
Council Tax Reduction in Newham
Newham's CTR scheme is means-tested: entitlement is based on your income and capital and on the circumstances of the people living with you. Pension-age claimants, meaning people who have reached the qualifying age for Pension Credit, can get help towards the whole bill. Every working-age resident must pay part of the bill themselves, and the council sets the working-age share in its scheme, published each year on newham.gov.uk. The council's website has a free and anonymous benefits calculator that shows whether a claim is worth making, and the Council Tax Reduction pages explain how to claim.
Discounts, disregards and exemptions
As well as CTR, national rules can cut a bill whatever your income. If you are the only adult living in your home, you are eligible for a 25% single person discount. Some people are disregarded, meaning they are not counted, for example full-time students, people with a severe mental impairment and some live-in carers. A home where only one adult is counted gets the same discount, and where every resident is disregarded the property may be exempt from council tax altogether.
A home with a substantially and permanently disabled resident may be charged at one band lower if it has, for example, an extra bathroom or kitchen, a room used mainly for that person's needs, or space to use a wheelchair indoors. Newham sends out the claim form for this disabled band reduction on request: call 020 8430 2000.
Checking the band and falling behind
Bands in England are based on property values at 1 April 1991, and challenges go to the Valuation Office rather than to the council. You have a legal right to challenge if you have been paying council tax on the property for less than 6 months, if the Valuation Office changed the band in the last 6 months, or if something affecting the property has changed. Otherwise, you can ask for a review of the band if you think it is wrong.
If the bill is still unaffordable, contact the council as soon as possible on 020 8430 2000 to agree an affordable payment plan. Missed payments lead to reminders, final notices and then a court summons with added costs, and the council asks residents to get in touch even if enforcement action has started. Newham's own Our Newham Money service offers free, confidential debt and money advice, and Citizens Advice also helps with council tax arrears.
General information, checked against the sources below at the time of writing. Rules, rates and deadlines change, often each April; confirm with GOV.UK, the council or the organisation concerned before you rely on them. For advice on your own case, Citizens Advice is free.
