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Who Qualifies for Council Tax Benefit ?

If you have to pay Council Tax, you can claim Council Tax Benefit as long as your capital and income are low enough. If you live with your partner, only one of you can claim Council Tax Benefit and your income and capital will be assessed together. This includes lesbian and gay partners as well as heterosexual partners. It applies whether you are living together as a couple, are married or are in a civil partnership. Capital means anything which could provide you with an income, for example, savings, property or land.

You must be living in the UK to claim Council Tax Benefit. If you are from overseas or have recently come to live in the UK you may have difficulty claiming the benefit, depending on your immigration status.

Students and Council Tax Benefit

Most full-time students don't have to pay Council Tax. However, if you do have to pay Council Tax, you probably won't be able to claim Council Tax Benefit, although there are some exceptions.

  • If you are a student and you live with someone else who is not a student, for example your partner, they may be able to get Council Tax Benefit.
  • If you are a student and you want to claim Council Tax Benefit, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on

Who Doesn’t Qualify ?

Your local authority should automatically check if you're entitled to a Second Adult Rebate.

  • If your savings amount to anything over £16,000 it is unlikely that you will be granted eligible for Council Tax Benefit. If you are 60 or over and getting the 'guarantee credit' of Pension Credit then this may not be the case.
  • Your income and savings won't affect Second Adult Rebate. Second Adult Rebate is based on the circumstances of the second person.

The majority of asylum seekers won't get Council Tax Benefit.