Council tax and dementia

Council tax in England and Wales

Council tax is a charge that local authorities make on residential properties in England and Wales to help pay for local services.

If you are living with dementia or caring for a person with dementia, it may affect how much council tax you pay.

Council tax applies to both owner-occupied and rented homes. The bill for each property is worked out on the basis that two or more adults are living there. However, you will usually still need to pay council tax if there is only one person living there.

The amount that needs to be paid in council tax on each property depends on a number of things. These include:

• which pricing ‘band’ (category) the property is in, based on its value
• the rate set by the local authority
• whether the people living there are eligible for any support, reductions or exemptions.

The council tax system is complicated. For more information, contact your local authority’s council tax department (see Other resources). They should be able to advise you about how to apply for any of the discounts, disregards and exemptions described in these pages.

Council tax in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has a rates system – charged on the value of individual properties.

For information on discounts and exemptions if you are in Northern Ireland, contact the Land and Property Service in your local area (see Other resources).

Who pays the council tax?

One or more people can legally be responsible for paying the council tax for a property. However, only one bill will be sent to the property, regardless of the number of people who live there.

Joint owners or joint tenants are jointly responsible for council tax. The same applies to married couples, civil partners and people living together as partners.