Discounts

Discount Review 

If you have received a questionnaire with your Council Tax Bill asking you to confirm that you are entitled to a Single Resident Discount, please complete the form found on the Discount Review Page

Discounts

Your Council Tax Bill assumes that two or more adults aged 18 or over, live in the property as their main home.  If you are a single resident or if we can disregard you or any other residents, we may be able to award a discount.

Single residents

If you are the only adult resident and the property is your main home, you may be entitled to a Single Resident Discount and your bill reduced by 25%.  If you wish to claim a Single Resident Discount, please complete this online form.

If someone else aged over 18, moves in while you are in receipt of a Single Resident Discount, you must inform us immediately. We will take legal action against anyone who fraudulently claims a discount or exemption and we review your entitlement regularly and check information with other agencies for comparison purposes.

Care Leavers

Care leavers aged between 18 and 25 and where a local authority in England has acted previously as a corporate parent, will be entitled to their Council Tax being treated as irrecoverable in full or in part, if they pay Council Tax or live with someone who pays Council Tax in Fareham since 1 April 2019.

To qualify for this reduction the Care Leaver must:

• Be aged 25 years and under
• Have their main residence in the borough of Fareham
• Be liable for Council Tax (Solely or jointly) or
• Move into a household and cause an increase in Council Tax liability (e.g. the loss of single resident discount)
• Be able to provide evidence of their care leaver status

The reduction in Council Tax will be granted after any entitlement to other appropriate Legislative discounts or exemptions have been awarded (this may include Council Tax Support, single resident Discount or relevant disregards). 

Unoccupied properties

Unoccupied for up to 12 months

From 1 April 2024, for the first 12 months, properties which are unoccupied and unfurnished, will be subject to the full Council Tax from the first date that the property became unoccupied (unless the empty property is a pitch occupied by a caravan or mooring occupied by a boat, in which case, a 50% discount will apply).

Unoccupied in excess of 12 months

If your property remains unoccupied & unfurnished for more than 12 months, a Long Term Empty Premium applies in addition to the full Council Tax due on the property as follows:

• Where the property has been empty over 12 months, a 100% premium.
• Where the property has been empty over five years, a 200% premium.
• Where the property has been empty over ten years, a 300% premium.

Second homes

A second home is a furnished property, which is not anyone's sole or main residence.

For the first 12 months, properties which are second homes, will be subject to the full Council Tax from the first date that the property became a second home.

From 1 April 2025, if your property remains used as a second home for more than 12 months, a 100% Second Home Premium applies in addition to the full Council Tax due on the property as follows:

The government issued a consultation paper "Consultation on proposals to exempt categories of dwellings from the Council Tax premiums in England". The consultation (which has now ended), sought views on possible categories of dwellings which should be dealt with as exceptions to the Council Tax premiums or Empty Properties and Second Homes, provisions which are included within the S79 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.   The consultation proposed that there were circumstances where either premiums would not apply, or be deferred for a defined period of time, but we are currently awaiting further guidance on these from Central Government.

Property that requires major works

From 1 April 2020 we will no longer offer any discounts on properties which are unoccupied and unfurnished and require or are undergoing major works or structural alteration to render them habitable.

Up to 31 March 2020, this discount will be 50% for any period of up to 12 months (in all cases this discount will not extend beyond 31 March 2020).

Job related dwellings

A 50 percent discount may be awarded for properties classed as second homes which are occupied as job-related dwellings or retained because you live in a property classed as a job-related dwelling. The discount may be awarded if at least one of the following criteria is met:

• The employee needs to live at the property to carry out their duties of employment. You will need to explain to us the duties of your employment which you perform from that address and why you must reside in that property, in particular, to perform the duties of your employment.
• You are employed in a job where it is customary for employers to provide accommodation and the accommodation is required for better performance of the duties of your employment.

• You are required under contract to live at that property and you live there for the proper performance of the duties of your employment. The contract must be entered into at arms length and you must be required to carry on a trade or profession at that address.

Annexes occupied by family members

We are able to award a 50% discount if you have an annexe which is lived in by a family member providing that they are related to the person liable to pay the Council Tax for the main dwelling.  The discount also applies for people living in dwellings with annexes which are unoccupied, provided they are using those annexes as part of their main residence. If you want to apply for a reduction on this basis, please complete this application form.

Annexes are exempt from Council Tax if occupied by dependant relatives or where vacant and occupancy is restricted by planning permission.

For further information please contact the Council Tax office on Tel: 01329 824651, or email counciltax@fareham.gov.uk.