Some dwellings are exempt from Council Tax. These include properties occupied only by students, only by people under 18, or by a severely mentally impaired person and vacant properties which:
- are owned by a charity (exempt up to six months).
- are left empty by someone who has gone into prison, or has moved to receive personal care in a hospital or elsewhere.
- are left empty by someone who has moved in order to provide personal care to another person.
- are waiting for probate or letters of administration to be granted (and for six months after the grant is made).
- are repossessed by the mortgagee.
- are the responsibility of a bankrupt’s trustee.
- are empty because their occupation is forbidden by law.
- are waiting to be occupied by a minister of religion.
- are left empty by students.
- vacant caravan pitches or boat moorings.
- are the unoccupied annexe to an occupied dwelling, which would be difficult to let separately.
- are dwellings occupied by diplomats.
- are granny annexes which are occupied by elderly or disabled relatives of the residents living in the rest of the property.
Until 1st April 2013, exemptions can apply for those properties which:
- require or are undergoing structural alterations or major repair (exemption will end on 31st March 2013)
- are unfurnished (exemption will end on 31st March 2013)
Second Home Exemptions
- For furnished second homes the 50% discount will continue where that second home is owned by a council tax payer who is also liable for council tax for another chargeable dwelling which he or his spouse is required to occupy under a contract requiring him to carry on a trade, profession or vocation in a property provided by another person and to live in a dwelling provided by that person. This means that second homes owned by e.g. publicans who are required to live in the licensed premises of which they are a tenant, would continue to be subject to the 50% discount.
- The 50% discount will continue to any dwelling which consists of a pitch occupied by a caravan, or a mooring occupied by a boat.