4. Second adult rebate
Students in England who are liable for council tax may be able to claim second adult rebate. The law refers to this rebate as ’alternative maximum council tax reduction’. It is intended for people whose bill is higher because they live with someone who cannot get a status discount (see
here), but who cannot make a full contribution towards the bill. You can only get a second adult rebate if you live with others who are not full-time students.
Note: second adult rebate is not available in Wales.
Since April 2013, local authorities have been able to choose whether to offer second adult rebate. If you can claim, your entitlement depends on the income of the person who shares with you. Your own income or capital is ignored.
You may be able to get a second adult rebate if:
•you are liable for council tax or you are jointly liable and all of those jointly liable are (or all but one are) students or have a status discount for some other reason (see
here);
and •you have a ’second adult’ (see below) living with you; and
•the second adult gets universal credit (UC), income support (IS), income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), income-related employment and support allowance (ESA) or pension credit (PC), or has a low income.
Second adult
A ’second adult’ is someone aged 18 or over who is a non-dependant – ie, someone who lives with you on a non-commercial basis, is not a student and does not have a status discount for any other reason.
If you are eligible for second adult rebate and for council tax reduction, the local authority decides which is worth the most to you. You cannot get both at the same time. If you get a second adult rebate, your council tax is reduced by 25 per cent, 15 per cent or 7.5 per cent depending on the income of the second adult. You may be able to get a reduction of 100 per cent if the second adult gets UC, IS, income-based JSA, income-related ESA or PC.
As the rules on second adult rebate are complex, get advice from your students’ union, educational institution or local Citizens Advice office.