Ways to reduce your bill

Council Tax discounts and exemptions are available in some cases depending on the type of property or who lives in it. If you’re on a low income, you may qualify for Council Tax Reduction.

You can get extra help to pay your bill if you’re on a low income

You may qualify for Council Tax Reduction if your household is on a low income or you claim benefits.

More information on Council Tax Reduction.

You could get a Council Tax discount if:

You could get a discount if you or anyone in your home has a disability

You can apply for a band reduction if your home is adapted for a disabled person.

More information on disabled person discounts.

Some unoccupied properties are exempt from Council Tax

This means you don't have to pay Council Tax.

Find out more about exemptions for empty properties.

Some properties are exempt from Council Tax even when people are living there

This means you don't have to pay Council Tax. This depends on who lives in the property.

Find out more about exemptions for occupied properties.

If you’re a student

If you’re a student or there’s a student living in your home, you could get a Council Tax discount or exemption.

Find out more about student discounts and exemptions.

Discretionary relief

We can reduce your bill if paying your Council Tax would put you into extreme financial hardship. To find out more, download our discretionary relief policy ^{(PDF, 217kb)}..

You must continue to make your payments

While you’re waiting for the outcome of your application, you must continue to pay Council Tax in line with your current bill. If we award a discount, exemption or reduction we'll issue another bill and new payment instructions. This will take account of any payments you've already made.

Page last updated: 28 March 2024

Name	Cookie purpose description	Provider	Expiry
CookieNotice	Used to hold the selections you make as to which cookies you allow from the site.	southwark.gov.uk	6 months
Bridge.Auth	used to hold authentication information	southwark.gov.uk	Session
ASP.NET_SessionId	used to hold session information	southwark.gov.uk	Session
ProcessDisplayOptionsActionFilter.Pref	This cookie is used to remember display settings for colour contrast and font sizes set by the user in the accessibility options panel.	southwark.gov.uk	30 days
visid_incap_#	Preserves users states across page requests.	southwark.gov.uk	1 year
incap_ses_#	Preserves users states across page requests.	southwark.gov.uk	Session
AWSELBCORS	Used to distribute traffic to the website on several servers in order to optimise response times.	www.servmetric.com	5 minutes
local_storage_support_test	The cookie is used in context with the local-storage function in the browser. This function allows the web site to load faster by pre-loading certain procedures.	twitter.com	Persistent
CalloutDisplay	This cookie is used to record what callouts have been dismissed during a session to ensure they do not re-appear.	southwark.gov.uk	Session
ApplicationGatewayAffinityCORS	Essential cookie used for web server load balancing	southwark.gov.uk	session
ApplicationGatewayAffinity	Essential cookie for web server load balancing	southwark.gov.uk	session

Name	Cookie purpose description	Provider	Expiry
___utmvc#	Collects information on visitor behaviour on multiple websites. This information is used on the website, in order to optimise the relevance of advertisement.	southwark.gov.uk	1 day
r/collect	This cookie is used to send data to Google Analytics about the visitor's device and behaviour. It tracks the visitor across devices and marketing channels.	google-analytics.com	Session

Name	Cookie purpose description	Provider	Expiry
_dc_gtm_UA-#	Used by Google Tag Manager to control the loading of a Google Analytics script tag.	google-analytics.com	1 day
_ga	Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.	google-analytics.com	2 years
collect	Used to send data to Google Analytics about the visitor's device and behaviour. Tracks the visitor across devices and marketing channels.	google-analytics.com	Session
_gid	Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.	southwark.gov.uk	1 day

Ways to reduce your bill

You can get extra help to pay your bill if you’re on a low income

You could get a Council Tax discount if:

You could get a discount if you or anyone in your home has a disability

Some unoccupied properties are exempt from Council Tax

Some properties are exempt from Council Tax even when people are living there

If you’re a student

Discretionary relief

You must continue to make your payments

Cookies policy

Review your privacy settings