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Applying for council tax support takes between 15 and 30 minutes - the form you will need to fill in depends on whether you want to claim just council tax support, or you want to claim council tax support and housing benefit.
Apply for council tax support only
If you are on a low income, are responsible for paying council tax for the home you live in, and either:
- already receive help towards your rent (for example through housing benefit or Universal Credit).
- you own your own home outright or you are paying a mortgage.
Make sure you have your national insurance number and housing benefits claim reference (if you claim housing benefit rather than Universal Credit) handy before you start.
You will need to select 'apply for another benefit' on our council tax and benefits portal.
Apply for another benefit on our portal
Apply for council tax support and housing benefit
You can apply for housing benefit and council tax support if you need financial help to pay your rent and:
- are of state pension age (find out more about changes that affect couples where one has reached state pension age and the other has not)
- live in supported accommodation - find out more
- live in temporary homeless accommodation arranged by the council
Before you start your online application, please make sure you have the following information to hand:
- Name, date of birth and address details
- National insurance number for you (and your partner – if applicable)
- Income and capital for you (and your partner – if applicable)
- Income for other people that live with you (if applicable)
- Your council tax account number, if you have one
- Your evidence - see our evidence checklist
If you are are making a new claim for council tax support and housing benefit, you will need to select 'make a new claim' on our council tax and benefits portal.
Make a new claim on our portal
Retrieve a saved claim
If you don’t have time to complete the form in one go, you can save it and fill it in later (up to 10 days).
If you decide to save it, you will be given a reference which you will need to keep safe, in order to return to your application - retrieve a claim you have already started.
How to upload your evidence
Uploading your evidence online will help to speed up the processing of your application.
You can upload your evidence when you reach the final application checks by clicking ‘upload evidence’. You must do this before you click ‘submit my claim’ otherwise you will not be able to attach evidence to your claim.
If you use a tablet or smart phone, you can take a photograph of your evidence and upload each document.
When you click on ‘upload evidence’ you need to click ‘choose file’ to either select a file which is stored in your gallery/desktop or take a photograph of your document. When you have loaded the document, click into the drop down list of document types and select a description. If you have more than one document, click on ‘add another’ and repeat the above steps. You can do this as many times as you like until all of your documents are attached. When you are finished, click on ‘next' and you will be able to submit your claim.
Important information before you apply
- Please read our full privacy notice before you make your application.
- Our system is not available between 2am and 2.15am (Monday - Thursdays) and 2am and 4am (early Saturday mornings) to allow for daily maintenance to take place. Please do not attempt to use this service between these times or you may lose your data.