Lewes District Council

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Benefits
Lewes District Council
4 Fisher Street
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 2DQ


Tel: 01273 471600
benefit@lewes.gov.uk
Minicom 01273 484488

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Council Tax Benefit - Second Adult Rebate

Information for residents who may qualify for a second adult rebate on their Council Tax or Housing Benefit.

If you live alone, you will be entitled to a 25% discount on your Council Tax bill.  However, you lose this discount if you have someone living with you, who is not your partner, for example a friend, relative or adult son or daughter.

It may be that they have low income and are unable to help you make up the loss of the 25% single person discount and so you can claim ‘Second Adult Rebate’ which is a benefit based on the second person’s income – not your own.

Second Adult Rebate can also be claimed by a couple if one is disregarded and there is another adult living in the household.

You can receive Second Adult Rebate regardless of the amount of income and capital you have because it is not based on your financial circumstances.  It is assessed only on the gross income of the other person who lives with you.

The Council Tax Bill will be reduced by either 25%, 15%, 7.5% or nil depending on the income of the Second Adult. If the second adult's income is considered too high there will be no Second Adult Rebate.

Example:

A liable person who is single with a son of 20 years old who lives at home will not be able to claim single person discount on their Council Tax bill. If that person does not qualify for main Council Tax Benefit but their son is receiving Job Seeker’s Allowance, they are eligible for a Second Adult Rebate of 25% - i.e. their Council Tax bill will be reduced by 25%.

Benefit Calculator

Benefit Calculator

As every case is slightly different, we suggest you use the ‘Benefits Adviser’ calculator to find out if you are entitled.

Please have this information to hand:

  • The annual Council Tax for your property 
  • All the income coming into your household
  • All the capital of you and your partner
  • For Second Adult Rebate you need only provide the income of the second adult

Making a claim

If you think you might be entitled to Council Tax Benefit, then you can make a claim by completing an application form. All the relevant forms are available on our forms page.

PDF
PDF Council Tax Benefit & Housing Benefit Claim Form (0.39mb)


Telephone Enquiries

Our staff will be happy to answer your questions. When contacting us, please have your reference number ready to hand. We require this to answer your enquiry quickly.