Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department has issued on claiming local council tax support when an elector (a) owns and (b) resides in more than one property.

Local authorities are required to put in place and administer council tax reduction schemes for low-income households. Support for working age people is designed by authorities and support for people of pension age must follow criterial prescribed in regulations by the Secretary of State in the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012.

In the case of pension-age local council tax reductions schemes, the Secretary of State has prescribed that a person must be resident in a property to claim support. In addition, the capital value of additional properties will be considered in determining eligibility, unless there are mitigating circumstances such as if the property is in the process of being sold. A pension age person with more than £16,000 of capital is not entitled to council tax reduction.

Eligibility for working age council tax reduction and the treatment of capital such as additional properties is decided by local authorities.