Discounts

Discount Review

If you have received a questionnaire with your Council Tax Bill asking you to confirm that you are entitled to a Single Resident Discount, please complete the form found on the Discount Review Page

Discounts

Your Council Tax Bill assumes that two or more adults aged 18 or over, live in the property as their main home. If you are a single resident or if we can disregard you or any other residents, we may be able to award a discount.

Single residents

If you are the only adult resident and the property is your main home, you may be entitled to a Single Resident Discount and your bill reduced by 25%. If you wish to claim a Single Resident Discount, please complete this online form.

If someone else aged over 18, moves in while you are in receipt of a Single Resident Discount, you must inform us immediately. We will take legal action against anyone who fraudulently claims a discount or exemption and we review your entitlement regularly and check information with other agencies for comparison purposes.

Care Leavers

Care leavers aged between 18 and 25 and where a local authority in England has acted previously as a corporate parent, will be entitled to their Council Tax being treated as irrecoverable in full or in part, if they pay Council Tax or live with someone who pays Council Tax in Fareham since 1 April 2019.

To qualify for this reduction the Care Leaver must:

Be aged 25 years and under
Have their main residence in the borough of Fareham
Be liable for Council Tax (Solely or jointly) or
Move into a household and cause an increase in Council Tax liability (e.g. the loss of single resident discount)
Be able to provide evidence of their care leaver status

The reduction in Council Tax will be granted after any entitlement to other appropriate Legislative discounts or exemptions have been awarded (this may include Council Tax Support, single resident Discount or relevant disregards).

Job related dwellings

A 50 percent discount may be awarded for properties classed as second homes which are occupied as job-related dwellings or retained because you live in a property classed as a job-related dwelling. The discount may be awarded if at least one of the following criteria is met:

The employee needs to live at the property to carry out their duties of employment. You will need to explain to us the duties of your employment which you perform from that address and why you must reside in that property, in particular, to perform the duties of your employment.
You are employed in a job where it is customary for employers to provide accommodation and the accommodation is required for better performance of the duties of your employment.

You are required under contract to live at that property and you live there for the proper performance of the duties of your employment. The contract must be entered into at arms length and you must be required to carry on a trade or profession at that address.

Annexes occupied by family members

We are able to award a 50% discount if you have an annexe which is lived in by a family member providing that they are related to the person liable to pay the Council Tax for the main dwelling. The discount also applies for people living in dwellings with annexes which are unoccupied, provided they are using those annexes as part of their main residence. If you want to apply for a reduction on this basis, please complete this application form.

Annexes are exempt from Council Tax if occupied by dependant relatives or where vacant and occupancy is restricted by planning permission.

Unoccupied properties

Unoccupied for up to 12 months

From 1 April 2024, for the first 12 months, properties which are unoccupied and unfurnished, will be subject to the full Council Tax from the first date that the property became unoccupied (unless the empty property is a pitch occupied by a caravan or mooring occupied by a boat, in which case, a 50% discount will apply).

Unoccupied in excess of 12 months

If your property remains unoccupied & unfurnished for more than 12 months, a Long Term Empty Premium applies in addition to the full Council Tax due on the property as follows:

Where the property has been empty over 12 months, a 100% premium.
Where the property has been empty over five years, a 200% premium.
Where the property has been empty over ten years, a 300% premium.

Second homes

A second home is a furnished property, which is not anyone's sole or main residence.

For the first 12 months, properties which are second homes, will be subject to the full Council Tax from the first date that the property became a second home.

From 1 April 2025, if your property remains has been classed as a second home for more than 12 months, a 100% Second Home Premium applies in addition to the full Council Tax due on the property as follows:

Premium Exceptions - Long-term empty homes and second homes

There are some Exceptions to the premium charges :

Classes of Dwellings	Application	Definition
Class E	Long-term empty homes and second homes	Dwelling which is or would be someone's sole or main residence if they were not residing in job-related armed forces accommodation
Class F	Long-term empty homes and second homes	Annexes forming part of, or being treated as part of, the main dwelling
Class G	Long-term empty homes and second homes	Dwellings being actively marketed for sale. The exception applies for up to 12 months from the date the property was first actively marketed for sale.
Class H	Long-term empty homes and second homes	Dwellings being actively marketed for let . The exception applies for up to 12 months from the date the property was first actively marketed for let.
Class I	Long-term empty homes and second homes	Unoccupied dwellings which fell within exempt Class F and where probate has recently been granted. The exception applies for up to 12 months from the date of probate, where the property remains part of the estate of the person who has died, or until the property is sold or transferred to a beneficiary.
Class J	Second homes only	Job-related dwellings. Generally, a dwelling would be classed as a job-related dwelling where it is a dwelling provided by a person's employer for the purposes of performing their work. The definition of a job-related dwelling for the purposes of this exception is set out in the Schedule to the Council Tax (Prescribed Classes of Dwellings) (England) Regulations 2003.
Class K	Second homes only	Occupied caravan pitches and boat moorings.
Class L	Second homes only	Seasonal homes where year-round, permanent occupation is prohibited, specified for use as holiday accommodation or planning condition preventing occupancy for more than 28 days continuously
Class M	Long-term empty home only	Empty properties requiring or undergoing major repairs or structural alterations This exception applies for up to 12 months from 1 April 2025, where the property requires or is undergoing major repairs or is undergoing structural alteration before it can be occupied. Where the major repairs are completed in less than 12 months, the exception will still apply for up to 6 months or until the end of the 12 months, whichever is sooner, provided the property remains unoccupied and substantially unfurnished.

To apply for an Exception, please e-mail counciltax@fareham.gov.uk with your request, please include information/evidence to support your claim. In relation to Class G,H & M, please supply the information listed below:

Class G & H:

These exceptions apply for up to 12 months from the date the property was first actively marketed for sale or for let. If the property has been marketed for sale or for let for more than 12 months when the premium starts on 1 April 2025, the exception will not apply, and the Council Tax premium will be charged from 1 April 2025. To apply for an Exception, please e-mail counciltax@fareham.gov.uk with your request, including the following information/evidence:

The date the property was first advertised for sale
Details of the agent and the link to the online listing. If the property is not advertised online, please provide the link from the selling agent's website.
Confirm that the property is being marketed at a fair market value.
Provide a copy of the energy performance certificate, your sale particulars will detail this.
Detail the steps you have taken/are taking to sell or let the property

Class M

Where the major repairs are completed in less than 12 months, the exception will still apply for up to 6 months or until the end of the 12 months, whichever is sooner, provided the property remains unoccupied and substantially unfurnished. To apply for an Exception, please e-mail counciltax@fareham.gov.uk with your request, including the following information/evidence: