Is a care leaver exempt from council tax?

Full answer

A "care leaver" is a young person who was in the care of a local authority (for example, living with foster carers, in a residential children's home, or under a special guardianship or similar arrangement) and has since left care, typically around age 18, though support duties can extend further. **No single national statutory exemption** Unlike some other council tax categories with a clear, uniform national rule (for example, full-time students or severely mentally impaired residents, who have long-established statutory exemptions applied consistently everywhere), there is no single Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Regulations category specifically and uniformly covering all care leavers across every council in England. Instead, many individual local authorities have chosen, under their corporate parenting duties towards children who have been in their care, to introduce their own local council tax exemption or discount scheme for care leavers, using their discretionary powers to reduce council tax liability. **Typical local schemes** Where a council has introduced a care leaver council tax exemption, it commonly covers care leavers up to a set age (often 21, 25, or sometimes as high as their mid-to-late twenties, depending on the specific council's policy) and may provide either a full exemption from council tax liability, or a smaller discount, for a property where the care leaver is the liable person. Some councils extend this only to care leavers who remain resident within that local authority area, while others have reciprocal arrangements or apply the reduction regardless of which council area the care leaver moves to, though this varies. **Why practice varies so much** Because these schemes are discretionary local authority policies rather than a single piece of national legislation, the age limit, the level of relief (full exemption vs partial discount), the application process, and even whether a scheme exists at all differ significantly from one council to another. A care leaver moving between different local authority areas may find generous support in one area and none at all in another. **How to check and apply** Care leavers (or their personal adviser, if they still have one, since local authorities have ongoing support duties to care leavers up to at least age 25 in many cases) should contact their local council's council tax department directly, or check the council's website, to see whether a care leaver council tax exemption or discount scheme exists locally, what age limit applies, and how to apply -- this usually requires confirmation from the local authority that placed the young person in care. **Interaction with other council tax discounts** A care leaver council tax exemption or discount, where available, generally sits alongside other standard discounts, such as the single person discount (25% off if you are the only adult in the household) or the full-time student exemption, though a council will only apply whichever combination gives the correct overall reduction -- discounts do not simply stack without limit. **Worked example** A 22-year-old care leaver renting a one-bedroom flat alone contacts their local council, which operates a care leaver council tax exemption scheme up to age 25. On providing confirmation from their former local authority corporate parenting team, their council tax liability for that property is reduced to nil for as long as they remain eligible under the local scheme, rather than paying even the reduced single-occupant rate they might otherwise have qualified for.

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