Students do not pay council tax
Half true. A household where everyone is a full-time student is exempt. Add one non-student and a bill arrives — and it is addressed to them.
Half right: there is truth in it, but not all of it. What the score means
Where it circulates. From conversations about letting: “take a student and there will be no tax”.
GOV.UK: “Households where everyone's a full-time student do not have to pay Council Tax.” The operative word is everyone.
Who counts as a full-time student
For most people: the course lasts at least a year and involves at least 21 hours of study a week. For under-20s on qualifications up to A-level: at least three months and at least 12 hours a week. Language courses, evening classes and lighter online programmes do not qualify — and those are often exactly what people mean when they say “I am a student”.
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One adult non-student in the property: the bill goes to them, with a 25% discount, because students are disregarded when adults are counted and the house therefore has “one adult”. Two or more non-students: the full bill. The council pursues the non-students for it, not the students.
An HMO is a separate case: where rooms are let individually the owner is liable by law, not the residents. If the tenancy says otherwise, that is a contract question, not a tax one.
What to do
Neither the exemption nor the discount applies itself. You apply to your council and send the council tax exemption certificate your institution issues. Until you do, full bills keep coming and arrears on them count as arrears. Our coverage is on the council tax page.
What we checked against
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