Council tax bands, charges and appeals

Your council tax band

Find your council tax band and charge (opens new window)

The amount of council tax you have to pay depends on your property's 'valuation band'. These bands are set by the Valuation Office Agency based on how much your property was worth on 1 April 1991, not its current value. The lower the value of your home, the less you will normally pay.

How much you pay depends on:

• the amount set by your councils and the Sussex Police Authority
• the valuation band of your property
• whether you can have a reduction

Bills are calculated on a daily basis, from 1 April each year. This means that you will have to pay every day that you are responsible for the property.

Once you know the property band, you can find out the amount of council tax you have to pay (before any reductions) for the area you live in.

Council tax reductions

We can reduce your council tax bill by:

• Awarding a discount- your bill assumes there are at least two adults living in your home. If only one adult lives in a property, we can reduce the Council Tax by 25%. Some people are not counted as living in a property for council tax purposes, so even if there is more than one adult living in your home, you could still get a discount
• Awarding an exemption - some properties are exempt from council tax
• Awarding council tax support - for people on low incomes
• Awarding a disabled persons band reduction because a resident adult or child needs to use a wheelchair indoors or where they need a special room within the house because of their disability

Local discounts

The Local Government Finance Act allows the council to award a discount from 0% to 100%. The appropriate discounts are as follows;-

• Properties that are unoccupied and substantially unfurnished now attract a local discount which has been set at 0%
• Properties that are second homes now attract a local discount which has been set at 0%
• Properties that require major render works to render them habitable or that are undergoing structural alterations attract a local discount which has been set at 0%

One or more of these reductions may apply to your property.

The Local Government Finance Act also allows the council to apply a premium to any property that has been empty for over 2 years. From 1 April 2019 this premium has been set at 100%.

Any property that has been empty for over 5 years, as at 1 April 2020 or later, will have a premium of 200% applied.

Any property that has been empty for over 10 years, as at 1 April 2021, will have a premium of 300% applied.

Local discounts are agreed by the council each year prior to the bills being sent out.

Appeals

Please make any appeal related to property bandings to the District Valuer and Valuation Officer at the Valuation Office Agency (opens new window).

Please appeal directly to us if you think your Council Tax bill is incorrect for the following reasons:

• You are not the resident or owner.
• The property is exempt.
• We have made a mistake in our calculations.