Bolton Council Tax Disabled Band Reduction, SMI Exemption, and Carer Discounts

The Disabled Band Reduction Scheme

If your home has been adapted for a disabled person — or was chosen specifically because it has features a disabled person needs — you may qualify for a reduction that charges your property at the band below its actual valuation band.

Bolton applies the statutory disabled band reduction if your property has any of these:

• A room (other than a bathroom, kitchen, or toilet) used mainly by the disabled person and essential to their needs
• An additional bathroom or kitchen required for the disabled person's use
• Sufficient internal floor space for a wheelchair to be used indoors

Band B becomes Band A. Band A gets a special 1/6th reduction below the standard Band A charge. The disabled person doesn't need to be the bill payer — they just need to live in the property as their main home.

This isn't means-tested. You don't need to be on a low income. And it stacks with Council Tax Reduction — the reduced band charge becomes the base figure for your CTR calculation, which means a lower 17.5% minimum payment.

Severe Mental Impairment (SMI) Exemption

A person is classified as severely mentally impaired if they have a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning that appears permanent and they receive a qualifying benefit. You need two things:

1. A certificate from a doctor (GP or hospital consultant) confirming severe mental impairment
2. A qualifying benefit, such as: PIP, DLA, ESA (support or work-related group), Attendance Allowance, UC with limited capability for work, or Incapacity Benefit

If the SMI person lives alone, they're completely exempt from council tax — a 100% discount, reducing the bill to zero. If they live with one other person who isn't also disregarded, the household qualifies for a 25% discount (the SMI person is "invisible" for council tax counting purposes, making it a single-person household).

The SMI exemption interacts powerfully with CTR. If the 100% exemption applies, there's no council tax to reduce. If the 25% discount applies, it's deducted before CTR is calculated.

Carer Disregards

A resident providing at least 35 hours of care per week is disregarded for council tax purposes if:

• The person they care for receives the higher or middle rate of DLA care component, the daily living component of PIP, or Attendance Allowance
• The cared-for person is not the carer's spouse, partner, or child under 18

Being disregarded means the carer doesn't count as an adult in the property. If the only other counted adult is also disregarded (or if the carer is the only other adult), the household qualifies for the single person discount.

How These Stack With Council Tax Reduction

All statutory discounts and reductions are applied before Bolton calculates your CTR award. The order matters:

1. Start with the full band charge
2. Apply disabled band reduction (drops to the band below)
3. Apply single person discount, SMI discount, or carer disregard-triggered discount (25% off)
4. The remaining figure is your net liability
5. CTR is calculated at up to 82.5% of that net liability
6. The 17.5% minimum is 17.5% of the net liability — not the original band charge

For a disabled person in an adapted Band B property who lives alone:

• Band B (£1,860.72) → disabled reduction to Band A (£1,594.87) → 25% SPD (£1,196.15) → maximum CTR 82.5% (£986.82) → minimum payment £209.33/year

Without the disabled band reduction and SPD, the minimum payment on Band B would be £325.63. The combined discounts cut it by more than a third.

Applying for These Reductions

Contact Bolton Council's Revenues and Benefits Service on 01204 331599 or apply through bolton.gov.uk. For the disabled band reduction, the council may need to inspect the property. For SMI, you'll need to provide the doctor's certificate and evidence of the qualifying benefit.

The Bolton Council Tax Reduction guide covers how each statutory discount interacts with the CTR calculation and includes a discount-and-exemption checklist so you can identify everything you're entitled to before applying.

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