Carer Council Tax Reduction in County Durham

How Carers Fare Under Durham's Income-Banded Scheme

If you are an unpaid carer living in County Durham, the 2026/27 Council Tax Reduction scheme has several provisions that work in your favour — but only if you know how the income calculation treats your specific circumstances.

Durham's working-age CTR scheme places your household into one of five weekly income bands, with Band 1 (£0–£69.99) giving a baseline 90% discount. Qualifying terminal-illness cases supported by an SR1 can receive 100% for up to 12 months. The way Carer's Allowance and the earnings disregard interact with these bands determines what you actually pay.

Carer's Allowance Is Fully Disregarded

Under Durham's 2026/27 scheme, all Department for Work and Pensions benefits are 100% disregarded when calculating your weekly income for CTR purposes. Carer's Allowance does not count toward your assessed income.

This is significant because Carer's Allowance is taxable income for other purposes, and many carers assume it counts against them for council tax support. It does not in County Durham. If Carer's Allowance is your only income and your capital is below £6,000, your assessed weekly income is £0, placing you in Band 1 for the standard 90% discount.

The £25 Earnings Disregard for Working Carers

Many carers work part-time alongside their caring responsibilities. If you or your partner earn money from employment, the first £25 per week of combined net earnings is disregarded before your income is assessed against the bands.

A practical example, assuming capital below £6,000 and no other countable income: you care for your partner and work 12 hours a week, bringing home £110 net. After the £25 disregard, your assessed earnings are £85 per week. Carer's Allowance and your partner's disability benefits (PIP, DLA, ESA) are all fully disregarded. That puts your household at £85 — Band 2 (£70–£125) for a 75% discount.

Without the disregard, you would be at £110 and still in Band 2. With the same assumptions, if your earnings were slightly lower — say £90 net — the disregard would bring you from £90 down to £65, moving you from Band 2 into Band 1 for the full 90% discount. The boundary at £70 is where the disregard makes the biggest practical difference.

Non-Dependant Deduction Waivers for Disability

Durham applies a flat £10 per week deduction for each non-dependant adult living in your home. But this deduction is completely waived if you or your partner receives:

• Personal Independence Payment (PIP) daily living component
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) middle or high rate care component
• Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP)
• Registration as severely sight-impaired or blind

If you are caring for someone who receives PIP daily living or DLA care, and an adult child or another adult also lives in the household, that £10 weekly deduction disappears. Over a year, that is £520 of council tax that would otherwise be added to your bill.

The Carer Disregard Is Separate from CTR

It is worth noting that the carer disregard — where a carer providing at least 35 hours of care per week is "disregarded" for council tax liability counting purposes — is a separate discount mechanism from CTR. If a property has two adults, one of whom is a qualifying carer, the carer can be disregarded for the purposes of calculating who is liable, potentially making the other adult eligible for a 25% single person discount on top of any CTR.

These two discounts stack. CTR is applied to the net bill after the single person discount (or any other statutory discount) has been deducted.

The carer disregard requires that you provide care for at least 35 hours per week to someone who receives a qualifying disability benefit, and that person must not be your partner or a child under 18 for whom you receive Child Benefit. Contact Durham County Council on 03000 26 0000 to apply for the carer disregard separately from your CTR claim.

Claiming CTR as a Carer

Apply through Durham's online portal at durham.gov.uk/counciltaxreduction. You will need your Carer's Allowance award letter, proof of any earnings (payslips), and bank statements for all accounts covering the last two months. If the person you care for receives PIP or DLA and lives with you, have their award letter available too — it confirms the non-dependant deduction waiver.

Durham County Carers Support provides free specialist advice on income maximisation for unpaid carers and can help with the application process.

For a complete breakdown of how Durham's income bands, disregards, and deduction waivers apply to carer households — including the hardship fund if the 10% minimum payment is still too much — see the County Durham Council Tax Reduction guide.

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