Greenwich Council Tax Single Person Discount: How to Claim the 25% Reduction

What the Single Person Discount Is

If you are the only adult counted for council tax purposes in your property, Greenwich gives you a statutory 25% discount on your bill. This is not means-tested — your income and savings do not matter. It is a flat reduction available to any sole adult occupier.

This is a completely separate scheme from Council Tax Reduction (LCTS), which is the means-tested support that can cover up to 80% of your bill. You can claim both. In fact, the Single Person Discount is applied first, and then LCTS is calculated on the reduced figure — meaning the two together can significantly lower what you actually pay.

Who Qualifies

You qualify if you are the only person aged 18 or over living at your address who is not "disregarded" for council tax purposes. Several categories of people are treated as though they do not exist when counting adults in a property:

• Full-time students (enrolled on a course of at least 21 hours per week for at least one academic year)
• Student nurses
• Apprentices earning no more than £195 per week
• People who are severely mentally impaired (with a medical certificate and a qualifying benefit)
• Carers providing at least 35 hours of care per week to someone they do not live with as a partner
• Members of visiting forces and international organisations
• Diplomats

So if you live with your 19-year-old who is at university full-time, they are disregarded. You count as the only adult and get the 25% discount.

How to Apply in Greenwich

Apply through the council tax section of royalgreenwich.gov.uk. The application is straightforward — you declare that you are the sole adult occupier (or the only non-disregarded adult) and provide basic details about anyone else living at the address.

If you share with someone who falls into a disregarded category, have their evidence ready: a student certificate from their university, an apprenticeship agreement, or a doctor's certificate for severe mental impairment.

Interaction With Council Tax Reduction

The Single Person Discount and LCTS work together. Here is how:

Take a Band C property with weekly council tax of £35. The 25% SPD reduces the eligible liability to £26.25. If you then qualify for the full 80% LCTS award, your support is calculated on the £26.25 figure: £26.25 × 80% = £21 per week. You pay the remaining £5.25.

Without the SPD, the same calculation on £35 gives a maximum LCTS award of £28 and a minimum payment of £7. The SPD saves you £1.75 per week — or about £91 over a year.

What Can Go Wrong

Greenwich periodically reviews Single Person Discount claims. If another adult moves into your property and you do not report it, the council can remove the discount retrospectively and bill you for the difference. You must report household changes within 21 days.

If your SPD is removed and you disagree — say, because the person who moved in is a full-time student who should be disregarded — provide the evidence and ask the council to reinstate it.

For a full breakdown of how the Single Person Discount interacts with the LCTS scheme, the earnings taper, and the hardship fund, see our Greenwich Council Tax Reduction guide.

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