Council Tax: Everything students need to know

Knowing the facts, checking you’re genuinely exempt, and making sure your landlord and the council both know it, is what actually keeps you off the hook if a bill turns up.

What is Council Tax?

Council Tax is collected by local councils to pay for services like the police, road maintenance, rubbish collection, street lighting, and care for vulnerable people. Liability is assessed each March, with a new bill calculated and sent out in April.

Is your property exempt?

Student accommodation built specifically for students, including university halls and private purpose built accommodation, is normally exempt as a whole property. If everyone living there is a student, it’s very unlikely anyone will receive a bill.

Privately owned houses and flats work differently: there’s no automatic exemption, so the council assesses who’s liable. The first person legally responsible is technically the property’s owner, but since landlords don’t usually live with their tenants, it’s the residents who are treated as responsible by default.

If the property is only occupied by full time students, though, the whole property becomes exempt, and there’s no tax to pay.

Are you exempt as a student?

You’re classed as a full time student, and therefore exempt, if your course lasts at least a year, runs for at least 24 weeks of the year, and involves at least 21 hours of study, tuition or work experience per week during term time.

How do you prove your exemption?

Don’t assume you’re exempt. Take the steps to make sure the council and your landlord both know it.

• Get a council tax exemption certificate from your university. This proves you’re a full time student and not liable. Submit it to the local council, and keep a copy for yourself.
• Your landlord may also ask for a copy, so they’re not chased for payment by the council after you’ve moved out.
• If you’re in purpose built accommodation, the owners may ask for a copy too, so they can retain their own exemption and prove student occupancy.

Your university may run its own checks before issuing a certificate, to make sure it isn’t giving one to someone it doesn’t think is exempt. If you disagree with a decision not to issue you one, ask for the reasoning, and get advice from your Students’ Union if you want to challenge it.

Students who might be liable

Being enrolled doesn’t always guarantee exemption. A few situations are worth knowing about:

• If you’re required to sit out a year before continuing your course, you can end up classed as “enrolled but not attending.” If your university won’t issue an exemption certificate for that period, you’ll be liable for Council Tax. There may be a discount available if you’re the only liable person in the household, and possibly extra help from the council too, so get advice if this applies to you.
• PhD students reaching the “writing up” stage can run into the same issue, since this stage may not meet the definition of a full time student. Many universities will only issue an exemption certificate for the first six months of writing up, after which you may need to pay. Seek advice if you’re approaching this point.
• If you’ve completed one course and are waiting to start another, you’ll usually be liable for Council Tax during that gap, including over the summer.

When a non-student housemate changes things

Living with a non-student ends the property’s exemption (this applies to ordinary shared housing, not purpose built accommodation). The same applies if someone living with you leaves university but stays living in the property.

In both cases, the council will issue a bill to the property, but only the non-student is actually responsible for paying it. The students living there remain exempt and aren’t liable themselves.

If you’re an international student whose family has joined you in the UK, there’s no liability as long as your spouse’s immigration conditions mean they can’t claim public funds or work. You’ll need to give the council proof of those conditions, alongside your own exemption certificate.

If enforcement action starts

Even as a full time student, never ignore a bill, letter or demand, even if you’re confident you shouldn’t have to pay. It’s your responsibility to prove you’re not liable, and the council won’t drop the matter just because they haven’t heard from you.

If it gets that far, a liability order is used to formally enforce Council Tax debt through the Magistrates’ Court. Once issued, the council has a range of ways to pursue the debt, including, in very rare cases, a prison sentence. More commonly, bailiffs are instructed and can visit the property to take possessions to the value of the debt for sale.

You don’t have to let bailiffs into your home, and they shouldn’t force entry, unless you’ve let them in on a previous visit or broken an agreement you’d made with them.

If you receive a Council Tax bill, liability order paperwork, or a bailiff letter or visit, get advice straight away rather than waiting to see what happens.

Council Tax should genuinely be simple: as a full time student, get the right paperwork to the right people, and there shouldn’t be any issues.

For further information, Leicester students can visit leicester.gov.uk, and Loughborough students can visit charnwood.gov.uk.

Photo from Unsplash

Updated 19.10.26