People receiving Income Support who live alone will normally pay no Council Tax, and other people on low incomes will have their bills reduced by any benefit payable. It is sometimes called rent rebate' or rent allowance'. The scheme is administered by the Council, who process applications and work out how much Housing Benefit is due by taking into account how much money is coming in, the level of savings, personal circumstances and the amount of rent payable. They are paid into a national pool and re-distributed to Councils based on population. Non-domestic properties which are unoccupied may be liable to empty property rates.
Liability begins after the property has been empty for three months.
Charities are entitled to relief from rates on any non-domestic property which is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes.