Apply for a second home Council Tax discount

A second home is a property you own or rent that is not your main home, such as a holiday home.

If you have a second home, you may be able to get a discount on your Council Tax.

Types of discount

Generally, you will not be able to get a discount just for owning a second home.

However, if you have a second home which is part of your job, for example if it is in your employment contract to use it, you can get a 50% discount on your Council Tax.

This also applies to properties left vacant due to being provided a property elsewhere for work purposes, though this is restricted to members of the armed forces and ministers of religion.

How to qualify

To be eligible for a discount, you must have a second home.

We may need to check which of your properties is used as your main home. If this is the case, we will contact you to ask for further information. This could be information such where you are registered to vote, or how much time you spend at your second home.

If we do need to check, we will send you a questionnaire to fill out and send back to us. The answers you give will help us to make a decision on whether to award you the discount.

How to apply

You can apply for the discount by completing our other council tax enquiry form.

If your second home is located in an area which is not part of Birmingham, you will also need to include a copy of your second home’s Council Tax bill with your application.

What happens next

Once we review your application, we will contact you to let you know if you have been awarded the discount. This may take at least 2 weeks.

Page last updated: 11 October 2023