Council Tax when moving house: who to tell, what you pay and refunds

Council Tax when moving house: tell both councils and pay each for your days

When you move house, you tell your old council the date you move out and your new council the date you move in, and each charges Council Tax only for the days you are liable there. Council Tax does not transfer between councils, and a Direct Debit to the old council keeps running until you or the council cancel it.

According to GOV.UK, if you move to a new property or a new area you should tell your local council or the council for the new area, and it will register you and send a bill. mygov.scot says the same for Scotland: register with the new council when you move in, cancel your account with the old one when you move out, and tell the council if another adult moves in or out.

Most councils have an online moving form. Give each council:

• the exact date you move out or in, and your forwarding address for the final bill;
• the name of the buyer, landlord or letting agent at the old home, if you know it;
• who lives with you at the new home, so any discount is applied from day one.

Tell the councils before you move if you can, so the old council does not collect another instalment. Staying within the same council still needs a change of address, because your band, and so your bill, will change.

Council Tax is charged by the day, and the moving day counts at the new home

Council Tax is charged day by day: section 2 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 says liability "shall be determined on a daily basis". Section 10 sets each day's charge as the year's amount for your band divided by the number of days in the financial year. The 2026/27 year runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, which is 365 days.

The moving day itself goes to the new home. Section 2(2) says the position at the end of the day is treated as applying for the whole day, so if you sleep at the new home on 15 November, the new council charges you for 15 November and the old council's last day is 14 November. You do not pay both councils for the same day as a resident. These sections apply in England and Wales; in Scotland, ask the new council how it splits the year.

Discounts work the same way. If you move in alone, the 25% single person discount can apply from your first day, and it stops on the day another adult moves in.

Worked example: moving on 15 November 2026 from Band C in Leeds to Band B in Manchester

This example splits one year's Council Tax between two councils by the day, using full 2026/27 charges for 2 adults from the same engine as our Council Tax calculator. The old home is Band C in Leeds, £2,029.98 a year; the new home is Band B in Manchester, £1,798.25 a year.

The Leeds figure assumes the default 10 instalments due on the 1st of each month, £202.98 in April then £203, so 8 had been paid by 1 November. Each share is the annual charge multiplied by the days liable and divided by 365, before rounding to the penny. Count the days to your own moving date with the days from today calculator.

If you move in alone, the Manchester share falls by 25% to £506.22. Staying in Leeds for the whole year would have cost £2,029.98; the move costs £1,943.00 across both councils.

Your new Council Tax bill has fewer, larger instalments

A bill issued part-way through the year is spread over the months left, so the monthly amount is usually higher than a full-year bill. Under Schedule 1 to the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, a demand notice issued on or after 1 May has one fewer instalment than the number of whole months left in the year after the notice is issued.

In the example, if Manchester issues its bill on 20 November 2026, the whole months left are December to March, 4 in all, so the default is 3 instalments: £224.96 and then 2 of £225. If you ask in writing for 12-month payments, regulation 21 gives you the number of whole months left instead, 4 instalments of £167.96 and then 3 of £169.

Check the first bill carefully. Make sure it starts on your moving date, shows the right band and includes any discount, and set up a new Direct Debit with the new council.

Getting a refund of Council Tax you overpaid at your old home

Your old council must refund any Council Tax you overpaid if you ask for it. Regulation 31 of the 1992 Regulations says that when a part-year's payments turn out to be more than the liability, the council sends a further notice with the correct amount, and an overpayment "shall be repaid if the person so requires". If you do not ask, the council can refund it or credit it against other Council Tax you owe that council.

A credit is of no use once you have left the area, so ask for a refund in writing and give your bank details through the council's own form or phone line. GOV.UK says to contact your council if you have paid too much and have not received an automatic refund.

If you paid less than your share, the final bill asks for the difference. Regulation 31(3) gives you at least 14 days from the date of that notice to pay it.

If the old home stays empty, the owner pays Council Tax on it

Once nobody lives at the old home, the owner becomes liable for its Council Tax. Section 6 of the 1992 Act makes a resident liable first and the owner liable only when there is no resident. An owner includes a tenant with a lease of 6 months or more, so if you rent and your tenancy runs on after you move out, you can still be charged for the empty home until it ends.

According to GOV.UK, you will usually have to pay Council Tax on an empty home, though your council can decide to give a discount. After a home has been empty for 1 year, councils can charge an empty home premium, rising to up to 4 times the normal bill after 10 years. The premium may not apply for up to 12 months while the home is marketed for sale or to let.

If you are selling, the gap between moving out and completion is your cost. A Band C home in Leeds costs about £5.56 a day in 2026/27, roughly £167 over a 30-day gap before any empty home discount. Ask the old council whether it gives one before you move out.

Some empty homes are exempt for as long as they stay empty, GOV.UK says, including the home of someone who has moved into a care home or hospital, and a home repossessed or that cannot be lived in by law.

Moving in with someone ends the single person discount

Moving in with a partner or friend ends the 25% single person discount on their home from the day you become a resident, unless you are disregarded, for example as a full-time student. According to GOV.UK, you get 25% off if you live on your own or everyone else in your home is disregarded, and spouses and partners who live together are jointly responsible for the bill.

Tell the council the date you moved in. GOV.UK says that if you get a discount by mistake you must contact your council, and you could be fined and asked to pay the discount back.

The cost is easy to work out. On a Band B home in Manchester, the discount is worth £449.56 a year for 2026/27, or about £1.23 a day, so a move on 15 November ends £168.74 of discount for the rest of the year. The discounts that can still apply are in our guide to Council Tax discounts and reductions.

Students, new builds and moving abroad

Students

Households where everyone is a full-time student do not pay Council Tax, according to GOV.UK, but you need to apply for the exemption. A full-time course lasts at least 1 year and involves at least 21 hours of study a week. If you share with someone who is not a student, the house gets a bill, though the students are disregarded when working out any discount.

New builds and completion notices

A new build needs a band before it can be billed. GOV.UK says that if you move into a property with no Council Tax band, you should contact your local council, which asks the Valuation Office to band it. Under Schedule 4A to the Local Government Finance Act 1988, applied by section 17 of the 1992 Act, a council can serve a completion notice on the owner of a new building it expects to be finished within 3 months, proposing a completion day no more than 3 months ahead. From that day the home can be charged even if it is not finished. The bill then covers the days you have been liable, so put money aside from your moving date rather than waiting for the letter.

Moving abroad

Council Tax on your UK home continues if you move abroad and keep it. If it is empty and unfurnished, the empty home rules above apply; if it is furnished and nobody's main home, it is a second home, and GOV.UK says the council can charge up to 2 times the normal bill. If you let it, the tenants who live there pay. If you sell or your tenancy ends, tell the council your last day and a forwarding address, then ask for any refund to be paid into an account you can still use.

Final Council Tax bills: what to check before you close the account

A final Council Tax bill shows your liability from 1 April, or your move-in date, to your last day at the property, less what you have paid. Under regulation 31 the council sends it as soon as practicable after your liability ends.

Check four things:

1. The end date matches the day before you moved in to your new home.
2. The daily charge matches your band's annual charge divided by 365 for 2026/27.
3. Every payment you made appears, including one taken after you moved.
4. Any balance in your favour is marked for refund, not credit.

Arrears do not stay behind when you move: the old council can still pursue them. If you are behind, agree a payment plan with the old council before you go (see what happens if you don't pay Council Tax), and plan it alongside your other debts with the debt payoff planner.

Then work out the new home's full-year bill, band by band and with any discount, in the Council Tax calculator, or compare councils on the Council Tax by council pages before you choose where to move.