Consultation on Council Tax Support from April 2027

Tell us what you think about proposed changes to Council Tax Support


We are considering changing our Council Tax Support scheme for working-age households from April 2027. We'd like to know what you think.

Council Tax Support helps people on low income by paying a certain portion of their Council Tax. The exact amount paid by the Council depends on a household's circumstances.

We want the Council Tax Support scheme to be fair, easy to understand and require less council resource to run. We want Council Tax Support to change more smoothly when how much someone earns changes. We also need a scheme the Council can afford.

If we keep the current scheme, we expect it will cost £22.16 million in 2027/28. This is £1.18 million more than it costs now. We expect that the proposed scheme will cost £21.19 million, which would cost about £0.97 million less than keeping the current scheme.

We estimate that 2,343 working-age households would get more help under the proposed scheme, while 7,079 would get less. Of these households, 1,734 would gain more than £5 a week and 534 would lose more than £5 a week.

These are estimates, so the real costs and effects may be different.

Under the proposed scheme, some households may get more support and others may get less support or no support.

We have not made a final decision. Please tell us what you think, how the changes might affect people and how we could make the plans better.


Please click here to complete the consultation questionnaire (external link). Please make sure you read all of the information before taking part. The consultation closes on Friday 6 November 2026.



Who could be affected

The changes are for working-age people who get Council Tax Support. They are not for people on the pension-age scheme. The government sets the rules for people who have reached pension age, so those rules are not part of this consultation.

You can take part even if you do not get Council Tax Support. We want to hear from residents, people who get support, landlords, charities, community groups, housing associations and anyone else who is interested.



Why we want to make changes

We check the Council Tax Support scheme every year. We want support to be shared more fairly between different households. We also want changes in earnings to lead to more gradual changes in the amount of support someone receives. We want to make the scheme simpler and we want to reduce the amount of staff administration done by hand.

The scheme must also stay affordable. Giving more support would cost extra money. This would mean spending less on other services, raising Council Tax more than needed or using emergency savings.

Information from 2026/27 shows that Waltham Forest can currently cover up to 85% of a person’s Council Tax bill. This is more than many other London councils offer. We propose changing the maximum to 75%, which would be closer to what those councils offer.



Detail of changes

We are considering making the following changes:

  • End the special top rate of 85%. The new top rate would be 75%.
  • Let every working-age household that qualifies and has no earnings get up to 75% support.
  • End the extra protection for some households with a child aged five or younger. Households with children would usually still get more help than households without children.
  • Use seven earnings groups instead of five. This would make support go down in smaller steps as earnings rise.
  • Keep the current amounts taken off support when another adult lives in the home.
  • Do not take these amounts off in some cases involving students or disability. This should make the scheme fairer and easier to run.

This would mean:

  • Households with no earnings that do not get special protection now could get more help. Their top rate could rise from 57% to 75%.
  • Households that now get the special 85% rate would get less help.


Read more before you answer

Before you answer, please read about how the scheme works now, what we want to change and how different households might be affected.

Please see the following additional information which can be viewed in the Documents and FAQs sections on the right:

  • FAQs - for a list of questions and answers
  • Example scenarios for how households with different circumstances may be affected.

The examples are only a guide. Your own situation may be different.



How to take part

We would like to hear your views on our proposal to change our Council Tax Support scheme from 2027/28. Please complete our consultation questionnaire by clicking the link below by Friday 6th November 2026:

Complete the consultation questionnaire (external link)



Help with taking part

If you need help to understand the consultation, fill in the questionnaire or get a paper copy, email the benefits service at revenues.services@walthamforest.gov.uk



What happens next

Public Perspectives is an independent organisation who will look at all the answers and write a report about what people said.

We will review the report, consider how the proposals may affect people and look at the costs and other evidence. The Cabinet is expected to consider the proposals and make recommendations to Full Council in December 2026. Full Council will then make the final decision later that month.

If the plans are approved, the new scheme will start on 1 April 2027. We will publish the consultation results and the final decision on our website.



Tell us what you think about proposed changes to Council Tax Support


We are considering changing our Council Tax Support scheme for working-age households from April 2027. We'd like to know what you think.

Council Tax Support helps people on low income by paying a certain portion of their Council Tax. The exact amount paid by the Council depends on a household's circumstances.

We want the Council Tax Support scheme to be fair, easy to understand and require less council resource to run. We want Council Tax Support to change more smoothly when how much someone earns changes. We also need a scheme the Council can afford.

If we keep the current scheme, we expect it will cost £22.16 million in 2027/28. This is £1.18 million more than it costs now. We expect that the proposed scheme will cost £21.19 million, which would cost about £0.97 million less than keeping the current scheme.

We estimate that 2,343 working-age households would get more help under the proposed scheme, while 7,079 would get less. Of these households, 1,734 would gain more than £5 a week and 534 would lose more than £5 a week.

These are estimates, so the real costs and effects may be different.

Under the proposed scheme, some households may get more support and others may get less support or no support.

We have not made a final decision. Please tell us what you think, how the changes might affect people and how we could make the plans better.


Please click here to complete the consultation questionnaire (external link). Please make sure you read all of the information before taking part. The consultation closes on Friday 6 November 2026.



Who could be affected

The changes are for working-age people who get Council Tax Support. They are not for people on the pension-age scheme. The government sets the rules for people who have reached pension age, so those rules are not part of this consultation.

You can take part even if you do not get Council Tax Support. We want to hear from residents, people who get support, landlords, charities, community groups, housing associations and anyone else who is interested.



Why we want to make changes

We check the Council Tax Support scheme every year. We want support to be shared more fairly between different households. We also want changes in earnings to lead to more gradual changes in the amount of support someone receives. We want to make the scheme simpler and we want to reduce the amount of staff administration done by hand.

The scheme must also stay affordable. Giving more support would cost extra money. This would mean spending less on other services, raising Council Tax more than needed or using emergency savings.

Information from 2026/27 shows that Waltham Forest can currently cover up to 85% of a person’s Council Tax bill. This is more than many other London councils offer. We propose changing the maximum to 75%, which would be closer to what those councils offer.



Detail of changes

We are considering making the following changes:

  • End the special top rate of 85%. The new top rate would be 75%.
  • Let every working-age household that qualifies and has no earnings get up to 75% support.
  • End the extra protection for some households with a child aged five or younger. Households with children would usually still get more help than households without children.
  • Use seven earnings groups instead of five. This would make support go down in smaller steps as earnings rise.
  • Keep the current amounts taken off support when another adult lives in the home.
  • Do not take these amounts off in some cases involving students or disability. This should make the scheme fairer and easier to run.

This would mean:

  • Households with no earnings that do not get special protection now could get more help. Their top rate could rise from 57% to 75%.
  • Households that now get the special 85% rate would get less help.


Read more before you answer

Before you answer, please read about how the scheme works now, what we want to change and how different households might be affected.

Please see the following additional information which can be viewed in the Documents and FAQs sections on the right:

  • FAQs - for a list of questions and answers
  • Example scenarios for how households with different circumstances may be affected.

The examples are only a guide. Your own situation may be different.



How to take part

We would like to hear your views on our proposal to change our Council Tax Support scheme from 2027/28. Please complete our consultation questionnaire by clicking the link below by Friday 6th November 2026:

Complete the consultation questionnaire (external link)



Help with taking part

If you need help to understand the consultation, fill in the questionnaire or get a paper copy, email the benefits service at revenues.services@walthamforest.gov.uk



What happens next

Public Perspectives is an independent organisation who will look at all the answers and write a report about what people said.

We will review the report, consider how the proposals may affect people and look at the costs and other evidence. The Cabinet is expected to consider the proposals and make recommendations to Full Council in December 2026. Full Council will then make the final decision later that month.

If the plans are approved, the new scheme will start on 1 April 2027. We will publish the consultation results and the final decision on our website.