Council tax when you move house

Two councils, two separate jobs, and a common trap where you end up paying both at once. Here's how it actually works.

Updated 24 September 2026

Council tax is the piece of moving admin that most reliably goes wrong, for one structural reason: there is no national system. Each local authority runs its own, they don't talk to each other, and neither of them finds out you've moved unless you tell them.

So it is always two jobs, never one. Close the old account. Open the new one. Missing either has a cost. It sits on the legal-deadline half of the who to notify when moving house list for that reason.

What happens if you only do one

What you skipped	What happens
Didn't close the old account	Billing continues at the old address. The direct debit keeps collecting, and reclaiming it means proving when you left — which is much easier with a completion date and a final meter reading than without.
Didn't open the new account	You still owe it from the day you moved in. It arrives later as a lump sum covering the whole period, often alongside a demand for the balance of the year in fewer instalments.
Did neither	Both of the above at once, and the money you're owed at one council doesn't offset what you owe the other. They are unrelated organisations.

The overlap nobody warns you about

If you complete on the new property before you've moved out of the old one — even by a few days — you can be liable for council tax on both at the same time. Liability generally follows the right to occupy, not whether your furniture is there.

Some councils offer a discount or exemption on an empty, unfurnished property, but the terms vary enormously between authorities and some have removed it entirely. It is worth one phone call to the relevant council if your dates overlap by more than a few days, because the answer genuinely differs depending on where you are.

What each council will ask you for

Your full name, and the names of everyone else who'll be liable
The address you're leaving and the address you're moving to
The exact date you moved, or will move
Whether you owned or rented, and the landlord's details if renting
Your final meter readings, sometimes — worth having anyway
Bank details, if you want to pay the new account by direct debit

Cancel the old direct debit only after the closing bill is settled. Cancelling it the day you move is a common instinct and it usually creates a missed-payment letter rather than saving anything. The change of address checklist has wording you can reuse for both councils.

Everything above assumes you're moving into a property with no live account — the common case, but not the only one. If you're moving into a flat- or house-share where the other tenants have already got council tax set up, telling the council "I'm moving in" is a different job from telling them "I'm moving in and starting a new account", and the standard online move form often only offers the second one.

In practice that means: if you're joining people already named on the tenancy and already liable, you don't need — and shouldn't set up — a second account for the same property. What you need is to be added to the existing one. If the online journey insists on creating a new bill, stop and contact the council directly (phone or webchat) rather than finishing it; explain that the property already has an active account and you're joining the existing household, not starting a fresh tenancy on your own.

This varies by council in exactly the way the rest of this page warns about — some run the "add me to an existing account" request through the same online form with a different option, others want a phone call. One check with the specific council avoids setting up a bill that then has to be unwound.

Getting a refund from the old council

1
Tell them the date you left
They recalculate the year to that date. If you paid by monthly direct debit you'll frequently be in credit, because instalments are usually spread over ten months rather than twelve.
2
Give them somewhere to send it
Refunds go back to the paying account by default, but if you've closed it you need to say so — otherwise the refund bounces and sits unclaimed.
3
Chase it if it's quiet
Refunds are not automatic in every authority, and an unclaimed credit can sit on a closed account indefinitely. If you haven't heard within about a month, ask.

Discounts worth checking at the new address

Single person discount — 25% off if you're the only adult resident. It does not carry over from your old address; you have to claim it again.
Students — a household entirely of full-time students is generally exempt, but it must be claimed with evidence.
Severe mental impairment and certain carer situations — these can lead to a discount or full disregard, and are widely under-claimed.
Empty and unfurnished property — varies by authority, and increasingly restricted or removed.

Check the band while you're there, too. Bands were set in 1991 and errors exist. Challenging one can go up as well as down, so read the official guidance on how a challenge works before starting one. If you're renting, the end of tenancy checklist covers the evidence you'll want from the same fortnight.

When to do it

Council tax timing

4 weeks beforeTell the old council your moving-out date so the closing bill can be prepared
4 weeks beforeRegister with the new council, or find their move-in form
Moving dayTake and photograph meter readings at both properties
Week afterConfirm the closing bill, then cancel the old direct debit
Month afterChase any refund that hasn't arrived

MovePlan puts this into a dated plan alongside everything else in the move, so the council tax steps land in the right week rather than competing with packing for your attention. It also drafts the letters for the other address changes — bank, insurer, both councils, DVLA (licence and log book), TV Licensing, GP, dentist, optician, electoral roll, payroll and subscriptions — filled in with your own details.

See the full plan

The complete dated checklist and real sample letters, before you spend anything.

See a sample plan