Non-Dependants

"People who live with you but are not dependant on you"

What is a Non-Dependant?

This is a person living with you or your partner, who does not pay rent on a commercial basis but receives meals and other services and shares most of your accommodation.

Examples of non-dependants include grown-up children, elderly parents or other adult relatives or friends.

If you have a non-dependant living with you, it can affect the amount of Council Tax to pay or Housing Benefit that you would otherwise be entitled to. This is because the Government's benefit schemes assume that, in most cases, a non-dependant will make a contribution towards household costs.

The way it works is that deductions, based on the gross income of each non-dependant, are made from your weekly benefit entitlements. Where the Council has no knowledge of a non-dependant's gross income the maximum deduction will be used.

Who Does Not Count as a Non-Dependant?

The following people do not count as non-dependants:-

  1. The benefit claimant and partner.

  2. A child/foster child of the claimant/partner in full-time education if under the age of 19.

  3. A child/foster child of the claimant/partner not in full-time education but under 18.

  4. Someone of equal status to the claimant/partner i.e. co-owner or co-tenant.

  5. A person living with the claimant in order to provide care to the claimant or partner if employed by a charitable or voluntary body which charges for the service provided.

  6. A tenant, sub-tenant, boarder or lodger of the claimant or partner who is sharing the home on a commercial basis.

Do Non-Dependant Deductions Always Apply?

No. There will be no non-dependant deductions if the claimant or partner is :-

  1. Registered blind or treated as blind.

  2. Receiving Attendance Allowance or the care component of Disability Living Allowance.

How Much is Deducted Each Week?

The amount of the deduction is based on the non-dependant's age, gross income and whether or not they are in paid employment for at least 16 hours per week on average.

A deduction applies for each non-dependant unless any of them are married to each other or living together as husband and wife in which case the couple attract only one deduction

back to top