People in residential care or hospital

If you have a property of your own, you may have to leave it unoccupied because you are in hospital, hospice or residential care.

If you do not expect to return home, it may be exempt from council tax. This means you don't have to pay council tax for your property.

It doesn't matter if you leave furniture in the property.

You need to have a MyGuildford account to apply for this exemption online. If you do not have a MyGuildford account you can set one up.

Register or sign into your MyGuildford account (opens new window)

If you have not yet registered to access your council tax account online, there are more steps. You can then link your online council tax account to your MyGuildford.

To complete this step you will need the following information:

• your council tax reference number - found on your latest bill
• your name exactly as it appears on your council tax bill
• your property postcode
• if you have applied for Local Council Tax Support or have been named on a council tax support application, you will also need to provide your national insurance number. This provides an additional level of security

Once you have linked your council tax account, you can go into the 'account summary' screen. You will see a list of 'quick links' on the right-hand side. You need to select the 'apply for or cancel an exemption' link.

You need to supply the following information:

• the date you went into hospital
• the name and address of the nursing or care home, or hospital or hospice