The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 and the Local Government (Household Charge) Regulations 2012 provide the legislative basis for the household charge.
The Act provides at section 9(1) for application to be made to the relevant local authority for a certificate of exemption from the charge in respect of a property to which the exemptions contained in subsections 4(1), 4(2) and 4(3) apply. These are:
Residential property owned by certain charities or discretionary trusts,
Residential property which an owner has vacated due to long-term mental or physical infirmity; and
Residential property the sole owner of which has died and where the personal representative of that person is not liable under the Act for the charge.