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This week in the city

• Riverside Library closed Sunday 6 September for boiler works; opening hours
• Zone C parking bay suspension on Quay Street 8–10 September; parking permits
• Planning notice: 22 Harbour Lane, four new flats; all notices

Home energy rebate

The home energy rebate returns part of the cost of insulation, heat pumps, and double glazing for owner-occupied properties within the city boundary.

Eligibility

You must own and live in the property, and the property must be your registered primary residence for at least six months of the year. Landlords apply through the separate Landlord Efficiency Scheme.

Household income must be below the annual threshold, currently 62,000 per year for a two-adult household, adjusted upward by 8,000 for each dependent child.

Eligibility after moving address

If you move within the city, your rebate entitlement transfers to your new property provided you update your address on file within 30 days of the move. The six-month residency clock restarts at the new address, so a claim submitted before six months have elapsed will be held rather than rejected.

If you move out of the city boundary, entitlement ends on the date of the move and any pending claim is closed. A partial rebate may still be paid for work completed before that date.

What you will need

• Proof of ownership, such as a title deed or mortgage statement
• Two forms of address confirmation dated within the last three months
• Contractor quotes for the proposed work
• Your most recent household income assessment

How the rebate is paid

Approved rebates are paid by bank transfer within 28 days of the final inspection. Payment is made to the account named on the application and cannot be redirected after approval.

Apply for the home energy rebate

Applications for the 2026 round close on 30 September. You can save and return at any time.

Waste and recycling

Collection schedule

General waste is collected weekly. Recycling is collected fortnightly on the alternate week. Bulk waste collection is scheduled every second Tuesday and must be booked at least four working days in advance.

Changing your collection after a move

Collection days are assigned by street, not by household, so a move to a different street usually changes your collection day. Update your address on file and the new schedule appears within two working days.

Missed collections

Report a missed collection within 48 hours. Crews return within two working days. Repeat misses on the same address are escalated to the depot supervisor automatically after the third report in a quarter.

Parking permits

Renewal

Resident parking permits renew annually on the first of April. Renewal notices are sent by post six weeks in advance and by email if you have opted in.

Permits and address changes

A permit is tied to a specific parking zone. Moving to an address in a different zone requires a new permit rather than a transfer, and the unused portion of the old permit is refunded pro rata.

Open parking permits; zones, prices, and renewal

Council tax

How your band is decided

Every domestic property is placed in one of eight valuation bands, A through H, based on an assessed capital value. Bands are set nationally by the Valuation Office and the city cannot alter them. Improvements you make to a property do not trigger a re-band until the property is next sold.

Discounts and exemptions

A single occupant discount of 25 percent applies where only one adult lives at the property. Full-time students, apprentices on approved schemes, and people in long-term residential care are disregarded when counting adults, which can bring a two-adult household down to the single occupant rate.

Properties left empty and substantially unfurnished are exempt for the first three months. After twelve months an empty homes premium is added, rising the longer the property stands unoccupied.

Moving home and council tax

Tell us within 21 days of moving. We close the account at the old address on the day the tenancy or ownership ends, and open a new account from the day your liability begins. Overlapping liability at two addresses is possible during a purchase chain, and a discretionary reduction may be applied where the overlap exceeds one month.

Paying

The annual charge is normally spread over ten monthly instalments from April to January. You may request twelve instalments instead, which reduces each payment but extends collection to March. Direct debit is available on the first, tenth, or twentieth of the month.

Housing and tenancy

Joining the housing register

Applications are assessed against a banding scheme that weighs current housing conditions, medical need, and local connection. A local connection normally means five years continuous residence, employment within the boundary, or close family who have lived here for five years.

Repairs and response times

Emergency repairs, meaning anything that presents an immediate risk to health, safety, or the structure of the building, are attended within four hours. Urgent repairs such as a total loss of hot water are completed within three working days. Routine repairs are scheduled within twenty working days.

Mutual exchange

Tenants may swap homes with another social tenant subject to consent. Consent can be refused where either property would become substantially overcrowded or under-occupied, or where possession proceedings are underway.

Ending a tenancy

Give four weeks written notice ending on a Sunday. The property must be cleared, cleaned, and all keys returned by noon on the final day. Charges are raised for removal of belongings left behind.

Licensing and permits

Pavement licences

A pavement licence allows tables and chairs on the highway outside a premises. Applications require a plan showing a clear pedestrian route of at least one and a half metres, public liability insurance of five million, and consultation with adjoining occupiers over a fourteen day period.

Skip permits

A skip placed on the highway needs a permit issued to the skip operator, not the householder. Permits run for fourteen days and require reflective markings and night-time lamps. Skips are not permitted on bus routes between seven and nine thirty in the morning.

Street trading

Consent is required for any sale of goods in a street or public place. Consent is site-specific and is not transferable between pitches. A limited number of pitches operates a rotation, allocated annually by ballot in February.

Event notifications

Events expecting more than five hundred attendees must notify the safety advisory group at least twelve weeks in advance. Road closures require a separate order with a minimum of eight weeks notice and formal advertisement.

School admissions

Applying for a place

Apply in the round for the year your child starts. Late applications are considered only after all on-time applications have been allocated, which in practice means the closest schools are usually full.

Oversubscription criteria

Where a school receives more applications than places, priority runs in order: children in care, children with a sibling already attending, children living within the designated catchment measured by walking route, and then remaining applicants by straight-line distance.

Moving during the school year

An in-year transfer is available at any point. A change of address does not by itself guarantee a place at a nearer school, and where the current school remains within statutory walking distance transport assistance is not provided.

Appeals

Appeals are heard by an independent panel. You must lodge an appeal within twenty school days of a refusal. The panel may only uphold an appeal where admitting the child would not cause prejudice to efficient education, or where the admission arrangements were incorrectly applied.

Recycling centre map and usage

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Other CityDesk pages: parking permits, libraries, city notices.

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