Help with your rent – Housing Benefit

Housing Benefit is a benefit for people on a low income to help them pay their rent. You may be able to get Housing Benefit if you are on other benefits, work part-time or work full-time on a low income. You cannot get Housing Benefit to help with the costs of a mortgage or home loan. If you are an owner-occupier, you may be able to get help with your mortgage interest through Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Pension Credit.

Housing Benefit does not help with the Council Tax, but if you are on a low income you may be able to get Council Tax Benefit to help pay your Council Tax.

Who can get Housing Benefit

You pay rent for the home you live in

To get Housing Benefit you must pay rent. It does not matter if your landlord is the council, a registered social landlord or a private landlord. You can also claim Housing Benefit if you rent a room in a hostel, or are a boarder. You can claim it if you share a flat or a house and can get Housing Benefit as a joint tenant or a sub-tenant. You cannot get Housing Benefit if you rent your home from the Crown, or you are 16 or 17 and have been in care.

You can only get Housing Benefit if you are responsible for paying the rent for your home, or live with your partner who is responsible for the rent. Only one member of a couple who live together can claim Housing Benefit. You must also live in the accommodation for which you are claiming Housing Benefit.

Students may be able to claim Housing Benefit, but special rules apply to you if you are a student.

If you live in a residential care home or a nursing home you cannot usually claim Housing Benefit. You may be able to get help with care home fees. If you are living in a care home and you need financial help, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

You are resident in the UK

You must be living in the UK to claim Housing Benefit. If you are from overseas or have recently come to live in the UK you may have difficulty claiming the benefit, depending on your immigration status.

If you are not sure about your right to claim benefit, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

If you have been in care

If you are aged 16 or 17 and you have been in local authority care, you are not able to get Housing Benefit. The local authority will have a duty to accommodate and support you.

If you are a young person who has left care, or are about to leave care, and you want to know what support you can expect with your accommodation, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

You are a Crown tenant

If you are a Crown tenant you may be able to get help with your rent from Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) or Pension Credit.

Your income and capital

To get Housing Benefit, you must have income and capital below a certain level. However, if you're getting certain benefits, different rules apply – see below. Capital means savings, land, property or anything else which could provide you with income. If you have more than £16,000 in capital, you will not get any Housing Benefit, unless you are getting the guarantee part of Pension Credit. If you have capital of over £6,000, you will be assumed to have some income from that capital.

If you are getting Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, you will automatically be within the income and capital limits for Housing Benefit and you will qualify for the maximum amount. If you are on Pension Credit and you get the guarantee credit (whether on its own or with the savings credit), you will also automatically get the maximum amount of Housing Benefit. If you get the savings credit only, you may qualify for Housing Benefit but it will depend on your income and savings. The local authority will use the Pension Service figures for income and savings to assess whether you can get Housing Benefit.

When you will be treated as not paying rent

In some situations, the local authority may treat you as if you are not responsible for paying the rent, even though you have to pay it and you will not get Housing Benefit. This will be the case if you have a rental agreement the local authority thinks is ‘non-commercial’, for example, because it is not legally enforceable.

You may be excluded from Housing Benefit by this rule if you pay rent to a close relative who lives in the home, or to a former partner for the home where you used to live together. It can apply if you pay rent to a company or trust that you have some connection with. It can also apply if you (or your partner) used to own the home and your ownership ended within the last five years. It can apply if you live in your home as a condition of your employment or your partner’s employment, or if you live there because you are a member of a religious order which provides you with your living costs.

The local authority may also apply this rule if they think the rental arrangement has been set up only to get Housing Benefit (this is called ‘taking advantage of the Housing Benefit scheme’). The local authority may say your arrangement ‘takes advantage’ if you are an adult living in someone else’s home and you start to pay them rent.

If the local authority say that you cannot get Housing Benefit because you are not responsible for the rent, or you think this might apply to you, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

If you are a student

If you are a student in full-time higher education (degree level or equivalent), you cannot usually claim Housing Benefit. However, you can claim it if you are studying part-time. If you are under 19 and on a course below degree level, you can also claim Housing Benefit (unless you have recently left care).

You can also claim Housing Benefit if you get Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, you are a single parent or you are disabled, regardless of whether you are studying full-time, or what level of education you are in. You can also claim if you are a member of a couple, you are both full-time students and you have dependent children. If you are a full-time student but your partner is not, check if your partner could make the Housing Benefit claim instead of you.

(Example box starts)

I am deaf and am studying full-time at college. Can I get help to pay my rent?

Yes, as a disabled student, you can get Housing Benefit as long as your income is below a certain level and you don't have more than £16,000 of savings. You can also get other financial help if you’re a disabled student. In England and Wales, you can get more information from the Directgov website at www.directgov.gov.uk in a number of different formats. For example, you can download films in British Sign Language about some disability benefits. In Scotland, see the website of the Student Awards Agency at www.saas.gov.uk.

(Example box ends)

The rules about which students can claim housing benefit are complicated. There are also rules about how student grants, loans and other financial support are treated when your income is being calculated.

Some full-time students who cannot get Housing Benefit and need financial help may be able to apply for money from discretionary funds at their place of study.

If you are a student and you want to check if you can get Housing Benefit, or you want to check how much you will get, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

How much Housing Benefit can you get

How much Housing Benefit you can get depends on how much rent you pay, what income you have coming in and where you live.

Housing Benefit may not cover all of your rent or the housing costs which are included in your rent. Costs it can cover include the actual rent you pay for your accommodation and charges for certain services, such as a caretaker.

Housing Benefit will not cover some costs and services which could be included in your rent, for example, water charges, charges for heating, hot water, lighting or cooking, and payments for food or fuel.

If you are not sure what costs are included with your rent, or you want to check what housing benefit will cover, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

If you're on benefits

If you are on Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or the guarantee credit of Pension Credit (whether you get it on its own or with the savings credit), Housing Benefit will cover all of your eligible rent. But you need to remember that not all of your rent or housing costs may be covered.

Also, the Housing Benefit you can get may be reduced if another person lives with you who could be expected to pay towards their accommodation, even if they do not.

If you're not on benefits

If you are not getting Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or the guarantee credit of Pension Credit, Housing Benefit may cover all or part of your rent. The amount of Housing Benefit you get will depend on your income and capital (if you get the savings credit of Pension Credit, the local authority will use the same figures as the Pension Service to calculate your Housing Benefit). The income you can have before it reduces your Housing Benefit depends on your circumstances, for example, your age, whether you have a partner or children, or whether you are disabled or care for a disabled person.

The Housing Benefit you can get may be reduced if another person lives with you who could be expected to pay towards their accommodation, even if they do not.

To find out more about how Housing Benefit is calculated, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Restrictions on how much rent Housing Benefit will cover

If you pay rent to a private landlord, the rent your Housing Benefit can cover will normally be restricted to an amount set by a rent officer. If you pay rent to a local authority, your Housing Benefit will not be restricted in this way. If you pay rent to a registered social landlord, such as a housing association, your Housing Benefit will not normally be restricted in this way, unless the local authority thinks your accommodation is larger than you need, or your rent is unreasonably high.

You applied for Housing Benefit or moved on or after 7 April 2008

If you're the tenant of a private landlord, when you make a new claim for Housing Benefit your local authority will normally calculate how much rent your Housing Benefit can cover using the Local Housing Allowance rules. Local Housing Allowance rules will also normally apply if you move address, even if this is within the same local authority's area.

Under the Local Housing Allowance rules, when the local authority calculate how much Housing Benefit to pay you, they will not usually look at the actual rent you pay. Instead, they will use a standard Local Housing Allowance figure which has been calculated by a rent officer. The figure used will be the one which is based on the area you live in and the number of rooms the Housing Benefit rules say are needed for your household. This may not be the same number of rooms you are actually living in.

In some cases, it's possible for your Housing Benefit entitlement to be more than your rent, although you can only be paid up to £15 a week more.

However, you will often find the amount of Housing Benefit you are entitled to won't cover all your rent. If this is the case, you may have to make up the difference out of any other income you have, or find cheaper accommodation. You may be able to get further help with housing costs.

It's very difficult to challenge a rent officer's decision about Local Housing Allowance. If you want to do this, you will need to get specialist legal help.

If you're thinking of moving into private rented accommodation, or of moving into another area, you can find out how much rent Housing Benefit will cover where you want to live. You can ask the local authority's Housing Benefit office to tell you which Local Housing Allowance Figure will be used to calculate your Housing Benefit.

You applied for Housing Benefit before 7 April 2008

If you're the tenant of a private landlord and you applied for Housing Benefit before 7 April 2008, there are different rules about how Housing Benefit decisions are made. However, this may still mean that not all your rent is covered. How much of your rent Housing Benefit can cover is decided by a rent officer. Instead of using the Local Housing Allowance rules, they look at the rent you pay and decide whether it is reasonable for Housing Benefit to cover all the rent. This depends on a number of things, including how much your rent is compared with other similar properties in the area and whether the accommodation is the right size for your needs. If you're under 25 and single with no children, the rent officer compares your rent with the market rent for a single room with shared facilities. The local authority works out how much Housing Benefit you're entitled to based on the rent officer's decision.

If the amount of Housing Benefit you are entitled to doesn't cover all your rent, you may have to make up the difference out of any other income you have, or find cheaper accommodation. You may be able to get further help with housing costs.

If you applied for Housing Benefit before 7 April 2008, you can challenge a rent officer’s decision if you think it's wrong, for example, if there is no cheaper accommodation in the area. You can't appeal directly to the rent officer, but you can ask the local authority to ask the rent office to review their decision.

If you want to challenge a rent officer's decision, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

You can find more information about how rent officers make their decisions at: www.therentservice.gov.uk. Some information is also available in different languages as well as on audio cassette and Braille.

Discrimination and how much rent your Housing Benefit will cover

The amount of rent your Housing Benefit will cover should not depend on your race, sex, age, disability, sexuality, religion or belief. If any of these things have been used to make a decision about your Housing Benefit, this is discrimination.

If you think you have been discriminated against, you can make a complaint. If you want to make a complaint about discrimination, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Other Housing Benefit restrictions

Adults who live in someone else’s home

An adult who lives in your home and who is not a tenant or boarder, other than your partner, is called a non-dependant. For example, you might have a friend, parent, grown-up son or daughter or another relative living with you. If you have a non-dependant living in your home, an amount will usually be deducted from your Housing Benefit on the assumption that they could give you some money towards the costs of accommodation, even if they do not do so. The amount of the deduction depends on their circumstances.

If you were living with someone as a non-dependant, and then you enter into an agreement to pay rent while they are still living there, you may not be able to get Housing Benefit towards that rent, unless you can show that the arrangement was not set up in order to get Housing Benefit.

If you have a non-dependant living in your home, or you are a former non-dependant and you want to claim Housing Benefit, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

If you have to pay rent on two homes at the same time

You can usually only get Housing Benefit for one home at a time. However, if you have to pay rent for two homes, you may be able to get Housing Benefit for both homes for a limited period. This might apply, for example, if you move home quickly and have to pay rent on your old home, if a new home is being adapted for a disabled person, or if you have to leave home because of domestic violence. The rules about when Housing Benefit can be paid for two homes are complicated.

If you need to claim Housing Benefit for more than one home at the same time, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

If you are away from home

If you are temporarily away from home and still have to pay rent, you may be able to carry on getting Housing Benefit. This might apply, for example, if you are in hospital or if you are away from home because of a fear of violence. You can only get Housing Benefit for up to a set number of weeks while you are not living at home.

If you need to claim Housing Benefit while you are temporarily away from home, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Further help with housing costs

If your Housing Benefit does not cover all of your rent and you need more help, as long as you are entitled to some Housing Benefit (or Council Tax Benefit) you can ask the local authority for a discretionary housing payment. This is an extra payment (not Housing Benefit) which you can get if you need further financial assistance with your housing costs. It is up to the local authority whether to give you this help, so you should give them as much information as possible.

If you want more information about discretionary housing payments, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Minimum payments

The minimum amount of Housing Benefit which can be paid each week is 50p. If after your benefit is calculated, you are entitled to less than 50p a week, you will not get any Housing Benefit.

How to claim Housing Benefit

Making a written claim if you're claiming Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

When you claim Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance at the local Jobcentre Plus, you are given a claim form for Housing Benefit at the same time.

You will need to check with the Housing Benefit Department of your local authority whether or not they will accept this form. A local authority may only accept Housing Benefit claims made on their own form. If this is the case with your local authority, you will need to get a claim form from them, fill it in and send it back as soon as possible. This could lead to a quicker decision on your claim.

If you are already getting Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance and you start paying rent, you can ask for a Housing Benefit claim form at the Jobcentre Plus and contact the local authority for a copy of their Housing Benefit claim form.

Rapid reclaims

You may be able to complete a shortened Housing Benefit claim form, also known as a 'rapid reclaim'. To fill in a 'rapid reclaim', you must have previously made a claim for one of the following benefits in the last twelve weeks:

You must also be reclaiming one of these benefits, as well as Housing Benefit, and your circumstances must have stayed the same.

Making a written claim if you're claiming Pension Credit

If you make a claim for Pension Credit, you can ask to be given a Housing Benefit claim form at the same time and also get a form from the local authority. Alternatively you can just claim directly from the local authority.

If you are on Pension Credit and you start to pay rent, you should get a claim form from the local authority.

If you are aged 60 or over, you claim Pension Credit and you already get Housing Benefit, the Pension Service will pass your details on to your local authority so that they can use the figures about your income and capital to recalculate your Housing Benefit.

Making a written claim if you aren't claiming Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Pension Credit

If you are not entitled to one of these benefits, you should claim Housing Benefit direct from your local authority Housing Benefit office.

You should answer all the questions on the claim form which apply to you, including details of your personal circumstances, your income and your savings. You should keep a copy of the claim form.

Telephone claims

You can claim Housing Benefit by telephone if your local authority has published a phone number for making telephone claims. If you claim Pension Credit by telephone from the Pension Service, you can claim Housing Benefit at the same time. Once you've claimed Housing Benefit by telephone, your local authority may require you to approve a written statement of your circumstances.

Electronic claims

You may be able to make a claim for Housing Benefit by email or on the internet. It's up to your local authority to decide whether to allow electronic claims. They can also decide some of the conditions you'll have to meet to make an electronic claim.

If you want more information about making an electronic claim for Housing Benefit, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Information to support your claim

When you apply for Housing Benefit, you will have to provide your national insurance (NI) number. If you don’t know your national insurance number, but you think you have one, try to provide information that will help the office find your number. If you do not have a national insurance number, you will have to apply for one. To show that your number belongs to you, or to apply for a number, you will also have to provide evidence of your identity, for example, a birth certificate.

If you are not on Income Support, income based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Pension Credit, you will have to provide evidence of your income and capital, for example, a savings book or wage slips. You will also have to show that you are responsible for the rent, for example, by providing a tenancy agreement.

If you have problems applying for a national insurance number or proving your identity, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Getting Housing Benefit backdated

You may be able to get some Housing Benefit for a period before you make your claim if you could have claimed earlier. Getting benefit for a period before you claim is called ‘backdating’. You can get backdated Housing Benefit for up to 52 weeks if you can show you have a good reason for not claiming earlier, for example, you were given wrong advice. You also have to show that you were entitled to Housing Benefit throughout the period of backdating – that you were paying rent, and your income was low enough. You will not usually get any backdated benefit just because you did not know that you could make a claim. You should explain on your claim form that you want to claim benefit from an earlier date, and give your reasons for failing to claim earlier.

If you want to claim backdated Housing Benefit, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Checks on Housing Benefit, change of circumstances and fraud

You may commit benefit fraud if you deliberately give incorrect or misleading information when you apply for Housing Benefit, or fail to report a change of circumstances. Even if you are not committing fraud, you can cause an overpayment which will have to be repaid. Your circumstances can be checked at any time while you are claiming and fraud officers can also get information about you from other government agencies and from your employer, bank or utility companies. Benefit fraud is a criminal offence and you can be prosecuted or asked to pay a penalty. Your benefit may be reduced if you are convicted more than once.

If you are worried about whether you might be suspected of fraud, you are under investigation or you have been convicted, or if you have been asked to repay an overpayment of benefit, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens’ Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

How is Housing Benefit paid

If you are a local authority tenant, you will not get your Housing Benefit paid to you directly. Instead it will be taken off your rent so that you either pay no rent or a reduced rent (also known as a rent rebate).

If you are a private or housing association tenant and you don't come under the Local Housing Allowance rules, you may get Housing Benefit paid directly to you or to your landlord, depending on your circumstances.

If you come under the Local Housing Allowance Rules, your local authority will normally pay Housing Benefit to you, rather than to your landlord. You will not be able to choose to have it paid direct to your landlord. However, there will still be some circumstances where your local authority can decide to pay Benefit direct to your landlord instead of you, for example, if you're unlikely to pay the rent or have difficulty managing money.

If Housing Benefit is paid directly to you, this will be by cheque, giro cheque cashable at the Post Office, or straight into your bank or building society account.

Housing benefit is usually paid in arrears. This means that it is paid after your rent is due. It can be paid weekly, fortnightly, every four weeks or every month, depending on how frequently you pay your rent. You have a right to be paid fortnightly if your housing benefit is £2 a week or more and it is not being paid to the landlord.

If you have problems with the way your housing benefit is paid, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

How long is Housing Benefit paid for

Generally, once you start getting Housing Benefit payment can continue indefinitely. Housing benefit only has to stop if you are no longer entitled to it.

However, in some circumstances, you have to make a new claim to continue getting benefit. For example, if you move to a different local authority area, you will have to make a new claim to that local authority housing benefit department. Otherwise, you should remember to report all changes of circumstances which might alter the amount of Housing Benefit you get, for example, changes in income or capital, or changes in the number of people who live with you. If you do not report these changes, you may be underpaid, or you may cause an overpayment which you will have to pay back later.

If you are on low income benefits

Housing benefit can continue to be paid indefinitely while you are on Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance. You should report any relevant changes of circumstances which could affect your entitlement to Housing Benefit or the amount you get, for example, if your partner leaves, you have a new child, or you move address within the same local authority. If you do not report relevant changes, you may be underpaid, or you may cause an overpayment which you will have to pay back.

However, if you stop getting one of these benefits because you (or your partner) get a job or your hours or wages increase, you may be entitled to carry on getting Housing Benefit at the same rate for a further four weeks. This is called an extended payment.

If your circumstances change

You should tell the local authority about any changes of circumstances which could affect your benefit, for example, a change in the people who live with you, or a change in your income or capital. If you move, you must report your new address and give information about the tenancy. If you move to a new local authority, you will have to make a new claim.

If you get Pension Credit, you can report some changes in circumstances to the Pension Service, who will pass the information on to the local authority. This is because your Housing Benefit is based on the Pension Service figures for your income and capital. However, there are some changes which you must report directly to the local authority. These are changes to your tenancy, changes to the people who live with you, longer absences from home (if more than 13 weeks), changes involving children, changes to capital over £16,000, and any changes to income and capital of a partner who is not included in your Pension Credit claim.

If you are not sure whether to report a change, you should do so anyway. If you do not report a change, you may be paid less than you are entitled to, or be overpaid, or you may even be investigated for fraud.

If you want more information about what changes to report, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Problems with Housing Benefit

If you are refused Housing Benefit and you think the decision is wrong, or you think the amount of Housing Benefit has been worked out wrongly, you can ask for the decision to be looked at again, or you can appeal. You should do this within one month of the decision about your housing benefit.

If you are not happy with the service you have received from the Housing Benefit department (for example, because of long delays or errors which are not sorted out), you can complain. You can do this whether or not you are also challenging a Housing Benefit decision.

Discrimination

It's against the law for you to be treated unfairly because of your race, sex, disability, sexuality, religion or belief when the local authority decides about your claim for Housing Benefit. Also, most local authorities have a policy which says they will not discriminate against you because of other things, like whether you have HIV or caring responsibilities. If you feel that you've been discriminated against, you can check what the policy of your council says and make a complaint.

If you are not happy with a Housing Benefit decision or you want to make a complaint, you can also consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Benefits - In England