What is 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.

Housing Benefit is paid by your local authority.

Who can get Housing Benefit ?

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.

There are some people who will be treated as though they are not responsible for paying rent   even though they are paying it, for example, if you are renting from a close relative.

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

If you have two homes or you are temporarily away from home, you may be able to get Housing Benefit, depending on the circumstances.

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.

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.

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.

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. If you have capital of over £6,000 then 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 will you 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 elses 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.

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.