How is benefit worked out?
Housing Benefit is means tested. This means we look at the money you have coming in, your savings and your household circumstances.
To work out how much you could claim, we look at and compare the following:
- The number of people living with you; including your age(s), the size of your family, disabilities and anyone else who lives with you. We need to ask you questions about your household to work out your 'Needs Level' or 'Applicable Amount'
- Your Income - how much money you have coming in; such as wages, benefits and tax credits.
- Any Savings you/your partner have. If you have over £16,000 you usually cannot qualify.
- How much Rent you have to pay, or if you fall under LHA (Local Housing Allowance – see ‘Your rent’ below) rules the amount of rent we can pay up to
- Any other adults living with you (who are not your partner).
Needs Level/Applicable Amount
These levels are set by Central Government and cannot be changed by the Council.
Your needs level depends on:
- Your age
- Whether you are single or have a partner
- How many dependant children you have, and their age.
We may be able to increase your needs level further by adding ‘premiums’ that allow for certain personal circumstances, such as disability, lone parents, and carers.
Other adults that live with you
If there are other adults living with you, who are not your partner, we may take a deduction from your benefit to allow for them. This depends on their age and the money they have coming in. This is often referred to as a ‘Non dependant deduction’.
Income
If you are on Jobseekers Allowance (Income Based), Employment Support Allowance (Income Related), Income Support or Guaranteed Pension Credits we usually don’t need to ask you for any other income information. This is because the Department of Work and Pensions have already worked out that you are below your needs level.
If you receive any of these benefits, or your income falls below your needs level we will be able to help you with all of your eligible rent. This means we can pay up to the amount you are charged or the appropriate LHA amount. (See Your Rent section for more information)
If you don’t receive any of these benefits, don’t worry – you can still qualify!
We will look at the money you and your family have coming in, including:
- Wages
- Self Employed earnings (for more information, please see our "Self Employed Fact Sheet" available in Related Downloads).
- Tax Credits
- Other Social Security benefits
- Pensions
We ignore certain parts or your income, such as Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Maintenance (if you have children) or Child Benefit, but you must still tell us about them.
Savings
If you have over £16,000, we usually cannot help you unless you currently receive Guaranteed Pension Credits.
We have to treat any savings you have under £16,000 differently depending on your age.
If you are under the age of 60, we will ignore the first £6,000 of your savings. For every £250 over this, we take £1 per week as income. This is often referred to as ‘Tariff income’.
If you are 60+, we will ignore the first £10,000 of your savings. For every £500 over this, we take £1 per week as income.
Your Rent
We can only pay up to a certain amount of rent. This is what is known as your ‘eligible rent’. This can depend on who you rent from.
Renting from a Housing Association?
If you rent from a Housing Association, we can usually pay up to the full amount of rent charged, apart from certain service charges that may apply (such as water rates).
Usually we cannot pay service charges, but there are a few that we can help with such as communal gardening and cleaning of common areas.
If you have any service charges added to your rent, contact us to see if Housing Benefit can help.
Renting from a Private Landlord?
We work benefit out differently if you rent from a private landlord, but you can still claim. If you live in privately rented accommodation, your benefit will be worked out using Local Housing Allowance (LHA). This is based on the number of bedrooms needed by your household.
One bedroom is allowed (to the maximum of 4) for each of the following:
- Every adult*/couple
- Any other adult aged 16+ (unless part of a couple)
- Any 2 children of the same sex up to the age of 15
- Any 2 children regardless of sex under 10
- An overnight carer. This applies if you/your partner are disabled, and one/both of you need and receive regular overnight care from someone who doesn't live with you but has sole use of a bedroom in your home.
LHA amounts can differ month to month, but once your rate is applied this will not change unless your circumstances do or 52 weeks have elapsed.
LHA rates are set by The Rent Service, regardless of the amount of rent you are charged. The Council can only pay up to the appropriate LHA amount.
* Please note, if you are single and under 35 years old your rent may be restricted. Contact us for more details or see the Department of Works and Pensions leaflet entitled DWP – Shared Accommodation Rate in 'Downloads'.
What Information do you need from me?
This can depend on your income, whether you are claiming any other benefits and if you are renting from a private landlord.
We will tell you if you need to provide any information. If you have submitted a claim online, we will provide you with a checklist of the information we need you to provide. If you need to provide anything, see 'Downloads' for our Acceptable documents factsheet.
How do I know how much I am getting?
When we make a decision on your claim we will send you a decision notice.
This will tell you:
- How much weekly benefit you have been awarded
- The date this will start
- When your first payment will be
- How and to who this will be paid
- A brief summary of the income used to work out your benefit
If any of the information on this letter is wrong, you must tell us. (See 'Downloads' to find out how to read benefit decision notices)
How is benefit paid?
Housing benefit is paid 4 weekly in arrears. Benefit can be paid direct into a bank account or by crossed cheque. Remember, if you are paid by cheque this can take longer to clear. If you are finding it difficult to open a bank account, contact us for advice.
Unfortunately we cannot pay into Post Office accounts.
In certain circumstances we can pay benefit to your landlord. Requests to do so should be made in writing, telling us why you would otherwise be unable to accept payments to yourself. Contact us for more information.
