Housing Benefit can help you pay your rent if you’re unemployed, on a low income or claiming benefits. It’s being replaced by Universal Credit.
You can apply for Housing Benefit whether you’re unemployed or working, and whether you rent from the private sector, a housing association or our council housing.
How much you could receive
There’s no set amount of Housing Benefit. What you receive will be affected by:
- if you are a private tenant and are restricted by the Local Housing Allowance
- if you rent from us, as following the under-occupancy rule or 'bedroom tax', you will receive less support if you have empty bedrooms in your house or flat
Receiving payment
You should claim as soon as you can. We can usually pay Housing Benefit from the Monday after the day we receive your claim form. We can only backdate your benefit for up to one month from when you make your claim.
If you live in our council housing, we’ll pay Housing Benefit directly into your rent account. You won't receive the money yourself.
If you’re a private tenant, we’ll usually pay Housing Benefit into your bank or building society account, although we may decide that it’s in your best interests to pay your Housing Benefit directly to your landlord.
Applying for Housing Benefit if you’re claiming other benefits
If you’re claiming Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance, contact Jobcentre Plus to claim Housing Benefit too. Jobcentre Plus will send us details of your claim for Housing Benefit.
If you’re claiming Universal Credit, you can get help paying for housing with your Universal Credit payment instead of getting Housing Benefit.
If you’re claiming Pension Credit, contact the Pension Service to claim Housing Benefit with your claim for Pension Credit. The Pension Service will send us details of your claim for Housing Benefit.
Apply for Housing Benefit if you’re not claiming other benefits
If you’re not claiming other benefits, you can apply online for Housing Benefit.
Once you've applied, we’ll let you know what information we need from you to support your claim. This may include information like your National Insurance Number, your birth certificate or driving licence, and evidence that you pay the rent, like your rent book or tenancy agreement.
You should provide this information as soon as you can so we can deal with your claim as quickly as possible. When you provide evidence please bear the following in mind:
- we can only accept original documents as proof, meaning we can't accept photocopies
- you can bring the documents we need to First Point or any Area Housing Office
- if you supply the proofs in person we’ll photocopy them and give you the originals back, together with a receipt
- you should ask to see the photocopies we've made and make sure you’re satisfied that they're clear and legible
- if we need more evidence, we’ll write to you as soon as possible to let you know