We calculate benefits for housing benefit and Council tax reduction based on how much money you have coming in, your savings, and how many people live with you.
If you are looking for information on other benefits, you can find out what benefits you could be entitled to at gov.uk.
'Income' is any money that you or your partner receive. We also need to see income for other members of your household.
This includes:
You'll need to tell us about any savings or investments that you, your partner or any other members of your household have.
You also need to tell us about any sole or joint bank accounts, in the UK or abroad.
This includes:
Most people aged 18 or over, who normally live in your home are called non-dependants. A non-dependant is expected to pay something towards your housing costs.
If you have a non-dependant living with you, the government tells us if your benefit will be reduced and by how much. This is called a Non-Dependant Deduction.
Your benefit will be reduced even if the people living with you do not contribute to your housing costs.
| Weekly Non-Dependant Deductions | Amount (£) |
|---|---|
| Aged under 25 and on Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance (Income Based) or Employment Support Allowance(Income Related) which does not include an amount for the Support Component or Work-related Activity Component | 0 |
| Aged under 25 and on Universal Credit, without any earned income | 0 |
Aged 25 or over on
|
14.65 |
| In receipt of main phase Employment Support Allowance (Income Related) | 14.65 |
| Aged 18 or over, working 16 hours a week or more: | |
| gross income less than £133.00 | 14.65 |
| gross income not less than £133.00 but less than £194.99 | 33.65 |
| gross income not less than £195.00 but less than £252.99 | 46.20 |
| gross income not less than £253.00 but less than £337.99 | 75.60 |
| gross income not less than £338.00 but less than £419.99 | 86.10 |
| gross income not less than £420.00 | 94.50 |
We won’t take a non-dependant deduction if you or your partner are:
We do not take a non-dependant deduction if the non-dependant:
Housing Benefit for social housing tenancies doesn’t cover some service charges, so we take them off the rent you are charged before we work out your benefit.
We can't pay housing benefit to cover these charges:
If you have more bedrooms than they need, we will apply a percentage restriction on your eligible rent. This size criteria for under-occupancy is widely known as “the bedroom tax” though it is a reduction of benefit rather than a tax.
Normally one bedroom is allowed for each of the following:
You may be entitled to an extra bedroom if you or your partner requires live-in care or are a foster parent.
If your property has 1 bedroom more than required, a deduction of 14% of the eligible rent is made from your Housing Benefit.
If your property has two (or more) bedrooms than required, a deduction of 25% of your eligible rent is made.
No reduction applies if you or your partner have reached State Pension Credit age.
If the amount of housing benefit we award you does not cover your full rent, you may be eligible for a discretionary housing payment (DHP).
If you are a private tenant, housing benefit may not cover the full amount of your rent.
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is used to work out housing benefit for most tenants renting from a private landlord.
Local Housing Allowance rates are based on:
You can work out the LHA rate that applies to you by entering your postcode.
Local Housing Allowance rules do not apply to:
In these cases, we may have to ask the Rent Service to look at whether the rent is too high for the property or the area you live in, or whether the property is too large for your needs.
If the amount of housing benefit we award you does not cover your full rent, you may be eligible for a Discretionary Housing Payment.
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