Housing Benefit can help you pay your rent if you are unemployed, on a low income or claiming benefits. It is being replaced by Universal Credit, so most people now need to claim Universal Credit instead. This guide explains who can still make a new claim, how Housing Benefit is worked out and how to challenge a decision.
Key points
✓You can only make a new claim for Housing Benefit if you have reached State Pension age or you are in supported, sheltered or temporary housing. Most people claim Universal Credit instead.
✓If you live with your partner, you can usually only claim as a pensioner couple if you have both reached State Pension age.
✓If you rent privately, your eligible rent is your Local Housing Allowance rate or your actual rent, whichever is lower.
✓Bedroom tax: 14% cut for one spare room, 25% for two or more
✓You can challenge a decision by asking the council to review it or by appealing at a tribunal. An appeal must normally be made within one month of the date the decision notice was sent.
Who can still claim Housing Benefit?
You can only make a new claim for Housing Benefit if either of the following apply: you have reached State Pension age, or you are in supported, sheltered or temporary housing. Otherwise you will need to claim Universal Credit instead.
✓Yes: You have reached State Pension age and you are single.
✓Yes: You and your partner have both reached State Pension age.
✓Yes: One of you has reached State Pension age and started claiming Pension Credit (for you as a couple) before 15 May 2019.
✓Yes: You live in temporary accommodation, such as a B&B arranged by your council.
✓Yes: You live in a refuge for survivors of domestic abuse.
✓Yes: You live in sheltered or supported housing (such as a hostel) which provides you with care, support or supervision.
✓Yes: Your existing claim is not affected if, before 15 May 2019, you were getting Housing Benefit and had reached State Pension age. It does not matter if your partner is under State Pension age.
Usually, you will not get Housing Benefit if:
✗No: Your savings are over £16,000, unless you get Guarantee Credit of Pension Credit.
✗No: You are paying a mortgage on your own home (you may be able to get Support for Mortgage Interest).
✗No: You live in the home of a close relative.
✗No: You are already claiming Universal Credit, unless you are in temporary or supported housing.
✗No: You live with your partner and they are already claiming Housing Benefit.
✗No: You are a full-time student.
✗No: You are residing in the UK as a European Economic Area (EEA) jobseeker, or you are an asylum seeker or sponsored to be in the UK.
✗No: You are subject to immigration control and your granted leave states that you cannot claim public funds.
✗No: You are a Crown Tenant.
✗No: You have reached State Pension age but your live-in partner has not, unless you had an existing claim as a couple before 15 May 2019.
You can apply through your local council, or as part of a Pension Credit claim if you are eligible for Pension Credit. You can claim in advance by up to 13 weeks (or 17 weeks if you are aged 60 or over), for example if you are moving.
Housing Benefit is being replaced by Universal Credit. If you already get Housing Benefit you do not need to do anything unless your circumstances change or you get a letter called a Migration Notice telling you that you must claim Universal Credit. The deadline day in a Migration Notice must not be within the three months beginning with the day the notice is issued, and you must move to Universal Credit by the deadline date in your letter to keep getting financial support.
How much Housing Benefit can I get?
You may get help with all or part of your rent. There is no set amount of Housing Benefit, and what you get depends on whether you rent privately or from a council.
✓Yes: If you live in council or social housing, how much you get depends on your eligible rent, whether you have a spare room, your household income including benefits, pensions and savings (over £6,000), and your circumstances, for example the age of people in the house or if someone has a disability.
✓Yes: Your eligible rent is your actual rent plus any service charges you have to pay (such as for lift maintenance or a communal laundry), but not things like heating or water costs for your home.
✓Yes: If you rent privately, your eligible rent is either your Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate or your actual rent, whichever is lower. The LHA rate is based on where you live and your household size.
✓Yes: LHA rates are decided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) using the list of rents provided by the Valuation Office Agency, based on private market rents paid in a Broad Rental Market Area.
✓Yes: If you are a council tenant, Housing Benefit is paid into your rent account. If you are a private or housing association tenant, it is paid into your bank or building society account.
✗No: Housing Benefit will not cover heating, hot water, energy or food.
The Bedroom Tax (Spare Room Subsidy)
Your Housing Benefit could be reduced if you live in council or social housing and have a spare bedroom. The reduction is:
✓Yes: 14% reduction for one extra bedroom
✓Yes: 25% reduction for two or more extra bedrooms
✓Yes: The following are expected to share: an adult couple, 2 children under 16 of the same sex, and 2 children under 10 (regardless of sex).
✓Yes: The following can have their own bedroom: a single adult (16 or over), a child who would normally share but shared bedrooms are already taken, a couple or children who cannot share because of a disability or medical condition, and an overnight carer for you, your partner, your child or another adult (only if the carer does not live with you but sometimes has to stay overnight).
✓Yes: One spare bedroom is allowed for an approved foster carer between placements, for up to 52 weeks from the end of the last placement, and for a newly approved foster carer for up to 52 weeks from the date of approval if no child is placed with them in that time.
✓Yes: Rooms used by students and members of the armed or reserve forces will not be counted as spare if they are away and intend to return home.
If you think a Housing Benefit decision is wrong, you can ask the council to review its decision or appeal against it at a tribunal.
In Scotland the Scottish Government says it has fully mitigated the bedroom tax through Discretionary Housing Payments. You can apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment in Scotland or in Wales from your local council.
The Benefit Cap
The benefit cap limits the total amount of benefit you can get. It applies to most people aged 16 or over who have not reached State Pension age. If you are affected, your Housing Benefit will go down to make sure that the total amount of benefit you get is not more than the cap level.
Household type
Cap (Greater London)
Cap (outside London)
Couple or lone parent
£486.98/week
£423.46/week
Single person
£326.29/week
£283.71/week
If you are in a couple but you do not live together, you get the amounts for a single person.
✗No: The cap does not apply if you are over State Pension age. If you are part of a couple and one of you is under State Pension age, the cap may apply.
✗No: You or your partner get Universal Credit because of limited capability for work and work-related activity, or because you care for someone with a disability.
✗No: You get Universal Credit and you and your partner earn £881 or more a month combined, after tax and National Insurance contributions.
✗No: You, your partner or any children under 18 living with you get Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance, Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment, the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or Employment and Support Allowance (if you get the support component), among other benefits listed by GOV.UK.
Challenging a Housing Benefit decision
If you are unhappy with a Housing Benefit decision, you can challenge it by asking the council to review its decision or by appealing against it at a tribunal. Contact your local council to appeal a Housing Benefit decision.
1
Ask the council to review its decision
Ask the council to review (reconsider) its decision. You can get free help and advice from Citizens Advice and Shelter.
2
Appeal to a tribunal
You can appeal to a tribunal. An appeal must normally be made no later than one month after the date the decision notice was sent, or, if you asked for the decision to be revised and that was unsuccessful, one month after the date the notice that it would not be revised was sent.
Your claim might be stopped or reduced if you do not report a change of circumstances straight away, for example starting or stopping work, moving house, your rent going up or down, going abroad for any length of time or going into hospital or a care home. You may have to repay money if you did not report a change straight away, gave wrong information or were overpaid by mistake.
Housing Benefit can help you pay your rent if you are unemployed, on a low income or claiming benefits, but it is being replaced by Universal Credit and most people need to claim Universal Credit instead. You can only make a new claim if you have reached State Pension age or you are in supported, sheltered or temporary housing.
Who can still claim Housing Benefit?
You can only make a new claim for Housing Benefit if you have reached State Pension age (if you live with a partner, usually you both need to have reached it) or you are in supported, sheltered or temporary housing, such as a B&B arranged by your council or a refuge for survivors of domestic abuse. Otherwise you will need to claim Universal Credit.
What is the Local Housing Allowance?
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are used to calculate Housing Benefit for tenants renting from private landlords. Your eligible rent is either your LHA rate or your actual rent, whichever is lower, and LHA rates are based on private market rents in a Broad Rental Market Area, the area within which a person might reasonably be expected to live.
What is the bedroom tax?
Your Housing Benefit could be reduced if you live in council or social housing and have a spare bedroom: by 14% of your eligible rent for 1 spare bedroom, or 25% for 2 or more. A couple or children who cannot share because of a disability or medical condition, and an overnight carer, can have their own bedroom. In Scotland the Scottish Government says it has fully mitigated the bedroom tax through Discretionary Housing Payments.
How do I challenge a Housing Benefit decision?
If you are unhappy with a Housing Benefit decision, you can ask the council to review its decision or appeal against it at a tribunal. An appeal must normally be made no later than one month after the date the decision notice was sent, or one month after the notice that the decision would not be revised.
What is the benefit cap and does it affect Housing Benefit?
The benefit cap limits the total amount of benefit you can get, and if you are affected your Housing Benefit will go down so that your total is not more than the cap level. For couples, and single parents whose children live with them, the cap is £486.98 a week in Greater London and £423.46 a week outside Greater London.