Housing Benefit
Information about Housing Benefit payments
You can only claim Housing Benefit if one of the following applies:
- you (and your partner if you have one) are a pensioner
- you live in a hostel or refuge
- you live in accommodation that includes care, support or supervision
- you live in temporary accommodation provided by the council
If none of these apply to you, you will need to claim Universal Credit.
If you are able to claim Housing Benefit, you can apply here:
The amount of Housing Benefit you can claim depends on a number of things:
- the amount of rent you pay
- if you rent privately or from a Housing Association (such as WDH)
- your household, income, and savings. This includes income of any other adults living with you who are not your partner
- whether you are affected by the benefit cap
If you are already receiving Housing Benefit, you can view details of your claim online. Go to MyAccount now to register or sign in.
How much could I be entitled to?
This depends on your personal circumstances.
The amount we can pay up to depends on the number of bedrooms the government says you need. You are entitled to one bedroom for each of the following:
- two people living as a couple
- a single person over the age of 16
- two children under the age of 10 (regardless of their sex)
- two children of the same sex aged under 16 years
any other child - a non-resident overnight carer*
*you need to tell us about this in order for them to be considered as they may not be included as part of your claim.
If you are under State Pension Age, rent from a Housing Association or Social Landlord and have more bedrooms than you need, your benefit may be reduced. The reduction is 14% for one extra bedroom and 25% for two or more extra bedrooms.
If you rent from a private landlord, the maximum amount of rent we can cover is called Local Housing Allowance (LHA). This is determined by the number of bedrooms required for your household and the rent level set for that number of bedrooms by The Rent Service.
IMPORTANT: If you are single and under 35, you will normally only be entitled to the 'Shared Accommodation' LHA rate.
If you are pension age you can use our online calculator to find out how much Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support you could qualify for.
If you are working age you can use our online calculator to find out how much Housing Benefit you could qualify for. Please use our step-by-step guide to see how much Council Tax Support you could qualify for.
More information about housing benefit
Housing Benefit Appeals
We aim to make the right decision when working out your entitlement. However, if you think a decision we have made is wrong, you can:
- ask us to explain it
- ask us to look at it again
- appeal against it
For more information about how to do this see Reviews and Appeals.
You can also find an accessible version of our reviews and appeals document here.