Housing Benefit
Housing Benefit is a benefit for
people on a low income to help them pay their rent.
You may be able to get
Housing Benefit if you are on other benefits, work part-time or
work full-time on a low income. You cannot get Housing Benefit to
help with the costs of a mortgage or home loan. If you are an
owner-occupier, you may be able to get help with your mortgage
interest through Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s
Allowance or Pension Credit.
From 7th April 2008, Housing Benefit for people
who claim help with rent on a property that is rented from a
private landlord changed.
The Rent Allowance scheme has
been replaced by Local Housing Allowance for certain new
claims. This does not affect tenants of A1 Housing.
This new scheme affects most new private
tenancies and people who have a break in their HB claim of 1 week
or more or who move to a privately rented property after 7th
April.
For more details see the Local Housing Allowance page or the latest new for landlords pages.
You can claim Housing Benefit (also known as Rent
Rebate) if:-
- you are on Income Support or Job Seekers
Allowance or Employment Support Allowance
- you are on a low income (this includes
people who are self employed or if you have just been made
redundant)
You cannot get Housing Benefit if:-
- you, or your partner between you, have
more than £16,000 in savings (unless you get Pension Credit
Guarantee credit).
- A partner is someone you are married to,
or someone you live with as if you are married to them. or a civil
partner.
To check if you would qualify for benefit, please
visit on the Benefits
Calculator page and follow the instructions. This will give you
an estimate of the amount of benefit you could get.
If you think you would qualify, please see
the How to claim HB and CTB
page or to download a form visit the forms to download page.
For information about Income
Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or other
benefits visit the other useful
links page to get access to the Department for Work and
Pensions pages.
Last Updated - 22/04/2009