Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction

What is Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction?

• Housing Benefit - help with paying your rent
• Council Tax Reduction - help with paying your Council Tax.

How do I qualify?

To work out how much you may be entitled to we look at your:

• Household income.
• Capital (such as bank and building society accounts, investments, cash, property).
• Personal circumstances (such as your age, who lives with you, whether anyone in your household has a disability).

How much Housing Benefit may I get?

To work out how much Housing Benefit you might get depends on whether your landlord is classed as "Private" or "Social":

Private landlord: if you rent from a Private Landlord, then you first need to work out your Local Housing Allowance rate by using these two steps:

1. Find out how many bedrooms you are entitled to have Housing benefit for on the GOV.UK website.
2. Find out what Local Housing Allowance rate you’re entitled to, also on the GOV.UK website.

Social landlord: if you rent from a Social Landlord (like Incommunities) use our Benefits Calculator to work out how much Housing Benefit and / or Council Tax Reduction you may be able to get.

How much Council Tax Reduction may I get?

The Council has amended the Council Tax Reduction scheme from 1 April 2018:

• if you or your partner are a pensioner, you may receive Council Tax Reduction for up to 100% of your Council Tax bill.
• for all other working age, the maximum amount of Council Tax Reduction you may receive is 70% of a band A property charge. This means you will have to pay at least 30% of your Council Tax bill.

Note - more information about the changes to the Council Tax Reduction scheme can be found online.

How is Housing Benefit / Council Tax Reduction paid?

Housing benefit is paid on certain dates by BACS (directly into your bank account) or by cheque.

Council Tax Reduction is given as a discount on your Council Tax bill.

Extra help?

In certain circumstances, the Council may be able to give you more help with your rent in the form of Discretionary Housing Payments.

What if I don't agree with the Council's decision about my Benefit/Reduction application?

Housing Benefit

You may appeal against the decision in writing, within 1 month of the date of decision. The appeal will be looked at by a Council officer who was not involved in making the original decision.

After this, if you still don't agree with our decision, you can appeal to Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service. You can read more information about Housing Benefits Appeals here.

Council Tax Reduction

You may appeal against the decision in writing, as soon as you can. The appeal will be looked at by a Council officer who was not involved in making the original decision.

After this, if you still don't agree with our decision, or if you do not hear from us within 2 calendar months, you may appeal to the valuation tribunal.