If you pay rent, you may be able to claim Housing Benefit to help with your rent payments.
We pay Housing Benefit according to who your landlord is:
- if you are a council tenant, we pay it directly into your rent account
- if you are a private tenant or a housing association tenant, we pay it by BACS directly to you or your landlord
How Housing Benefit is calculated and paid
See how we calculate the amount of Housing Benefit you receive; use our benefit calculator and claim form and find out how we'll pay you.
If you claim Housing Benefit, we'll also work out any Council Tax Support you can claim to help with your council tax bill.
Changes to Housing Benefit
Housing Benefit changed in 2013; the changes related to:
- under occupancy of social housing and the 'bedroom tax'
- Local Housing Allowance (LHA) which we now use to work out most new claims for Housing Benefit for tenants renting from a private landlord
If you need advice about these changes and how they may affect you, contact our Benefits team.