Mental Health and Benefits Handbook 1st edition - with new materialPart 2: Benefits Chapter 7: Housing benefit
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Chapter 7: Housing benefit
Key facts
    •Housing benefit (HB) is a means-tested benefit for people who pay rent, including people with health conditions and disabilities.
    •You may qualify for ‘working-age HB’ or ‘pension-age HB’. Working-age HB is being replaced by universal credit (UC) for most people, meaning very few people under pension age can make a new HB claim.
    •You do not need to have paid national insurance contributions to get HB.
    •You can get HB while in or out of work and alongside many other benefits.
    •You do not usually get HB alongside UC, as UC has its own housing costs element. However, you can get UC and HB together if you live in certain types of accommodation.
    •Getting HB alongside a disability benefit (eg, personal independence payment, adult disability payment or attendance allowance) can increase the amount of HB you get.
    •You can challenge decisions about your eligibility for HB.
    •Getting HB can mean that you are eligible for other kinds of financial support.
1. Who can get housing benefit
Note: for most people under pension age, housing benefit (HB) is being replaced by universal credit (UC). If you are under pension age, you cannot usually make a new claim for HB and need to claim UC instead (but check the exceptions on here). If you are under pension age and already getting HB, you will probably be transferred to UC at some point in the future (see here).
Housing benefit (HB) is a means-tested benefit for people on a low income who pay rent. You do not have to have paid national insurance contributions to qualify for HB.
You can qualify for HB whether you are in or out of work, and whether or not you have a health condition or disability. There is no requirement to look for work in order to get HB.
Working-age and pension-age housing benefit
You can qualify for what is known as ‘working-age HB’ or ‘pension-age HB’.
Most of the rules are the same, but there are some differences. For example, if you get pension-age HB, your ‘applicable amount’ is higher than for working-age HB and the income and capital rules are more generous. Pension-age HB can be backdated 1When you can get a benefit from a date before the date on which you actually claimed it. Not to be confused with getting arrears of benefit – eg, after winning an appeal. for up to three months but working-age HB can only be backdated for up to one month.
Pension age is currently 66. To check your pension age, see gov.uk/state-pension-age.
You can qualify for working-age HB if:1Reg 5 HB Regs
    •you are not yet pension age; or
    •you are at least pension age but you or your partner are on income support (IS), income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), income-related employment and support allowance (ESA) or UC.
You can qualify for pension-age HB if:2Reg 5 HB(SPC) Regs
    •you are at least pension age; and
    •neither you nor your partner are on IS, income-based JSA, income-related ESA or UC. You do not have to be getting pension credit (PC) to qualify for pension-age HB.
Note: if you are a member of a mixed-age couple 2A couple in which one partner has reached pension age and the other has not. (ie, one of you is at least pension age but not the other), the rules can be complicated. You may qualify for working-age HB or pension-age HB, or you may qualify for neither and need to claim UC. It is usually best to get independent advice in this situation. There is more information on mixed-age couples in CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.
Qualifying conditions
You qualify for HB if:1ss130 and 134 SSCBA 1992; s115 IAA 1999; reg 10 HB Regs; reg 10 HB(SPC) Regs
    •your income is low enough (see here); and
    •your capital 1This includes (but is not limited to) savings, shares, certain lump-sum payments and most property that is not a person’s main home. is worth £16,000 or less (unless, for pension-age HB, you or your partner are also getting the guarantee credit of PC);2Reg 26 HB(SPC) Regs and
    •the payments you make for your housing are of a kind that can be met by HB, which is usually paid to cover rent on a tenancy, but can also cover other payments – eg, service charges, licence payments as a lodger or in bed and breakfast accommodation, or site rent for a caravan (in this chapter, the term ‘rent’ is used to cover all of these); HB cannot be paid to cover a mortgage (see here);3Regs 11(1) and 12(1) HB Regs; regs 11(1) and 12(1) HB(SPC) Regs and
    •you or your partner count as liable to pay the rent;4Regs 8(1), 9, 10 and 56 HB Regs; regs 8(1), 9 and 10 HB(SPC) Regs and
    •the payments you make are for the home in which you normally live, or you are only temporarily absent from it (the length of time you can be temporarily absent and still get HB depends on why you are absent and whether you are still in Great Britain or have gone abroad);5s130(1) SSCBA 1992; rReg 7 HB Regs; reg 7 HB(SPC) Regs and
    •you satisfy the right to reside 2A social security test, mainly affecting European Economic Area nationals, which must be satisfied in order to claim certain benefits. and the habitual residence 3When someone has a settled intention to stay in the UK, and has usually been living here for a period. tests; and
    •you are not a person subject to immigration control 4Someone who requires leave to enter or remain in the UK but does not have it, or who has leave to remain but is prohibited from having recourse to public funds, or has leave to remain in the UK on the basis of a sponsorship agreement., although there are limited exceptions to this.
These requirements apply to working-age and pension-age HB.
Special rules apply when you are a student or in hospital and in certain other situations. See Chapter 18.
Does your tenancy agreement have to be in writing?
If you have a written agreement with your landlord, this is usually enough to show that you are liable to pay rent.6R(H) 3/03 However, your agreement can be legally enforceable even if it is not in writing, providing you have made a firm promise to pay money to your landlord in return for your occupation of the property.7R v Poole BC ex parte Ross [1995] 28 HLR 351 (QBD); R v Warrington BC ex parte Williams [1997] 29 HLR 872 (QBD)
 
Can you get housing benefit paid on two homes?
You can sometimes receive HB for two homes. You may get HB:8Reg 7(6)(a-e) HB Regs; reg 7(6)(a-e) HB(SPC) Regs; CH/1911/2006; R (Mahmoudi) v LB Lewisham and Another [2014] EWCA Civ 284
– for up to four weeks for your new and your old home, after moving house (this only applies in certain situations – eg, you needed to move into the new home quickly and you could not reasonably avoid having to pay rent on your old home); or
– for up to 52 weeks for a temporary home and your normal home, if you have left your home because of a fear of violence and you intend to return (the payments can be either HB or UC); or
– indefinitely if your household lives in more than one home for specified reasons.
Who can make a new claim for housing benefit
Working-age HB is being phased out and replaced by UC. You cannot make a new claim for working-age HB unless you live in:1Reg 2(1) and 6A(2) UC(TP) Regs; Sch 1 paras 3A and 3B UC Regs
    •specified accommodation 1Accommodation from a relevant body also providing care, support or supervision, or temporary accommodation provided because of domestic abuse., which covers:
      ◦housing with care and support provided by a local authority, housing association, charity or voluntary organisation;
      ◦non-permanent accommodation because you have left home as a result of domestic abuse, where the accommodation is provided by a local authority, housing association, charity or voluntary organisation;
      ◦certain other types of supported accommodation known as ‘exempt accommodation’; or
    •‘temporary accommodation’, which means a defined type of homeless accommodation where your rent is payable to a local authority or a provider of social housing.
If you cannot make a new claim for working-age HB, you may be able to claim UC for help with your housing costs instead. See here if there is uncertainty about what kind of accommodation you live in.
If you already get working-age HB, you can carry on getting it until:
    •a change of circumstances means you need to move to UC (see here – this is known as ‘natural migration’); or
    •the DWP 2The Department for Work and Pensions. A central government department that pays many benefits in Great Britain. writes to notify you that your working-age HB is stopping and that you must claim UC for help with your housing costs (see here – this is known as managed migration 3When the DWP writes to you and tells you that your legacy benefit is ending and that you need to make a claim for universal credit instead.).
In many cases, if you move to a new home within the same local authority area, you are able to continue getting HB rather than having to make a new claim for UC.
Pension-age HB is not being replaced by UC, which means that you can make a new claim for pension-age HB regardless of where you live.2Reg 6A(4) and (5) UC(TP) Regs; art 4 WRA(No.31)O However, if you are a member of a ‘mixed-age couple’ (ie, one of you is at least pension age 4This is age 66, and will reach 67 by October 2028. but not the other), see here.
Example
Stan gets working-age HB and income-related ESA. He moves to a new privately-rented flat within the same local authority area. He is concerned that he will not be able to make a new claim for HB and that he will therefore need to claim UC. Stan’s adviser explains that this is not the case. Because Stan is staying in the same local authority area, he does not need to make a new claim for HB; his existing HB award can continue, adjusted to reflect his new rent.
Niamh lives with her parents and gets UC. She is offered a housing association flat with care and support. She asks the DWP to add a housing costs element to her UC award but is told that she will need to claim working-age HB instead, because her new home counts as ‘specified accommodation’. She is worried about doing this but is reassured that her UC will continue alongside her HB. All of this is correct.
Couples
If you are in a couple, one of you can get HB which includes a personal allowance paid at the couple rate and premiums for both of you (see here). The amount of benefit you get takes into account both your and your partner’s income and capital. This is not a joint claim; only one of you claims and is awarded the benefit.
If you are a member of a ‘mixed-age couple’ (ie, one of you is at least pension age but not the other), see here.
2. The amount of benefit
The maximum amount of housing benefit
Housing benefit (HB) does not necessarily cover all of your rent. Your maximum HB is worked out as follows.1Reg 70 HB Regs; reg 50 HB(SPC) Regs
    •Step one: work out your weekly ‘eligible rent’.2Regs 12 and 12B HB Regs; regs 12 and 12B HB(SPC) Regs; reg 12 HB Regs, as set out in Sch 3 para 5(1) HB&CTB(CP) Regs This can be less than you actually pay. For example, if you are a private tenant, your eligible rent is based on a local housing allowance 1The maximum amount of universal credit or housing benefit that you can get to help you pay private rent. The allowance varies based on your household size, circumstances and which area you live in. for a home of the size you are regarded as needing.3Regs 12D, 13C and 13D HB Regs; regs 12D, 13C and 13D HB(SPC) Regs; see lha-direct.voa.gov.uk for the current rates in your area If you are a social tenant getting working-age HB, your eligible rent may be reduced by the so-called bedroom tax 2A reduction in the maximum amount of housing benefit you can get, or the maximum housing costs element you can get in your universal credit, if you live in social housing and are regarded as having a spare bedroom(s). if you are regarded as having one or more spare bedrooms.4Reg 12BA HB Regs
    •Step two: apply non-dependant deductions.5Regs 2(1), definition of ‘attendance allowance’, 3, 6(1), 70 and 74 HB Regs; regs 2(1), definition of ‘attendance allowance’, 3, 6(1), 50 and 55 HB(SPC) Regs A non-dependant is a member of your household aged 16 or over who is not your partner – eg, an adult daughter or son. Some people who are classed as non-dependants do not attract a non-dependant deduction – eg, people aged 16 or 17, and many people under 25 getting means-tested benefits. Additionally, non-dependant deductions are not made if you or your partner are receiving attendance allowance (AA), the care component 3Part of disability living allowance and child disability payment paid if someone needs supervision or assistance because of a disability or health condition. of disability living allowance (DLA) or child disability payment (CDP) on your own behalf, or the daily living component 4Part of personal independence payment and adult disability payment paid if someone has difficulties with certain daily living activities. of personal independence payment (PIP) or adult disability payment (ADP), or in other limited circumstances.
If no exception applies, a non-dependant deduction is made from your maximum HB. If your non-dependant is not in paid work, or works less than 16 hours a week, an £18.10 non-dependant deduction is made from your maximum HB each week. If your non-dependant is in paid work for 16 hours or more each week, the deduction that is made depends on their gross weekly income.
Income bands
Deduction
£511 or more
£116.75
£410–£510.99
£106.35
£308–£409.99
£93.40
£236–£307.99
£57.10
£162–£235.99
£41.60
£0- £161.99
£18.10
Only one deduction is made for a couple who are both your non-dependants.
    •Step three: consider the benefit cap 5The maximum yearly amount of benefits that someone can receive. Not all benefits are included and not all people are affected. (see here).
Note: if you need extra financial assistance to meet your housing costs, you can apply for discretionary housing payment 6A payment that can be made by a local authority to top up universal credit or housing benefit when someone needs extra help with their rent or some other housing costs. from your local authority. See here.
Will you get the maximum amount of housing benefit?
You automatically qualify for your maximum HB if you also get universal credit, income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance(ESA) or the guarantee credit of pension credit. This is because all of your income and capital 1This includes (but is not limited to) savings, shares, certain lump-sum payments and most property that is not a person’s main home. are ignored for HB purposes.1s130(3)(a) SSCBA 1992; Schs 4 para 12, 5 para 4, and 6 para 5 HB Regs; reg 26 HB(SPC) Regs; R v Penwith DC ex parte Menear [1991] 24 HLR 120 (QBD); R v South Ribble DC HBRB ex parte Hamilton [2000] 33 HLR 104 (CA); DF v LB Waltham Forest (HB) [2017] UKUT 306 (AAC)
If you do not get any of those benefits, follow the steps below to calculate your HB.2s130(3)(b) SSCBA 1992; reg 71 HB Regs; reg 51 HB(SPC) Regs
    •Step one: check that your capital is not too high. Capital includes investments, certain lump-sum payments and property that is not your main home. Your capital is too high if it is over £16,000.
    •Step two: work out your maximum HB. See above.
    •Step three: work out your applicable amount. See here.
    •Step four: work out your income. This is the amount you have coming in each week – eg, from benefits, state pensions, private pensions and earnings. Some income is disregarded in part or in full – eg, PIP, ADP, DLA, CDP and AA.
    •Step five: calculate your HB. If your income is less than or equal to your applicable amount, you qualify for your maximum HB. If your income is greater than your applicable amount, work out the difference. Your HB is your maximum HB minus 65 per cent of the difference between your income and your applicable amount.
For more information about how different kinds of income and capital are treated for HB, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.
The applicable amount
Your applicable amount consists of:1Sch 3 HB Regs; Sch 3 HB(SPC) Regs
    •a personal allowance; and
    •premiums for additional needs; and
    •a support component or work-related activity component, if you are also getting one in your ESA (see here).
There are different levels of personal allowance depending on your age, whether you are part of a couple, whether you have dependent children and whether you are getting working-age or pension-age HB (see here).
The premiums you can get in your HB are:2Sch 3 paras 3-19 HB Regs; Sch 3 paras 3-12 HB(SPC) Regs; reg 4 The Housing Benefit (Abolition of the Family Premium and date of claim) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 No.1857
    •severe disability premium (see here);
    •enhanced disability premium (see here);
    •for working-age HB only, disability premium;
    •carer premium (see here);
    •family premium, if you were entitled to HB on 30 April 2016;
    •disabled child premium;
    •enhanced disability premium for a child.
There is no pensioner premium in HB. With pension-age HB, you get a higher personal allowance instead.
3. Making a claim
Note: before trying to make a new housing benefit (HB) claim, check whether you should be claiming universal credit (UC) instead (see here).
Housing benefit (HB) is administered and paid by local authorities. A claim for HB must normally be made in writing on a properly completed claim form, but if you are making a claim for pension credit (PC), you can claim HB at the same time without completing an extra form. You might also be able to claim using an online form or by telephone if your local authority has made these options available.1Regs 83, 83A and Sch 11 HB Regs; regs 64, 64A and Sch 10 HB(SPC) Regs
If you are applying in writing, keep a copy of your claim form, and if you are sending your form by post, ask the Post Office for free proof of posting.
The date of claim is usually the date you start a claim by telephone, submit an online claim or, if you claim on a paper form:2Reg 83(5) HB Regs; reg 64(6) HB(SPC) Regs
    •if you requested a form from the local authority or the DWP 1The Department for Work and Pensions. A central government department that pays many benefits in Great Britain., the date of your request, provided you return the completed form within one month (the local authority can extend the one-month deadline if it considers that this is reasonable, so if you return the form late, explain why); or
    •otherwise (eg, if you return a form too late or if you printed your blank form from the internet), the date your completed form is received.
If information is missing from your application, you must usually provide it within one month of being told this, or the claim will not be accepted as valid.3Reg 83(1), (4C)-(4DA), (6)-(7A) and (9) HB Regs; reg 64(2), (5D)-(5EA), (7)-(8A) and (10) HB(SPC) Regs
Claiming in advance and backdating
You can claim HB in advance if you become liable for rent for the first time but cannot move into your accommodation until after your liability begins. If you are due to move from UC to HB on reaching pension age 1This is age 66, and will reach 67 by October 2028., see here for when to claim.
Your claim for working-age HB may be backdated 2When you can get a benefit from a date before the date on which you actually claimed it. Not to be confused with getting arrears of benefit – eg, after winning an appeal. for up to one month if you met the qualifying conditions during that time and can show good cause for claiming late.1Reg 83(12) and (12A) HB Regs
Your claim for pension-age HB may be backdated for up to three months if you met the qualifying conditions during that time. You do not need to show good cause for claiming late.2Reg 64(1) HB(SPC) Regs Note: the term ‘backdating’ is often informally used to mean getting arrears of your benefit going back to a claim or decision date – eg, after winning an appeal. However, in this Handbook, we use backdating to mean getting paid benefit for a period before the date you claimed.
If you might have qualified for HB earlier but did not claim because you were given the wrong information or misled by the local authority or the DWP (eg, you were wrongly told you needed to claim UC instead), you could complain and ask for compensation (see here).
Additional support and appointees
If you have (or will have) difficulty with the claims process and need additional support, see Chapter 20. If you cannot manage the claims process at all, you may need an appointee 1Someone authorised to claim and receive your benefit on your behalf, when you are unable to manage it yourself. (see here).
4. How you are assessed
Your eligibility for housing benefit (HB) is assessed using evidence about your income, capital 1This includes (but is not limited to) savings, shares, certain lump-sum payments and most property that is not a person’s main home. and other circumstances. It is important that you provide any information required when you claim.
There is no health assessment for HB.
5. Decisions
Once the local authority has all the information and evidence it needs, it must make a decision on your claim for housing benefit (HB) within 14 days or as soon as is ‘reasonably practicable’.1Regs 89 and 90 HB Regs; regs 70 and 71 HB(SPC) Regs; reg 10 HB&CTB(DA) Regs If you disagree with an HB decision, you can usually apply for a revision 1A method of changing a benefit decision, (usually) effective from the date it was originally made. or supersession 2A method of changing a benefit decision some time after it was made, often because of a change in circumstances., or appeal against it. There are usually time limits for all of these options. See Chapter 19 for more information on getting a benefit decision changed. Note: you do not have to apply for a mandatory reconsideration 3The requirement to have a decision looked at again by the DWP before you can make an appeal. before you can appeal an HB decision.
6. Getting paid
Where your payment goes
Housing benefit (HB) is usually paid directly into your bank account. The local authority can sometimes pay all or part of your HB to someone else, including directly to your landlord. It can usually make a so-called ‘managed payment to [your] landlord’ (MPTL) if it is in your interests to do so, or if you have agreed to it, or if you are in eight weeks’ worth of rent arrears, and in other limited circumstances.1Regs 95 and 96 HB Regs; regs 76 and 77 HB(SPC) Regs; Sch 9 SS(C&P) Regs; R v Haringey LBC ex parte Azad Ayub [1992] 25 HLR 566 (QBD); CH 3244/2007; DLT v Eastleigh BC (HB) [2014] UKUT 242 (AAC); ST v Sunderland City Council (HB) [2019] UKUT 33 (AAC), reported as [2019] AACR 20 An MPTL might be useful if your mental health problem makes it difficult for you to manage money.
Examples
Adelyn is single and over pension age. She is getting the guarantee credit of pension credit and pension-age HB. She has bipolar disorder and has been having difficulty with budgeting. She lives in a privately-rented flat and currently has one month’s worth of rent arrears. Adelyn’s sister helps her to contact the local authority HB office and ask it to pay her rent directly to her landlord. The local authority can do this because it has Adelyn’s consent.
Kurt is single, aged 40, and lives in supported accommodation run by a housing association. He is currently experiencing psychosis. He has not paid his rent for three months. His housing association applies to the local authority to receive an MPTL. This request is granted without Kurt’s consent because he has more than eight weeks’ worth of rent arrears. Kurt could challenge this decision if he can argue that it is in his ‘overriding interest’ not to make direct payments to his landlord.2Reg 95(1)(b) HB Regs; reg 76(1)(b) HB(SPC) Regs
When you are paid
You are normally paid HB in arrears at intervals of a week, two weeks, four weeks or a month, depending on when your rent is usually due.1Reg 92(1), (3), (4) and (6) HB Regs; reg 73(1), (3), (4) and (6) HB(SPC) Regs Different rules apply if HB is paid directly to your landlord.
If you are waiting for a decision on your claim, you are a private or housing association tenant, and the local authority has not been able to assess your HB within the required period, the local authority must normally make a ‘payment on account’ (sometimes called an ‘interim payment’) while your claim is being sorted out.2Reg 93(1) HB Regs; reg 74(1) HB(SPC) Regs; R v Haringey LBC ex parte Azad Ayub [1992] 25 HLR 566 (QBD)
If you are moving from universal credit (UC) to HB on reaching pension age 1This is age 66, and will reach 67 by October 2028., see the rules on here about overlapping payments. If you are moving from HB to UC, see here for information about HB ‘run-on’.
Note: it is possible for payment of HB to be suspended (see here).
7. Reviews and reassessments
Change of circumstances
You should report all changes in your circumstances to the local authority housing benefit (HB) office as soon as possible.1Reg 88(1) HB Regs; reg 69(1) HB(SPC) Regs; reg 4 SS(NCC) Regs Do not assume that the local authority already knows something – eg, about changes to the DWP 1The Department for Work and Pensions. A central government department that pays many benefits in Great Britain. benefits you claim, or about your earnings. You can report a change by telephone, but it may be better to do it in writing so that there is a clear record of what you have said and when.
When you notify the local authority of a change of circumstances, it can change the decision on your HB entitlement, usually by supersession 2A method of changing a benefit decision some time after it was made, often because of a change in circumstances. (see here).
Some changes of circumstances mean that your HB award comes to an end. In this situation, you may need to make a new claim for universal credit instead (see here).
If your change of circumstances is that you, your partner or your dependent child now receive a ‘qualifying benefit’ (eg, personal independence payment, adult disability payment, disability living allowance, child disability payment or attendance allowance), you may become eligible for an extra premium in your HB and/or may no longer be subject to non-dependant 3An adult, other than a partner, who lives with the person claiming benefit – eg, a grown-up daughter or son. There are some special rules about who is included. deductions. For more information about the date that these changes take effect from, see here.
Ongoing evidence requirement
Once you are getting HB, you may be asked to provide information at any time, and if you fail to do so, your HB could be suspended or terminated.1Reg 86(1) HB Regs; reg 67(1) HB(SPC) Regs; regs 13 and 14(1) HB&CTB(DA) Regs
8. Housing benefit and other benefits
Means-tested benefits and tax credits
If you are entitled to housing benefit (HB):
    •and are also entitled to universal credit (UC), income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance (ESA) or the guarantee credit of pension credit, you are automatically entitled to maximum HB because all your income and capital 1This includes (but is not limited to) savings, shares, certain lump-sum payments and most property that is not a person’s main home. are ignored for HB purposes;
    •working tax credit counts as income when working out your HB;
    •child tax credit counts as income unless you are getting pension-age HB.
If you are moving from UC to HB on reaching pension age 2This is age 66, and will reach 67 by October 2028., see here. If you are moving from HB to UC, see here.
Non-means-tested benefits
Most non-means-tested benefits 1Benefits paid regardless of the amount of someone’s income or capital such as savings. are taken into account as income when working out the amount of HB you get. However:
    •personal independence payment (PIP), adult disability payment (ADP), disability living allowance (DLA), child disability payment (CDP), attendance allowance (AA), guardian’s allowance, child benefit, carer’s allowance supplement, child winter heating assistance, young carer grant and Scottish child payment are not taken into account;
    •it is often still worth claiming non-means-tested benefits that are taken into account (eg, contributory ESA), because this can qualify you for certain extra premiums and components in your HB award and increase your income overall.
The benefit cap
In some cases, there is a limit on your total income from specified benefits (the ‘benefit cap’). Working-age HB is one of the specified benefits, but pension-age HB is not. You are not subject to the benefit cap if you get certain benefits (eg, if you get PIP, ADP, DLA, CDP or AA), or if you get either UC or ESA and have limited capability for work and work-related activity. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for more information.
Other sources of financial help
If you qualify for HB, you may also qualify for council tax reduction and a range of other financial help – eg, discretionary housing payment 1A payment that can be made by a local authority to top up universal credit or housing benefit when someone needs extra help with their rent or some other housing costs. to top up your HB if it does not cover your full rent. See Chapter 14.