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Disability Rights Handbook 2026-27
This content was last updated:
01 Jun 2026
SECTION F: HELP WITH HOUSING COSTS
Disability Rights Handbook 2026-27
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SECTION F: HELP WITH HOUSING COSTS
Back to previous
SECTION F: HELP WITH HOUSING COSTS
Chapter 20: Universal credit housing costs amount
COMMON RULES
1. Introduction
2. When can the amount be included in your award?
3. Liable to pay rent or service charges
Box F.1: Who cannot get the housing costs amount?
4. Occupying accommodation
Box F.2: Treated as occupying accommodation
5. Service charge payments
Box F.3: Service charge payment categories
6. Ineligible service charge payments
HOUSING COSTS AMOUNT FOR RENTERS
7. Rent
8. Periods of payment
9. The size criteria
Box F.4: The size criteria: absences from home
10. Non-dependant deductions
11. Calculations involving two homes
12. Calculating the amount: private sector
13. Core rent
14. Cap rent
Box F.5: Exceptions to the shared accommodation rule
15. Calculating the amount: social rented sector
16. The calculation: joint tenants
17. Excessive payments
HOUSING COSTS AMOUNT FOR OWNER-OCCUPIERS
18. What are owner-occupier payments?
19. When you cannot get the housing costs amount
Chapter 21: Housing benefit
GENERAL CONDITIONS
1. What is housing benefit?
Box F.6: The benefit cap
2. Who can get housing benefit?
Box F.7: Who cannot get housing benefit?
3. What is rent?
4. Housing costs that housing benefit cannot meet
5. Liability for rent on your normal home
6. Temporary absence
7. Moving home and getting housing benefit on two homes
RENT RESTRICTIONS
8. Introduction
9. Local housing allowance
Box F.8: The ‘bedroom tax’
10. Rent officers’ determinations
11. Exceptions to rent restrictions
12. Ineligible charges
CLAIMS, PAYMENTS & APPEALS
13. How to claim housing benefit
14. When housing benefit starts, changes and ends
15. How housing benefit is paid
16. Getting more benefit
17. Underpayments
18. Overpayments
19. Challenging decisions
CALCULATING HOUSING BENEFIT
20. How much do you get?
21. Non-dependants
22. Income and capital
23. Applicable amounts
Chapter 22: Housing benefit: premiums
ABOUT THE PREMIUMS
1. Introduction
2. Disability premium
3. Severe disability premium
4. Enhanced disability premium
5 . Carer premium
6. Family premium
7. Disabled child premium
Chapter 23: Housing benefit: income and capital
INCOME AND CAPTAL RULES IF YOU ARE OF WORKING AGE
1. Introduction
2. Whose income and capital is included?
INCOME
3. Disregarded income
4. Earnings from employment
5. Earnings from self-employment
6. Earnings disregards
7. Income from benefits and pensions
8. Charitable, voluntary and personal injury payments
9. Maintenance payments
10. Payments to third parties
11. Payments in kind
12. Training and employment schemes
13. Payments towards education
14. Payments for your home
15. Income from tenants and lodgers
16. Payments for children
17. Income generated from capital
18. Capital treated as income
19. Miscellaneous income
20. Notional income
21. Notional earnings
CAPITAL
22. Introduction
23. Capital limits
24. Tariff income
25. How is capital valued?
26. Benefits
27. Personal possessions
28. Trust funds and personal injury payments
29. Training and employment
30. Your home
31. Right to receive income or payment in future
32. Other capital
33. Loans
34. Income treated as capital
35. Notional capital
Chapter 24: Support for mortgage interest loans
ABOUT THE LOANS
1. Introduction
2. What loans are covered?
3 . Loan conditions
4 . Calculating the loan
5 . How the loans are made
6. How long can the loans continue?
7. Interest on the loans
8. Repayment
Chapter 25: Housing costs
ABOUT HOUSING COSTS
1. Introduction
2 . Housing costs you can get help with
Chapter 26: Council tax
COUNCIL TAX SUPPORT SCHEMES
1. What is council tax?
2. Your dwelling
3. How much council tax?
4. Exempt dwellings
5. Who is liable to pay?
Box F.9: Summary of council tax exemptions for dwellings
Box F.10: People who are disregarded for council tax discount purposes
6. Who is a resident of a dwelling?
7. How to pay less council tax
8. Disability Reduction scheme
9. Discount scheme
10. Second homes and long-term empty properties
11. Appeals
12. Council tax reduction schemes: England and Wales
13. Council tax reduction scheme: Scotland
Box F.11: For more information
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Chris Lewis. "SECTION F: HELP WITH HOUSING COSTS." In
Disability Rights Handbook 2026-27.
, 2026. Accessed September 29, 2026.
CPAG,
https://askcpag.org.uk/?id=-271817CITANCHOR.
Chris Lewis. "SECTION F: HELP WITH HOUSING COSTS." In
Disability Rights Handbook 2026-27.
, 2026. Accessed September 29, 2026. https://askcpag.org.uk/?id=-271817CITANCHOR.
Contributor(s):
Chris Lewis
Title:
Disability Rights Handbook 2026-27
Site name:
CPAG
Publisher:
Publication date:
May 20, 2026
Date accessed:
September 29, 2026
URL:
https://askcpag.org.uk/?id=-271817CITANCHOR
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