To get housing benefit, the general rule is that you must be personally liable to pay the rent on your home. You can usually get housing benefit on only one home at a time, which is the dwelling ‘normally occupied’ by you and members of your family. However, there are exceptions to these rules:

Couples – Either one of you can get housing benefit towards the rent on your normal home. Even if the letting agreement is in one name only, the other person is treated as liable to make payments.
HB Regs, reg 8(1)(b) ; HB(SPC) Regs, reg 8(1)(b)

If you take over paying someone else’s rent – If the person liable for the rent on your home stops paying it and you take over the payments to continue living there, you can get housing benefit even though you are not legally liable for the rent. This applies if the liable person is your former partner, and in any other reasonable case.
HB Regs, reg 8(1)(c) ; HB(SPC) Regs, reg 8(1)(c)

Repairs to your home – If yo