Frequently Asked Questions - Housing Council Tax Benefit

Housing Benefit is a national welfare scheme available for people on a low income or benefits, to help contribute towards their rent.  This is paid by the local council and is dependant upon your own personal circumstances.  If you own your own home then we cannot contribute towards your mortgage payments. In this case you will need to contact your local Department For Works and Pensions ( DWP ) office  but we may still be able to help you with your council tax payments.

Qualifying for Housing Benefit

Is There a Time Restriction?

A claim form must be completed within one calendar month, from the date of your initial contact, whether this is via a local Job Centre/Pension Service office or your local authority.

What if I am claiming other benefits?

If you are claiming Job Seekers Allowance, Income Support, Employment Support Allowance or Pension Credit, then you should have made your application for benefit through either the Job Centre or the Pension Service.  All of your income, savings and household details will have been checked and verified by the above.  The Benefits department will then contact you if they require any further information.

Where can I get a claim form from?

Please contact us at the Benefits Department or download an application form.

Will I qualify for benefit?

Please use our Benefit Calculator to determine whether or not you qualify for Housing and Council Tax Benefits.

How many savings can I have to qualify for benefit?

Your capital/savings must be less than £16,000.00 in order to qualify for any benefit, unless you are receiving the guaranteed element of Pension Credit.

Claiming Housing Benefit

How long will my claim take to be processed and a payment made?

We aim to process your claim within 14 days from when the claim is complete of all the information required.  A payment will be issued shortly after this timescale, either by cheque or directly into your bank account.  In some instances we can make payments direct to your landlord. Please download our application for direct payments to landlords.

Direct payment to Landlord application - Cheshire East  (PDF, 30KB)

If further information is requested this can make the process longer.

What is remunerative work?

Remunerative work is classed as anyone who is in paid employment and working over 16 hours per week.

What is a non-dependant?

A non-dependant is a member of your family/household aged 18 or over and not classed as being in full time education.  The government expect that a non-dependant should contribute to the household financially; therefore a deduction will be applied to your benefit entitlement according to the amount of their GROSS weekly income.

What qualifies as a ‘Change in Circumstances’?

It is your responsibility to inform the Benefits Department of any changes in your personal circumstances within one calendar month of the date of the change.  Examples include:

• You go into hospital (for more than 13 weeks)
• You are going abroad (for more than 13 weeks)
• Increase/Decrease in wages or private pensions
• You go into residential care or a nursing home
• Changes or any new award of benefits i.e. Tax Credits, Incapacity Benefit
• Changes in household members
• Rent changes
• Births or deaths of any household members
• Move out of the Cheshire East area
• Changes of addresss

How do I tell you about a change in my circumstances?

The quickest and easiest way to tell us about any type of change to your circumstances is to give us a call, you can ring us Monday to Friday between 8-45 - 5pm, alternatively there are various other ways of making contact with us.  You will find all the information you should need on our  Contact Pages.

What else should I know before applying for Housing or Council Tax Benefit?

If you have recently arrived or are returning to the UK, you will need to check your entitlement to benefits with the Department of Works and Pensions ( DWP )

• Special rules apply if you are under the age of 35 from 1.1.12 for Local Housing Allowance ( LHA ). You would not be eligible for Housing Benefit if you are living with a ‘close relative’ who is charging you rent.  Examples of a ‘close relative’ are mother, father, stepmother, stepfather, brother or sister. 
• If your landlord is a ‘close relative’ then we need to establish whether or not the tenancy is on a commercial basis before we consider paying any Housing Benefit. You cannot usually get Housing Benefit if you are a full time student, unless you are disabled, or have dependant children.

Changes to Housing Benefit from 1 January 2012

The shared accommodation rate currently applies to single people under the age of 25 living in accommodation that they rent from a private landlord. This will be extended to people aged under 35. This means that single people under 35 will no longer receive Housing Benefit based on one bedroom self-contained accommodation.

What happens if I become 25 years of age before 1 January 2012?

From your birthday you will receive the 1 bedroom LHA rate for 12 months and then go on to the shared accommodation rate at the anniversary date. (below is an explanantion of the anniversary date)

What happens if I become 25 years of age on or after 1 January 2012?

Continue to receive the same LHA rate

What if I'm under 35 years of age and move in with a partner on or after 1 January 2012?

You will start to receive the one bedroom LHA rate

What happens if I have a child that lives with me on or after the 1 January 2012?

You will start to receive the two bedroom LHA rate

What happens if I can change address on or after 1 January 2012?

If you live alone you will go on to the shared accommodation rate from the date of the move

What happens if I have a break in my claim?

You will start to receive the shared ccommodation rate

What happens if I'm under 35 years of age and my partner leaves? 

The person left in property will start to receive the shared accommodation rate of LHA from the date they are in the property on their own

What happens when I reach 35 years of age?

You will start to receive the one bedroom rate of LHA unless you are in shared accommodation you will receive the shared accommodation rate of LHA

Changes to Housing Benefit from 1 April 2011

When will the changes affect me?

From 1 April 2011, if you make a new claim, or have an ongoing claim and then change your address or have a break of one week or more in your current claim, you will be affected by these changes straight away.

Is there any protection from the changes to LHA?

If you already have a claim for Housing Benefit on or before 1 April 2011, you will normally have more time before the changes to LHA make a difference to you. This is called transitional protection.

If your circumstances do not change, your LHA rate will stay the same until nine months after your ‘anniversary’ date.

When is my anniversary date?

Your anniversary date is the date your LHA rate is due to be reviewed.  If you have no changes in your circumstances, your anniversary date will be 52 weeks after you made your claim, or moved address.  For example, if you claimed Housing Benefit on 5 September 2010, your anniversary date is 5 September 2011.

Can my anniversary date change?

Yes. Your anniversary date can change if:

• You are a single person, and you reach the age of 25 (until 1.1.2012); or
• There is a change in the number of people who live with you; or
• A child that lives in your household reaches the age of 10 or 16; or
• Your claim is backdated to an earlier date.

This will change your anniversary date to 52 weeks after your household changes, or 52 weeks from the earlier start date of your backdated claim.

It is important to remember that if you change address or have a change in your household that reduces your LHA bedroom entitlement, protection from the changes stops.

I currently get £15 'top up' benefit. Will this change?

Under the original LHA rules, if your rent was less than your Local Housing Allowance rate, you were able to keep up to £15 of the difference.  This was called ‘excess’ or ’top up’ benefit.

Under the changes to LHA from 01 April 2011, any top up will end at your anniversary date.  However, you would be protected from any other LHA changes for a further nine months.  For example, if you first claimed Housing Benefit in September 2010, your top up will end in September 2011, but the other changes would not affect your claim until June 2012.

Will the LHA 'caps' affect me?

The ‘caps’ are the new limits to how much Housing Benefit each household can receive each week.  They are most likely to affect families who are renting properties in Central London. Please note there is no cap for people who live in shared accommodation.

From 1 April 2011, if you make a new claim, or have an existing claim and change your address, your maximum rent for Housing Benefit will be the lowest of:

• The actual rent charged by your private landlord
• The LHA cap that applies to your LHA bedroom entitlement
• The LHA rate, if that is lower than the cap

If you are already claiming Housing Benefit before 1 April 2011, you will be protected from the LHA ‘caps’ for nine months from your LHA anniversary date.

For example, if you claimed Housing Benefit in July 2010, your anniversary date would be in July 2011. You were entitled to a four bedroom rate of £416 per week. From April 2012 your LHA rate will be ‘capped’ to £400 per week.

There are fewer affordable properties for people getting Housing Benefit. How will this affect me?

From 1 April 2011, the LHA rates are going down. In the past, the LHA rates have been based on making five out of ten properties affordable to people who are getting Housing Benefit.  From 1 April 2011, LHA rates will be based on making three out of ten properties affordable.

To give you an idea of what LHA rates might be from April 2011, please visit the LHA section of this website.  On this website, the Valuation Office Agency is publishing what they call ‘30th percentile rates’. These are only estimated figures, but they will give you an idea of how much lower the LHA rates will be.

What can I do if I think I will be affected by the LHA changes?

You can talk to your landlord about the changes.  You can also ask your landlord if he or she will drop the rent on your property.

If your landlord agrees to reduce your rent to an amount which is close to the lower LHA rate, we may be able to pay your Housing Benefit directly to them.

If you know you are about to renew your tenancy agreement, you need to make sure the rent will be affordable after your protection runs out. The protection is there to give you more time to start looking for somewhere cheaper.

My landlord won't reduce the rent or I have renewed my agreement.

We may be able to give you additional help.  You can apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment to meet the shortfall between your rent, and your Housing Benefit. However, the amount of money we have for Discretionary Housing Payments is limited and we will consider your circumstances carefully and may only be able to help for a short period.