RR2 - A guide to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
Introduction
Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB) are social security benefit schemes to help pay for rent and council tax. They are assessed and paid by local councils.
If you claim Income Support and/or Incapacity Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance or apply for Pension Credit, then Jobcentre Plus or The Pension Service staff will generally take your benefit details over the telephone and advise you what steps you need to take next to progress you benefit claim(s). At the same time as gathering these benefit details they will also take some details about your Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit application.
In some areas where the electronic claims process has not been introduced or where there are problems with the process, it may be necessary for you to complete clerical claim form(s) for Jobcentre Plus or The Pension Service benefits as well as any claim to Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit. If this is the case you should complete and sign the form, generally an HCTB1, and return it to your local council.
If you do not make an application for Pension Credit, Income Support or income-based JSA you must claim HB and/or CTB straight from your local council.
Housing Benefit
HB helps with housing costs. This means rent and some accommodation related service charges which you must pay to live in your home. You may be able to get help for many different types of accommodation such as furnished or unfurnished flats, bedsitters, rented houses or hostels or lodgings, as long as you pay rent to a landlord or landlady. But you cannot get HB for the cost of buying your home, for mortgage payments, or for charges relating to the provision of personal needs or day to day living expenses.
Council Tax Benefit
What is the council tax?
The council tax is the way that you help to pay for the local services that your council provides. Each council sets the level of the council tax for its own area, but the amount you have to pay depends on the relative value of your home. Discounts will be available where, for example, there is only one adult in the home. There will be one council tax bill for each dwelling, which will usually be payable by the owner-occupier or tenants or joint tenants, including council tenants. Where there are two or more people who are joint owners or tenants, they will both be liable for the tax.
Council Tax Benefit
If you have to pay the council tax you may be able to get CTB towards what you pay. CTB is a rebate scheme to provide help with up to 100% of the council tax.