RR2 - A guide to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
Who can claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit?
If you are responsible for paying the rent on your home you may be able to get Housing Benefit (HB) to help. If you have to pay council tax you may be able to get Council Tax Benefit (CTB).
Persons from abroad
You can only get benefit if you have a right to reside and are habitually resident in the United Kingdom(UK). If you have entered the UK within the 2 years before your claim for benefit, the council will ask you about this.
Most full-time students are not entitled to HB or main CTB.
Asylum seekers who applied for asylum on or after 3 April 2000 will not be eligible for HB/CTB. Some people who applied for asylum before 3 April 2000 may continue to be entitled to benefit until the first negative decision on their asylum application. People given refugee status, humanitarian protection or exceptional leave to remain in the UK will continue to be eligible for benefit.
If you get Pension Credit, Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
If you get Pension Credit Guarantee, Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and have to pay rent you may be able to get the maximum amount of HB/CTB.
Maximum HB depends on:
- how much rent you pay (see 'What you can claim for' for further information)
- and who you live with (see 'People who live with you - non-dependants' for further information)
- and whether any part of your charge cannot be counted for HB (see 'Service charges you cannot claim for' for further information)
- and for private accommodation, what the reasonable rent is for your particular home and what the average rent is for similar homes in your area (see 'Rules about maximum rent' for further information).
Maximum CTB depends on:
- how much council tax you have to pay
- and who you live with (see 'People who live with you - non-dependants' and ' Second Adult Rebate' for further information).
If you only get the Savings Credit of Pension Credit, The Pension Service will issue a statement confirming your income and capital that your council must use when calculating your entitlement to HB/CTB.
If you are already getting or have claimed Pension Credit, Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance you will need to get a claim form from your local council to fill in. If you have not claimed one of these benefits and wish to make a claim then you will follow the process for people claiming Pension Credit, Income Support or income-based JSA.
Extended Payments
If your Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment & Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disalement Allowance or contributory Employment & Support Allowance stops because of work.
Extended Payments of Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB) is an extra four weeks of HB/CTB to help pay rent or towards your council tax when certain other benefits stop because you’re going back to work, working more hours or earning more money.
You no longer have to claim an Extended Payment if you or your partner, or civil partner (and they remain a partner throughout the claim) have stopped getting one of the benefits mentioned below because one of you is expected to do one of the following for five weeks or more:
- Return to work full time
- Work more hours
- Earn more money
And you’ve been getting one of the following:
Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, or income-related Employment & Support Allowance or a combination of these benefits continously for at least 26 weeks
Or
Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance or contibutory Employment & Support Allowance continously for at least 26 weeks
And
You expect the work, increased hours or earnings to last five weeks or more and you’ve not been getting Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment & Support Allowance with your Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance or contributory Employment & Support Allowance when it ceased.
Normally you’ll get the same amount of HB/CTB as you did before your income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, income-related Employment & Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance or contributory Employment & Support Allowance stopped.
It is paid by your local council in the same way as you normally get your HB/CTB. When your Income Support,income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment & Support Allowance stops because you start work or have a change of circumstances, your local council will check how long you’ve been getting them.
When your Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance or contributory Employment & Support Allowance stops because you start work or have a change of circumstances, your local authority will check how long you’ve been getting them.
In either case, your local council will decide whether or not you’re entitled to an Extended Payment.
Your local council will consider whether you are entitled to in-work HB/CTB. Once your extended payment period has ended, you can move onto in-work HB/CTB (provided you are entitled to it) without having to make a new claim.
If you do not get Pension Credit, Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
Even if you do not get Pension Credit, Income Support or income-based JSA, you may still get some help with paying your rent costs or council tax. This is worked out by comparing the maximum HB/CTB you could get with:
- your needs (called your applicable amount)
- and your income and capital resources.
Capital
Savings and investments (capital) may have an effect on the assessment of your income. Capital will only affect your income if you have more than £6000. If you have more than £16,000, you will not normally be able to get HB/CTB (unless you are aged 60 or over and receive the Pension Credit (Guarantee), in which case there is no limit to the amount of capital you can have). However, even if your capital exceeds £16,000, you may be able to claim Second Adult Rebate (referred to in the regulations as Alternative Maximum CTB). For people in certain types of residential accommodation, capital of up to £10,000 can be ignored. Savings and investments are explained in more detail.
