Claiming Housing and Council Tax Benefit and supplying evidence

Claiming Housing & Council Tax Benefit

What is Housing Benefit?

Housing Benefit is a national welfare benefit, which ensures that most people in receipt of Income Support/JobSeekers Allowance, Employment Support Allowance, Guaranteed Pension Credits or on low incomes will be able to apply for help with their rent.

What is Council Tax Benefit?

Council Tax Benefit is a national welfare benefit, which ensures that most people in receipt of Income Support/JobSeekers Allowance, Employment Support Allowance, Guaranteed Pension Credits or on low incomes will be able to apply for help with their Council Tax payments. If you do not qualify for main Council Tax Benefit due to your income being too high but you share your home with one or more persons on low income you may be entitled to second adult rebate (see the bottom of the page). 

How much Council Tax Benefit and/or Housing Benefit will I get?

How much you get depends on your personal circumstances. This includes:

• How much money you have coming in
• The amount of any savings
• If you have children
• If you are disabled
• Who else lives in your home; and
• The amount of rent charged (Housing Benefit only).

Benefit is worked out using rules set by the government. Housing Benefit is for help with your rent, not your living costs like food and heating.

We can pay up to a maximum of 100% of your eligible rent. Your eligible rent may not be the same as the amount you pay your landlord.

Income and Capital

If you get Income Support, JobSeekers Allowance (Income Based) or Employment Support Allowance (Income Related) or if you are over 60 and in receipt of Guaranteed Pension Credits, and you have to pay rent, you can get the maximum amount of housing benefit allowed as eligible rent.

Using what you tell us we will work out your Housing Benefit based on money you have coming in.  We add together your earnings and any other income of you and your partner (if you have one).

Earnings include:

• Gross pay less tax, national insurance contributions and half of any contributions if you pay an occupational or personal pension. Some childcare charges may also be deducted
• Business profits after any allowable expense are taken away. For more information see Self Employed.

Other income includes:

• Any other money coming in such as an Occupational Pension, most social security benefits and pensions, Tax Credits and Pension Credits. We do not count certain benefits you may get such as Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance. You need to tell us if you receive these benefits as disabled people may receive more benefit in certain circumstances. From 2nd November 2009 Child Benefit is disregarded for Housing and Council Tax Benefit purposes. We will still need to see proof you are receiving Child Benefit.  
• We will look at any savings you (and your partner if you have one) may have. If you have £6,000 or less we will disregard them. If you have more than £6,000 but not more than £16,000 we will take into account at a rate of  £1 per week for every unit or part unit of £250 above the lower limit.  If you are over 60, we will ignore the first £10,000 and take into account £1 per week for every unit or part unit of £500 above the lower limit of your savings.
• If you have savings of more than £16,000 you will not normally be able to get any Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit (unless you are a pensioner and receive the guarantee credit element of pension credit).
• Own a property that you do not live in. If you rent the property out we would need proof of this income. If you own a second property we will also need to take into account the market value that is held by yourself. To do this you will need to complete an LA1 form to obtain an accurate valuation

LA1 form: la1

Personal Circumstances

We use amounts set each year by the government called personal allowances and premiums to work out how much you need to live on.

A personal allowance depends on:

• Your age.
• If you are single or have a partner.
• How many dependent children you have and their ages.

Premiums are extra sums of money intended to recognise the special needs of:

• Families.
• Disabled people and people who care for a disabled person.
• One parent families.
• People who have been sick for over 52 weeks or 28 weeks if they are terminally ill.

If you are not on income support or job seekers' allowance (income-based) you may still get maximum housing benefit if the money you have coming in is less than the allowances and premiums described above. If you have more money your housing benefit is reduced.

The rent charged (Housing Benefit only)

The maximum amount of Housing Benefit we can pay is based on your eligible rent. If you are renting from a private landlord this will depend on your Local Housing Allowance rate.

Special rules about the amount of rent that we can pay apply to tenants of private landlords who are single and under 25 years of age.

If you are thinking of renting a property from a private landlord and want to claim Housing Benefit, refer to our web page on Local Housing Allowance before you commit yourself to a tenancy.  This will give you an idea of the amount of rent on which benefit is likely to be calculated. This is especially important if you are a single person under 25 years of age.   For further advice please contact our Customer Services Team on 01303 853555.

Reduced Housing Benefit

A deduction will be made from your housing benefit if you have another person living with you like an adult son or daughter or an elderly relative. These people are called Non-Dependants. The deduction will depend on the age and circumstances of your Non-Dependent. We do not make deductions if:

• You are blind or receive the care component of disability living or attendance allowance.
• If the non-dependent is aged 16 or 17.
• If the non-dependent is on youth training, a student, a long-term hospital in- patient, in legal custody or aged under 25 and on income support.
• You must include on your benefit claim form any people living with you and tell us if anybody leaves or joins your household or has a change in their financial circumstances.

Calculate how much benefit you may be entitled to

You can use our online benefit calculator to estimate how much benefit you may be entitled to. Simply answer the questions and press the calculate button.  The results will then be displayed. Please note this will only give you an estimate of how much benefit you may be entitled to and if it is worth making a claim.

How do I claim?

If you claim Income Support, JobSeekers Allowance or Employment Support Allowance the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will either give you a form to complete or make an application for you to claim Housing Benefit if you have indicated this at an interview. If you are not in receipt of or claiming these benefits or you have not been given a form and no application has been completed by the DWP you should complete one of our forms.

Benefit will usually start from the Monday after you tell us you want to claim providing you submit a completed claim form and the required evidence ( evidence-guide) within one month. It is important you tell us immediately that you want to make a claim. You can do this by writing to us, by visiting us at any of our offices, by phone, by fax or by email.  We will arrange an appointment for a benefit assessor to see you in Civic Centre. At this appointment you should provide a signed and completed Claim Form along with all the supporting evidence required to complete your application (photocopies are not acceptable).

Don't delay in registering your intention to claim as any delay could lead to a loss of benefit. Email us now using the email link below with your name, the address you want to claim for and a contact telephone number.

Housing and Council Tax Benefit claim form: benefit-claim-form
Evidence Guide (English): evidence-guide
Evidence Guide (Czech): evidence-guide-cs 
Evidence Guide (Polish):  evidence-guide-pl
Evidence Guide (Slovakian): evidence-guide-sk
Evidence Guide (Turkish):  evidence-guide-tur

What is Second Adult Rebate?

Second Adult Rebate is a reduction in your Council Tax bill based on the income of other people who live with you and are over 18 years old (normally referred to as a Non-Dependant)

Non-Dependants are adult sons or daughters, other relatives (aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.) or friends.

There may be two or more ‘second adults' in your home and you could still claim.

Who cannot claim Second Adult Rebate?

If you are not entitled to Housing Benefit you may still be entitled to claim Second Adult Rebate based on the income of Non-Dependants in your property.

The following will not be able to claim Second Adult Rebate:

• A couple (if neither partner is disregarded for Council Tax purposes).
• A Single person who is liable for Council Tax and has a border or sub-tenant living in the property.
• Joint owner or tenant living in the property.

Claiming Second Adult Rebate

You can complete and return the Second Adult Rebate form or book an appointment with a member of our benefits team. To book an appointment you can contact out Customer Services Team by telephone on 01303 853555. Alternatively you can visit the civic centre to book an appointment or email us. Housing Benefit General Enquiries

However, should you find this difficult due to a disability, we can arrange for a visiting officer to visit you at home. Our visiting officer can help you to complete your form and verify all original documentation. To arrange a home visit contact our Customer Services Team.

You will be advised of the evidence you must supply when returning the form. The claim form and evidence must be supplied within one month of the date that your form is issued or you could lose out on benefit.

We need your form returned with an original signature, so unfortunately we are unable to accept your completed application by email or fax. We also require original documentation for supporting evidence (photocopies are not acceptable).

Second Adult Rebate claim form: second-adult-rebate-form

Shepway District Council,
Civic Centre
Castle Hill Avenue
Folkestone, CT20 2QY

 Telephone: 01303 853555 (Customer Services Team)

 Fax: 01303 853510

Email: Housing Benefit General Enquiries

Customer Services at the Civic Centre are open 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Monday to Friday.