How do you work out how much Housing Benefit I'm entitled to?

On this page:

Housing Benefit entitlement if you are a Council or Housing Association tenant

Housing Benefit entitlement if you are a private tenant

Council or Housing Association tenants

How much housing benefit you get depends on:

your ‘eligible*’ rent
if you have a spare room
your household income - including benefits, pensions and savings (over £6,000)
your circumstances, for example the age of people in the house or if someone has a disability

*Your eligible rent is the amount used to calculate your Housing Benefit claim. It's your actual rent plus any eligible service charges you pay (such as for lift maintenance or a communal laundry) but not things like heating costs for your home.

How we calculate Housing Benefit based on the number of spare bedrooms

Spare bedrooms

Your Housing Benefit could be reduced if you live in council or social housing and have a spare bedroom.

The reduction is:

14% of the ‘eligible rent’ for 1 spare bedroom
25% of the ‘eligible rent’ for 2 or more spare bedrooms

Example

Your eligible rent is £100 per week, but you have 1 spare bedroom. That means your eligible rent is reduced by 14%, to £86 per week. Your Housing Benefit will be calculated using that figure.

Please note: The reduction of Housing Benefit for spare bedrooms only applies if you are under pension age.

Sharing bedrooms

The following are expected to share:

an adult couple
2 children under 16 of the same sex
2 children under 10 (regardless of sex)

The following can have their own bedroom:

a single adult (16 or over)
a child that would normally share but shared bedrooms are already taken, for example you have 3 children and 2 already share
a couple or children who cannot share because of a disability or medical condition
an overnight carer for you, your partner, your child or another adult - this is only if the carer does not live with you but sometimes has to stay overnight

One spare bedroom is allowed for:

an approved foster carer who is between placements but only for up to 52 weeks from the end of the last placement
a newly approved foster carer for up to 52 weeks from the date of approval if no child is placed with them during that time

Please note: Rooms used by students and members of the armed or reserve forces will not be counted as ‘spare’ if they’re away and intend to return home.

Private tenants

How much Housing Benefit you get depends on:

your Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate or
your ‘eligible*’ rent

**Whichever is lower**

your household income including benefits, pensions and savings

Local Housing Allowance (LHA)

Your Local Housing Allowance rate, will depend on:

How many bedrooms you need
The number of people in your household
The area you live in

Please note: Most single private renters under 35 only get the shared accommodation rate of Local Housing Allowance, even if they don’t share their home with anyone.

There are some circumstances where the shared accommodation rate does not apply even if you are under 35, including if you:

are under the age of 25 and used to be in care
are severely disabled
share with another adult who is a member of your family (known as a non-dependent)
are aged between 16-34 and have spent three months in a homeless hostel

Number of bedrooms

The maximum number of bedrooms you are allowed to claim for under the Local Housing Allowance is 4.

You can still rent a larger house, but you will only get benefit for up to 4 bedrooms.

You are assessed as needing a bedroom for each of the following:

adult couple
other adult aged over 16 or over
two children of the same sex up to the age of 16
two children regardless of sex under the age of 10
any other child
a non-resident carer if you are claiming middle or higher rate care Disability Living Allowance (opens in a new tab) or Attendance Allowance (opens in a new tab)
a member of a couple who can’t share a bedroom because of a disability
a disabled child under 16 who can’t share a room because of their disability
a child in the armed forces who is away on duty and who lived with you before they went away and intends to return.

An extra bedroom is allowed if you need one for a:

foster child or children
non-resident carer (or team of carers) who regularly stays overnight to provide care to you or another household member because of a disability

You can use the Local Housing Allowance website (opens in a new tab) to help you calculate the maximum number of bedrooms you are entitled to.

Housing Benefit