How do I apply for Housing Benefit?

Housing Benefit is means-tested. This means that your income and savings are taken into consideration when applying.

On this page:

Before you apply

Please check that you are eligible to claim Housing Benefit.

If you are eligible, please apply as soon as possible – as payments can’t always be backdated

You’ll need:

Proof of ID e.g. driving licence, passport, bank statement, marriage certificate, utility bill (for you and your partner)
Other documents like your tenancy agreement, payslips or pension advice slips.

Complete an online Housing Benefit application form
Upload supporting evidence (if you have not already done this as part of your initial application)

You will need a My Account to use this service.

If you are not registered for a My Account

You can create an account by choosing 'Register' and providing an email address and password.

You will then need to add your Council Tax account reference to your My Account Homepage and then select ‘View my Council Tax Account’

Then select ‘New Claims’ and ‘Make a New Claim’ under the Benefits heading.

Request an application form:

Make a note of your claim reference number in case you need to get in touch with us.
We will review your application form and be in touch if we need any more information.

Important

Tell us straight away if:

you think you’ve been overpaid
your circumstances change e.g. income going up or down, changes to pension or savings, partner moving in or out of your household etc…

As you may have to pay back your Housing Benefit if you’ve been overpaid.

Usually from the Monday after we get your application.

You can ask for it to be backdated if you had a good reason for not applying sooner.

Working age: up to 1 month (if it is felt there is a good reason for the delayed application)
Pension-age: up to 3 months (this will be automatically updated)

You will need to:

Please note: You must provide details of why you did not apply earlier