Housing benefit (HB) is help with rent and some other housing costs. This does not include mortgage costs, which may be met if you claim income support.
This factsheet outlines the housing benefit system in England, Scotland and Wales. You can find out information on the Northern Ireland system from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive website at www.nihe.gov.uk/housing_benefit/ and the Land and Property Services website at www.lpsni.gov.uk/.
You can get housing benefit if you:
People living in private sector rented accommodation in certain areas may have their entitlement to HB assessed in a different way to tenants in other sectors. This is known as local housing allowance (LHA).
The local housing allowance scheme applies across the whole of Great Britain, but if you move or claim benefit after 7 April 2008. If you moved into your private sector rented accommodation before this date the information contained within this factsheet applies.
You can find out more information about LHA in our Factsheet F11 - local housing allowance, available on the web at www.disabilityalliance.org/f11.htm.
The term "right to reside" is not defined but is dependent on your immigration status and nationality. You might have a right to reside under United Kingdom rules, EC law or because you are a British citizen.
The habitual residence test is a test to see if you normally live in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Republic of Ireland or the Isle of Man). The test will be applied if you have been living abroad.
There is no legal definition of 'habitual residence'. Relevant factors are where you normally live, where you expect to live in future, your reasons for coming to this country, the length of time spent abroad before you came here, and any ties you still have with the country where you have come from.
However, the test should not be applied if someone:
If these do not apply, a Decision Maker (DM) will decide whether you are habitually resident or not. Get advice if you fail this test.
The amount you get will vary depending on your circumstances. You can view the current benefit rates on our website at www.disabilityalliance.org/benrate.htm.
You may not get all of your rent paid if your property is considered too large for your needs or it is considered too expensive.
Your housing benefit may also be affected if you have any other adults living with you apart from your partner.
If you find work and are on income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance your housing benefit can continue at your old rate for four weeks.
You can claim housing benefit at the same time as you claim income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance. You can also claim from your local authority using their claim form.
You may not get housing benefit if you are a care leaver under 18 where social services are responsible for accommodating you, you are in a care home or you are a ‘person from abroad’ or ‘subject to immigration control’.
Full-time students cannot get HB unless they fall within certain groups. If you have a partner and only one of you is a full-time student, the other one can get HB for you both.
You are eligible for housing benefit as a student if you:
If you are claiming income support (IS) your housing benefit department will not need to calculate your income.
If you don’t get IS, your housing benefit department will assess your income in much the same way as means tested benefits. There are special rules for the treatment of a student loan and grant income. The treatment of income is much the same as under income support but all students, including disabled students, are assumed to receive the full assessed parental contribution towards their loan.
If you have a partner and have to live in two separate homes while you are on the course, you can get HB for both homes only if you are eligible for HB as a student.
Full-time students living in accommodation provided by their educational establishment can claim for this accommodation if they are eligible for HB. Part-time students renting accommodation from their educational establishment may also be able to get help if they can establish that they are eligible for HB had they been a full-time student.
You can get help at a local advice centre, such as a citizen's advice bureau. You can get more information about this from our factsheet F15, Finding a local advice centre, which is available at www.disabilityalliance.org/f15.htm.
You can also find out more information about housing benefit in Disability Alliance's Disability Rights Handbook, available to buy at www.disabilityalliance.org/drh33.htm.
If you just want to know more about the personal allowances and premiums used when calculating housing benefit see our Factsheet F45 - income support.
You can find out more about the employment and support allowance factsheets F31 - F34 and in Disability Alliance's Employment and support allowance guide. These are available on our website at www.disabilityalliance.org/esa.htm.
You can obtain copies of our factsheets by contacting Disability Alliance on 020 7247 8776 (voice and minicom) or by fax on 020 7247 8765.
April 2008
