Housing Benefit
Housing Benefit (also known as rent allowance or rent
rebate) is a means tested benefit that is intended to help
towards Housing costs for rented
accommodation.
Housing Benefit is only payable on properties that, for the purpose
of claiming Housing Benefit, are treated as your main residence and
can include payments towards ground rent for caravans and mooring
fee's for houseboats.
Housing Benefit is governed by Primary legislation including
The Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, the
Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 and the Housing Benefit (Persons
who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit)
Regulations 2006. It is normally administered, along with
council tax
benefit and second adult rebate, by the local
authority in whose area the property being rented lies.
On 7th April 2008 the government changed the way in which
Housing Benefit is processed and called the new scheme Local
Housing Allowance. For more information about Local Housing
Allowance, please click please see our pages here.
The Government is making changes to
LHA
s, starting in April 2011.
These changes lower
LHA
rates and affect all new
claims for
LHA
from 1
April 2011.
Please click on a heading below for more
information:
New Claim
Change of
Circumstances
Local Housing
Allowance
Backdate
Overpayments
Appeals
When processing Housing and Council Tax Benefit we have a duty
to protect public funds and to protect your personal information
under the Data Protection Act. For more information, please
click on the link below:
Fair Processing Statement and Fraud Notice
