Making a housing benefit claim

Find out if you could get help with your rent and how to apply for housing benefit.

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Making a housing benefit claim

Housing Benefit can help you pay your rent if you are on a low income, and you have reached State Pension age or live in temporary or supported accommodation.

If this does not apply to you, you will need to claim Universal Credit  for help with your rent instead.

You can use this form to claim Council Tax Support with us for help with your Council Tax bill.
Apply for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support online here 
 
You can claim housing benefit if:
  • you have reached State Pension age
  • you live in temporary accommodation
  • you live in sheltered or supported housing with special facilities such as alarms or wardens
If not, you’ll need to claim Universal Credit instead.
 
You can use our benefits calculator to give you an instant estimate of what you could claim. Please remember the calculator is only an estimate and we cannot guarantee this is the exact amount you would receive.

The following will be required:
  • details of your income
  • details of your capital (bank/savings accounts)
  • the amount of rent you pay
  • the amount of council tax you pay
The allowance for privately rented accommodation is called local housing allowance and the rates are set separately. This is based on how many bedrooms your household needs. 

Click here to find out how many bedrooms you are eligible for.

You can view the current local housing allowance rates here



 

To claim housing benefit you can:



Original documentary evidence is required to support your claim – we cannot accept photocopies and we need to see documents for both claimants and, if applicable, partners.

 

Help to complete your form
You can contact us on 0345 600 6400. 

When your benefit will start
If you qualify for housing benefit or council tax support (or both), we will normally pay your benefit from the Monday after you asked us for an application form, if the application has been returned within one month of contact.

There are two types of financial support available to help you to meet your council tax payments - main council tax support and second adult rebate.

From 1 April 2019 the level of support for all working age claimants (18 to state retirement pension age) will reduce by 8% to a maximum level of 92%. Click here for further details on Council Tax support

You can apply for Council Tax Support Online here

Backdated housing benefit claims

If there is a reason that has prevented you from applying sooner, you can ask for this to be backdated.

Good cause is a reason that prevented you from claiming benefit earlier. We look at each cause individually, and may include the following:
  • You were ill and no-one else could claim for you.
  • You were waiting for a decision on other benefits.
  • You were given incorrect advice by an official organisation.
  • You did not understand you could claim because of your age.
  • You have language difficulties.
  • You have difficulty understanding technical documents.
  • You did not claim immediately after leaving hospital, prison or long-term care.
  • You were not able to manage your own affairs and received no help.
  • A close relative died.
These examples are a guide only and are not a list of all possible reasons. If you forgot to claim, or did not know how to, this would not be a valid reason on its own.
If you think you have good cause, please contact us immediately on 0345 600 6400 or by downloading, completing then posting the backdated request form

Proof of income, savings and rent payments will be required for the period of backdating, as well as any proof to support your reasons.

Completed forms and evidence should be returned to The Benefit Department, Northumberland County Council, Wansbeck Square, Ashington, Northumberland, NE63 9XL
We will make the decision on backdated claims based on the information provided, then will write to you and inform you of the decision. If we decide not to backdate, we will tell you why.

If you do not agree with a decision, contact us and ask us to review this again. This must be done within one month of the decision letter.

You can also ask for a written statement from us, which will give you more information. If you are still not satisfied, you can appeal to us in writing. Please also have a look at our backdating factsheet

Appealing against your benefit decision

There are different ways in which you can appeal.

 You can:
  • ask us to explain our decision (statement of reason)
  • ask us to look at your claim again (revision or reconsideration)
  • appeal against our decision
Only a person affected by our decision can appeal. This includes:
  • the claimant
  • a court-appointed person acting on behalf of the claimant
  • someone who the council agrees is appointed to act on behalf of the claimant
  • a landlord – but only in matters relating to who payment of benefits is to be made
  • an agent – but only in matters relating to who payment of benefits is to be made
  • any person from who it is determined an overpayment is to be recovered
Please also have a look at our appeals factsheet.
A person affected can ask us to provide a written statement of reason explaining how we reached our decision. This should be requested within one month of the date the decision was made.

The statement of reason does not affect your right to appeal. We aim to provide a statement within 14 days, so far as this is practicable. 
We will review the decision regarding a claim to ensure this has been done correctly. Requests for revision are to be made either in writing, or by completing a revision request form, and must be made within one month of the decision notice.

The decision will be reviewed by a new officer. After reconsideration, we will write to the person affected as to whether the decision has changed. We may request further information before a final decision is made.

This information must be provided within one month of request. We aim to provide a reply within 14 days, so far as this is practicable.
If you still do not agree with our decision, you may be able to appeal to Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, who are independent of the council and Department of Work and Pensions.

A judge will look at your case and make a decision. The request must be made in writing and must be received by us within one month of the date on the decision notification letter:

Benefit Section
Northumberland County Council
Wansbeck Square
Ashington
NE63 9XL
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service will write to you with details of the hearing. You will be asked if you want to attend, or whether you would prefer the tribunal to consider their case in your absence; this is called a ‘paper hearing’. If you, or the council, feel this decision is wrong in law, they can seek leave to appeal to the upper tribunal.

Important note
The amount of benefit payable is a matter between the council and claimant. Only the tenant can ask the council to review the amount of benefit payable. If the council reduces a tenant’s benefit to recover overpayment in respect of a previous address, the landlord cannot appeal against this.
 

Housing benefit change of circumstances

It is crucial that you inform of us of any changes in circumstances. These changes can relate to yourself, or another member of your household.

If your circumstances have changed, you must notify us within one month of the change to ensure you don’t lose money you are entitled to, or receive too much money that you will have to pay back.

Please see below for our benefits calculator:

How to report a change of circumstances:


By post
If you need to notify us of a change of circumstances: If you receive Housing Benefit from Northumberland Council and are moving within the Northumberland area, you can fill out a change of address form:
To ensure your change in circumstances is processed as soon as possible your form should be posted to:
Benefit Section
Northumberland County Council
Wansbeck Square
Ashington
Northumberland
NE63 9XL

It is important you provide us with the original evidence that supports your change in circumstances where appropriate, for example, pay slips, bank statements or birth certificates.
 

If you require further help or information, please phone 0345 600 6400 (charged at your local rate).

Examples of changes you must tell us about: 

Changes to your income
You need to tell us if:
  • you, or anyone living with you, gets a job (regardless of working hours), changes their job, or leaves their job
  • ​you start or stop getting income support, jobseekers' allowance, employment support allowance
  • you start or stop getting tax credits
  • the money you or your partner gets increases or decreases
  • the money non-dependants get increases or decreases
  • there are any other changes in the money people in your home get
Changes in your home
You need to tell us if:
  • you change your address
  • the number of people in your home changes
  • anyone moves into or out of your home (including lodgers/sub-tenants)
  • ​your rent changes, your landlord changes, or moves
Other changes
You need to tell us if:
  • you, or your partner, go into hospital for more than six weeks
  • you, or your partner, become a student, or stop being a student
  • the amount of savings or capital you have changes
  • ​any of your children leave school or home
  • someone starts to receive Universal Credit
PLEASE NOTE: In all cases, it is your duty to notify us of any changes in your circumstances. Do not rely on someone else to pass the message on.

Reporting benefit fraud

People who deliberately claim benefits they are not entitled to are committing a criminal offence. If a landlord, who is paid housing benefit directly, fails to notify the council their tenant has left the property, they may be committing benefit fraud.

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