Housing Benefit
People on a low income and low savings are given Housing Benefit to help pay their rent.
It is assessed based on income, savings and the number of people within the household. There is a maximum amount of benefit which a person can receive.
You can no longer apply for Housing Benefit unless you are of pension age. If you are of working age you will need to apply for Universal Credit through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for help with your housing costs.
How to apply for Housing Benefit
You must complete the Housing and Council Tax Benefit application form (PDF 480Kb).
Once you have filled in the form, send it back to East Ayrshire Council's Revenues and Benefits Section. You will also need to provide proof of your income and identity.
You should return the form as soon as possible, if you delay returning the form you may lose benefit.
If you claim Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment Support Allowance you may be given a Housing and Council Tax Reduction Claim form (HCTB1) by the Department for Work and Pensions. If this is the case you should complete the form and return it to the Department for Work and Pensions who will pass it to us.
If you claim Pension Credit you may be given a Housing and Council Tax Reduction claim form by the Pension Service. If this is the case you should complete the form and return it to the Pension Service who will in turn pass it to us.
Housing Benefit is subject to strict controls to ensure that it is only paid to those who are entitled to it. This means that verification of information is vital and all documents must be original, photocopies cannot be accepted. You can take your original documents to any local office where they will be copied, verified and returned to you. If you do not provide original documents your benefit cannot be paid.
We accept proof such as birth certificate, passport, National Insurance card, medical card or driving licence.
Your National Insurance number can be verified using your National Insurance card or official documents such as wage slips, letters from Department for Work and Pensions or tax office.
If you do not have all of the evidence required for your application you should still submit your form, otherwise you may lose out on benefit. Benefit is generally awarded from the Monday following the date we receive your claim. You should note on your application what you are waiting for and when it is expected.
Once you have supplied all the information required to process your application, your claim should be assessed within 14 days. It may take longer if we have to write to you to provide us with further details.
How to apply for Council Tax Reduction
You must complete the Housing and Council Tax Benefit application form (PDF 480Kb) and provide evidence of your income.
If you claim Universal Credit you may be given a Council Tax Reduction form at the Department of Work and Pensions, however you will now have to complete the application form.
If you claim Universal Credit the Department for Work and Pensions will calculate your entitlement to Universal Credit. You will be able to view your assessment on your online journal and you should provide this information to East Ayrshire Council. We will use this information in order to assess your entitlement to Council Tax Reduction.
If you dispute any of the income which the Department of Work and Pension have used in your assessment you must contact them through your online journal.
When you make your application for Council Tax Reduction the first page will tell you about the form and what evidence is required to process your application. If you do not have all of the evidence required for your application you should still submit your form, otherwise you may lose out on Council Tax Reduction.
Council Tax Reduction is generally awarded from the Monday following the date we receive your claim. You should note on your application what you are waiting for and when it is expected. If you have recently claimed Universal Credit we are aware that this evidence will take longer to get to us.
Once you have supplied all the information required to process your application, your claim should be assessed within 14 days. It may take longer if we have to contact you to provide us with further details.
For further help and advice call the Revenues and Benefits Section.
Income Support and Job Seeker's Allowance
The Department for Work and Pensions pay Income Support to people on low incomes who are unable to work. Anyone who works less than 16 hours per week or has little or no income may also get it, as long as they meet certain criteria.
Jobseeker’s Allowance is paid to people who are not currently working but are looking for work.
There are two types of Jobseeker’s Allowance; income-based (IB) and contribution-based (CB):
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
This is a new benefit which replaces Incapacity Benefit and Income Support for people who are sick or disabled. This benefit was introduced on 27 October 2008. There are two parts of ESA:
- income-related
- contributory
People who are already getting Incapacity Benefit or Income Support for incapacity for work will continue to receive these benefits until they are transferred to ESA.
Tax credits
Tax credits are paid by HM Revenue and Customs and can be used to top up your income. You may qualify for tax credits if you have children, or are working and on a low income or both. You can claim tax credits by contacting HM Revenue & Customs.
Pension credits
Pension credit is a payment The Pension Service makes to people on low incomes, or who have a small amount of savings or a private pension or both. You can apply for Pension Credit if you are 60 or over.
There are two types of Pension Credit – Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit. If you are 60 to 64 and are entitled to Pension Credit, you will get Guarantee Credit. If you are over 65, you may get Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit or both.
Council Tax discount
As well as Council Tax Reduction and Second Adult Rebate, we can reduce your Council Tax with:
- discounts
- exemptions
- reductions for people with disabilities
You can get Council Tax discount of 25% if you are the only adult living in a property. We disregard some adults when we look at the number of adults living in a property to award a discount.
Examples of adults who are disregarded are:
- full-time students
- people with severe mental impairment
- carers
- some 18 and 19 year olds for whom you receive child benefit
- people in prison
When a property is empty, there may be a time when it is exempt from Council Tax. This means that nobody is responsible for paying Council Tax for that property. Certain properties may also be exempt even when people are living in them, for example, if all the residents are full-time students. However, if a property has been empty for over a year a levy of 100% of the council tax charge will be applied unless the property is actively being marketed for sale or rent.
If a disabled person living in the property has to use a wheelchair indoors or has an extra room because of their needs, we may reduce their Council Tax.
Council Tax exemption
You will need to complete a form to make application for one of these reductions:
Housing Benefit for students
Most full-time students cannot claim Housing Benefit. However there are some groups who may be eligible.
You may qualify if you fall into one of the eligible student groups detailed below:
- students on Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based) or income support
- part-time students
- students under 19 in further education
- students under 20 for whom child benefit is payable
- students aged 60 plus, or whose partners are 60 plus
- students, couples and lone parents, who are responsible for a dependant child
- students who qualify for a disability premium
- students who receive short-term higher rate incapacity benefit
- students who do not get incapacity benefit, but are incapable of work as decided by the Department for Work and Pensions
- students who have a UK grant which includes an allowance for deafness
- students unable to get a grant or student loan following an absence from their studies due to illness or providing care to another person
Anyone on a low income may be able to get Housing and/or Council Tax Reduction. The amount payable will depend on your income, including self employed earnings, your savings and your family circumstances.
In order to verify your self-employed earnings we will ask to see your latest accounts. If you have just started your business and you do not have accounts as yet we will ask you to complete a self employed form giving details of the income and outgoings from the business.
We will calculate your self-employed earnings based on the net profit of your business over a specified trading period.
Change of circumstances
You must inform us of your change in circumstances immediately by completing the online form below. If your income has decreased you may be entitled to more benefit.
Change of circumstances online form
Extended payments of Housing/Council Tax Reduction
Extended payments help long-term unemployed people who find work, by giving those four weeks extra Housing and Council Tax Reduction. If you think you may be due extended payment you should contact the Department for Work and Pensions who in turn will advise us of your entitlement. In order to qualify you must have been in receipt of certain state benefits for at least 26 weeks prior to gaining employment.
When the extended payments are finished you may still qualify if you are working and on low income. To allow us to assess your entitlement you will have to complete a new application and provide details of your new income.
Download the Housing and Council Tax Benefit application form (PDF 480Kb).
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs)
These are extra payments to help pay your rent. We can give DHPs to people who are claiming benefit and who need more help to meet their housing costs, if these are more than the amount of benefit they receive.
Right of appeal
You should contact us and tell us why you think our decision is wrong. You can ask us to:
- explain our decision
- look at it again
- appeal against our decision
Overpayments
This is when more Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction is awarded than the person is entitled to. This can happen when we revise or supersede an award.
Fraud
If you are aware of anyone who is a benefit cheat please help us in the detection of this crime by:
The information you give will be treated in the strictest confidence.
Universal Credit
Universal Credit is paid by the DWP for certain people who are currently not working or are on a low wage. If you are in receipt of Universal Credit we cannot pay any Housing Benefit to you as your housing costs are included with your UC payment.