Can I apply for help with my Council Tax or rent?

Council Tax - Local Council Tax Support

Rent - Universal Credit 

Rent - Housing Benefit

Help to pay my Council Tax - LOCAL COUNCIL TAX SUPPORT

Universal Credit does not include help towards the cost of your Council Tax. If you need help paying your Council Tax, please make sure you claim as soon as possible. 

Help to pay my rent - UNIVERSAL CREDIT (working-age only)

If you are applying for, or already getting Universal Credit (UC), you should receive a 'Housing Element' payment to help pay your rent, which will be included in your UC payment. You will be expected to make your UC claim online.

If you need help filling in the online form, please contact Citizens Advice.

Help to pay my rent - HOUSING BENEFIT

There are a small number of people who can still claim Housing Benefit:-

• you, and your partner if you have one, have both reached the qualifying age for Pension Credit (check your state pension age)
• you have been placed into temporary accommodation by our housing team; or
• you are living in supported accommodation and receive care, support or supervision from your landlord (or other organisation on your landlords' behalf)

If you have any questions about the accommodation you are in and are unsure which benefit to claim, please ask the Benefits Team for further advice before claiming.

To make a claim for Housing Benefit, if you fall in to one of the categories above, you will need to complete an online claim form. You must start your form as soon as you decide you want to claim. 

If you start your form and need to come back to it later, you can 'save' it, and then continue with a partially completed form. Just make sure you make a note of the reference number when you save it.

Forms can be filled in and submitted on a smart phone, tablet or computer using Wi-Fi or mobile data. If you do not have access to the internet, you could:

• use a computer at your local library (check their opening hours beforehand)
• use a friend or family member's device and / or internet
• ask your Support Worker to help you

The guide below can help with filling in the form. For any other problems, please contact the Benefits Team on 023 9254 5325.

Help with the claim form (PDF) [277KB]

EXTRA HELP??

If you are already getting some benefit to help pay your rent or Council Tax but the amount you get doesn't cover the full amount, extra help may be available. Our Discretionary Payments page has information about this.

If you would prefer to talk to us about this before applying, please get in touch on 023 9254 5325. Calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes.

For more information about electronic communications, see the  Electronic Communications Directive (PDF) [158KB]  authorising us to do this.

Local Council Tax Support (LCTS)

Local Housing Allowance

Housing Benefit Size Criteria and The Benefit 'CAP'