Housing Benefit - Concepts and Terminology

Concepts and Terminology

Housing Benefit will only meet the pure rent costs of any liability. Central to benefit decisions is an assessment of eligible rent and ineligible services. Eligible rent is that part of the rent paid by a person which can legally be covered by housing benefit. Ineligible services are the parts of the claimant's rent liability that he must meet himself. Ineligible services include such things as the cost of heating, lighting, water rates, meals and any general counselling and support that may be included in the rent charged but will not be met by Housing Benefit.

The payment of the benefit is centred on the concept of a benefit week, which is a seven day period running from a Monday to a Sunday. Housing Benefit may be paid on a weekly, fortnightly, lunar monthly or calendar monthly basis. Housing Benefit paid to landlords is usually paid four weeks in arrears. Regulations require local authorities to take into account the needs of the claimant when deciding on the frequency of benefit payments, however due to the complexity of calculating a calendar monthly payment and especially any overpayments that arise, most local authorities pay benefit fortnightly to claimants and four weekly to landlords.

For claimants not on a "passported benefit", the concept of a benefit week is particularly important as benefit will only be paid from the start of a tenancy if the form is requested on the same benefit week as moving in. In all other cases for tenants not on a passported benefit, Housing and Council Tax Benefit will start only from the Monday after the form was requested. If the form is returned within a month of request, otherwise benefit is payable from the Monday after the council receives it.

Applicants who successfully apply for a passported benefit along with their Housing Benefit have a calendar month to return the Housing Benefit form, from the date of application to the passported benefit. If the form is returned within one month of that date benefit starts from the Monday after the start date of the passported benefit - even if that benefit is backdated.

An increasing number of local authorities have scrapped or are scrapping paper claim forms.

The process for claiming from these local authorities therefore differs. For claimants who are applying for a benefit administered by the Department for Works and Pensions, details for claiming Housing and Council Tax Benefit will be taken over the phone by the Department for Work and Pensions. These details will then be forwarded to the local authority. The date of claim will be the date you first contacted the Department for Works and Pensions.

For claimants not applying to the Department for Work and Pensions, the details will be taken by the local authority. The claimant will need to call for an appointment and the date of claim will be treated as the date he contacted the Local Authority.