• What is housing benefit?
• Who can claim housing benefit?
• How is housing benefit calculated?
• How much benefit will I get?
• How do I claim?
• What evidence will I need to support my claim?
• Where can I get help to complete my claim form?
• How will I know if my claim is successful?
• Housing benefit & council tax benefit – contact details

Housing benefit is a national welfare benefit helping people on low incomes pay their rent. It is not linked to National Insurance contributions.

Housing benefit is available to all tenants who meet the criteria, including those renting from Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing or a Housing Association.

We calculate the amount of help you could get as a weekly amount.

If you rent your home from a private landlord, we will calculate your housing benefit using what's known as the 'Local Housing Allowance' rates (LHA). This is explained in more detail in the question How is housing benefit calculated?

You'll need to make a claim for housing benefit by completing an application form. As well as your information, the form asks for details about other people who live with you as part of your household. You'll also need to provide evidence of what you put on the form to support your claim.

If you get housing benefit you may be entitled to other benefits too. For example, if you are on a low income and you are the responsible person for council tax at your property, you may be able to claim council tax benefit as well.

• Council tax benefit and second adult rebate

Most people who rent their home can apply for housing benefit. This includes boarders and people living in hostels or in a bed and breakfast accommodation. Only one claim per household is allowed and your landlord cannot claim housing benefit for you.

You won't qualify for benefit if:

• you have capital including savings, shares and property other than your own house, of over £16,000, unless you are aged 60 or over and getting the 'guaranteed credit' of Pension Credit.
• you live with a member of your immediate family and pay them rent or board.
• we believe you have created an arrangement to take advantage of the housing benefit scheme.

If you are a student:
Most full time students won't be able to claim housing benefit because the government expects you to use other money, like your grant or student loan to pay your rent. However, you may be able to claim if you:

• are a lone parent.
• are a part-time student.
• are aged under 19 and you are not in higher education.
• are aged over 60.
• are responsible for a foster child.
• receive income support or Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based).
• qualify for a disability premium or your grant includes a disabled student's allowance.
• Have to interrupt your course, with the approval of the college or university, due to illness or caring responsibilities.

Even if you meet one of these criteria, you will not be able to claim benefit if you live in a hall of residence or a property owned by the college or university.

If you spend time abroad
You may be able to claim housing and council tax benefit if you go abroad for less than 13 weeks. The important issue is that you claim your benefit before you go away. If you fail to do this, you may not get your benefit backdated after you return to this country.
Basic benefit calculation
When we calculate your claim we will take into account your:

• family size and their circumstances,
• household's income, savings and capital and
• the amount of rent you have to pay.

We then compare your income to what the government says you need to live on in your circumstances. This amount is known as the "applicable amount".

When we calculate your income, the law says we can ignore the first £6,000 of your savings (£10,000 if you have reached the qualifying age for state pension), but we must add £1 to your income for each additional £500 you have over this limit.

If you have savings over £16,000 you will not qualify for benefit unless you are over 60 and receiving the 'guaranteed pension' element of Pension Credit.

Do you rent your home from a private landlord?
If you do, we still take into account your household's income, capital and savings as above, but will also use Local Housing Allowance rates (LHA) to calculate your claim.

First we calculate the number of bedrooms the government says your household needs (this is not necessarily the same number of bedrooms you have in your property), using the following rules:

• one bedroom for you (and your partner)
• one bedroom if you have a child in your household.
• one bedroom for any other adult (and their partner) living in your household.

The law says two children aged under 10 are expected to share a room, and two children of the same sex, aged under 16 are expected to share a room.

We can only allow rooms to full time household members, unless a disabled person has an established need for overnight care. In which case we can allow an additional bedroom. This means a tenant currently entitled to a 1 bed rate would become entitled to the 2 bed rate.

You can quickly calculate the number of bedrooms you would be allowed in your circumstances online

• Bedroom calculator

Once we've identified the number of bedrooms you're entitled to we then use the LHA rate which applies to that number of bedrooms to calculate your claim.

Rent Officers set the LHA rates (rent amounts) each month after checking local rental costs in the area for different types of accommodation, ranging from a single room in a shared house, up to properties with 4 bedrooms. These rates represent the maximum amount of benefit we can award.

• Local housing allowance (LHA) rates

Unfortunately we can't tell you exactly how much benefit you will get before we calculate your completed claim. However, we can give you an estimate. Simply complete our calculator for an instant housing, and council tax benefit estimate.

Remember this calculation is an estimate based on the information you supply today.

• Online calculator

You must complete an application form and provide the evidence asked for. We use the same form whether you want to apply for housing benefit, council tax benefit, or if you want to claim both.

You can download a form using the link below, or call in at one of our Customer Service Centres or Library and Information Offices. Alternatively, phone us and we'll send you one.

Return your completed application form, and original supporting evidence to us, although please do not send valuable documents through the post.

• Housing benefit and council tax benefit application form (PDF: 158kb)

You can make a claim when your tenancy is agreed, or as soon after as possible. Don't worry if you don't have all your evidence to support your claim yet.

We normally give you benefit from the Monday after we receive your claim so any delay could mean you lose out on money you could have had. However, we will usually only pay benefit once you move into your rented accommodation.

In special circumstances we may be able to pay housing benefit before you actually move in, for a maximum of four weeks.


We need to see evidence of everything you put on your claim form so we can confirm the details you have given us are right. This makes sure we safeguard public funds as far as possible from people making fraudulent claims.

You (and your partner if they live in the same household) must each provide proof of identity and National Insurance Number, otherwise the law says we can’t process your claim.

If you’re working, we’ll need to see:

• 5 recent wage slips if you’re paid weekly,
• 2 recent wage slips if you’re paid monthly or 4-weekly.

If you don’t have wage slips you can download our form called Claimant’s Earning Certificate for your employer to complete. If you’re self employed we’ll need to see your most recent accounts. If the business is new, or has been running for less than one year, please complete our Self Employed Earner form.

• Self employed earner
• Claimant’s earning certificate

If you pay for child care:
In certain circumstances we can ignore these costs for the purpose of calculating your claim. Even if we can ignore them, we still need to know they exist and see proof, such as a letter from the child care provider with their registration number.
We’re happy to help you complete your form, and to tell you what evidence you will need to give us. Use the contact details at the bottom of this page.

Alternatively you can visit one of the local advice agencies such as the Citizens Advice Bureau.
Once we have calculated your completed claim we will write to you to tell you you the outcome of your claim.

If you are entitled to benefit the letter will tell you how much you will receive.

It is important you check your letter to make sure the details we have used are correct.