Below is a definition of some of the most commonly used housing benefit terms.
| Commonly used terms |
Definitions |
| Annual review date |
This is the date we will review your benefit each year to make sure your circumstances are the same. |
| Annual uprating |
The yearly increase the government makes to benefits and tax allowances. |
| Applicable amount |
This is the basic weekly amount the government says someone in your circumstances needs to live on. |
| Boarder |
A boarder is someone who has a responsibility to pay you, a charge which includes payment for some cooked or prepared meals. Boarders can claim housing benefit in their own right but not council tax benefit. |
| Carer |
A carer does not count as a non-dependant or boarder, if he or she is looking after the claimant or their partner and is employed by a charitable or voluntary organisation which makes a charge for the service |
| Disregarded income |
This is an amount of income we can effectively ‘ignore’ for the purposes of calculating your housing benefit claim. |
| Household |
Refers to anyone who lives in your home as part of a unit. |
| Joint occupiers |
A joint occupier is someone other than the claimant's partner who is jointly responsible to pay council tax and or pay rent for a property. Joint tenants may get benefit in their own right. When calculating benefit the total council tax and or rent will be split between them. |
| Local housing allowance rates (LHA) |
The maximum rental figures used to calculate housing benefit for people renting their home from private landlords. |
| Non dependents |
A non dependent is someone in your household aged 18 or over, who is not your partner. |
| Non dependent deduction |
This is the amount we will take from your benefit if you have a non dependent living in your household. The non dependent is expected to make an equal contribution towards your bills. |
| Shared facility |
A shared facility is where you have one room for your use, and share facilities, such as a kitchen, with others. |
| Tenants and sub-tenants |
A tenant or sub-tenant is someone who is contractually responsible to pay the claimant for the right to occupy part of the claimant's home.
A tenant or sub-tenant is able to claim housing benefit in their own right. However, if we think the tenancy or sub-tenancy is set up purely to gain benefit, we will not award housing benefit and the tenant/sub-tenant is treated as a non-dependant.
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