What is liability for rent?
What is liability for Council Tax?
How is benefit calculated?
How is benefit paid?
Can benefit be backdated?
Will all my Capital be taken into account?
How do I claim Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit?
What are the amounts of non-dependant deductions?

Question

Will all my wages/salary be included in the calculation?

Answer

If you are not in receipt of either IS (Income Support) or JSA (IB) (Job Seekers Allowance Income Based) you will need to declare on the application form all money coming into the household from whatever source i.e. wages; overtime; tips; bonuses; second jobs; benefits and allowances from the DWP/Inland revenue; pensions and any regular payments received. These are the main sources normally encountered but there are many others. You must declare everything. The Council will not include in the calculation anything you have declared but which should be discounted.

The DWP will have calculated the income amount to be used for benefit for those claimants who are receiving Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based) and this is the same as that used for Housing Benefit. The Claimant does not have to provide income details to the Council. Maximum Housing Benefit (but not necessarily the full rent) will be awarded once the Council has established entitlement to IS or JSA (IB).

Your partner’s income is added to your income and the total used for the assessment of your benefit.

Some income is disregarded i.e. Income Tax; National Insurance ; 50% of occupational pension contributions and some of your earnings, but this is dependant on a number of factors. Your award letter will show the amounts which have been disregarded in the calculation. The income used in the calculation will be listed in your award letter and you should check this carefully.

We will need to know the income of any Non-Dependant, including interest on his/her savings, to enable us to calculate the Non-Dependant Deduction.

It is the responsibility of the Claimant to ensure that the Council knows all the facts and that nothing has been omitted from the assessment because of a misunderstanding.

If you are self-employed it will be difficult for the Council to arrive at a figure which represents a weekly income for the current benefit period. You will be asked to supply the previous year’s accounts; estimates of the current position; evidence of income and expenditure; day-books and any other details that will help to establish the net income to be used in the calculation.

If you pay for childcare while you work some of your income may be disregarded in the calculation of Housing Benefit. This only applies if you use registered Childcare.

The more information provided at the time of application, the quicker the assessment can be made.

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Question

What is Capital?

Answer

Some capital is easy to identify and the value of other holdings is more difficult.

Many things can be described as Capital within the benefit rules and, as with Income, it is not possible to list everything here. The main difference between Capital and Income is that Income comes in regularly: weekly, monthly etc. However, Capital is the value placed on holdings that the claimant has available to him/her should that value be realised. This can be property; land; monies in bank and building society accounts; shares; bonds; savings or cash.

Some Capital is disregarded for the calculation of benefit and most personal possessions are ignored under this rule (clothes; cars; equipment for the home etc.). The Claimant’s normal home is also disregarded. These disregards will be applied automatically if declared on the application form.

Capital is calculated in a number of ways – a professional valuer will value the property and land and advise the Council the amount to be taken into consideration. The value of Shares is as at the day the claim is assessed.

When it would incur costs to realise the Capital involved the value is reduced by 10% to allow for this. In such cases the full value would not be available to the Claimant if the item were sold, unlike, for example, a bank account balance or the cashing-in of Premium Bonds.

Question

Does the fact that I own land or property affect my benefits?

Answer

The Claimant’s current, former or future home can be disregarded as can a home or other property (including non-domestic property) which the claimant has never occupied, if the conditions in the following paragraphs apply. The disregards described below can apply, one after another, so long as the relevant conditions are met.

The Claimants Home:

Disregard the capital value of the dwelling normally occupied as the Claimant’s home, and any land or buildings that are part of it or if it would be impractical to sell separately. There is no time limit. This disregard is limited to one home per claim but see the other headings below.

A Relative’s Home:

Disregard the capital value of the home of a partner or relative of anyone in the claimant’s family, if that partner or relative is aged 60+ or incapacitated. The property may be occupied by others as well as the partner or relative. Any number of properties may be disregarded under this rule.

An Intended Home:

Disregard the capital value of a property which the claimant intends to occupy as a home as follows:

In all cases, for 26 weeks from the date of acquisition or such longer period as is reasonable; and/or
If the claimant is taking steps to obtain possession (e.g. if there are squatters or tenants), for 26 weeks from the date the claimant first seeks legal advice or begins legal proceeding, or such longer period as is reasonable; and/or
If the property requires essential repairs or alterations, for 26 weeks from that date the claimant first takes steps to render it fit for occupation or reoccupation as his or her home, or such longer period as is reasonable. This could apply for example to the normal home of a claimant in temporary accommodation.

A Former Home:

There is no disregard of the capital value of a claimant’s former home, however, a former home may well fall within one of the following headings (which also apply to other property): if it does not, then it is taken into account as capital.

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Property for Sale:

Disregard the capital value of any property the claimant intends to dispose of, 26 weeks from the date when the claimant first takes steps to dispose of it, or for such longer period as is reasonable. This can apply to a former or second home or any other property. It can only apply to more than one property.\

Divorce or Estranged Couples and Polygamous Marriages:

If a claimant has actually divorced or become estranged from a former partner, disregard the whole capital value of the claimant’s former home (and any land or building which are part of it or are impracticable to sell separately) as follows:

For any period when it is occupied by the former partner if he or she is now a loan parent. This could begin straight after the divorce/estrangement, or later on, and there is no time limit in this case:
In any other case, for 26 weeks from the date of divorce or estrangement (e.g. if the former partner is not a loan parent at the time, or the property is empty). The time limit in this case cannot be extended, but the property may fall within one of the other disregards afterwards.

Note that (unlike in the next paragraph) the claimant must have formerly lived there as his or her home for this disregard to apply. ‘Estranged is not defined in the law and so carries its ordinary English meaning that the people in question no longer regard themselves as a couple or as being a polygamous marriage.

Separated or Split Couples and Polygamous Marriages:

If a claimant has not actually divorced or become estranged from a former partner, but the HB/CTB rules treat him or her as no longer being in a couple or polygamous marriage (e.g. because of the rules about absence of a partner) . Disregard the whole capital value of any property currently occupied as a home by the former partner. There is no time limit. (Note that unlike in the previous paragraph) it is irrelevant who used to live there.

Disputed Assets When A Relationship Ends:

When a relationship ends, ownership of a property may be in dispute. This can sometimes mean the current market value of the property is nil until ownership of the property is settled

Housing Association Deposits:

If the claimant and any partner are under 60, disregard in full as capital any amount deposited with a housing association in order to secure accommodation. There is no such disregard if the claimant or any partner is aged 60+.

A child or young person must be under 19 and in full time non advanced education. Once a young person leaves school and starts working they are classified as non-dependants.

Foster children are not counted as dependants, however to compensate the allowance received for their upkeep is not counted as income.

Question

What changes in my circumstances must I declare?

Answer

Housing and Council Tax Benefit are paid on a weekly basis according to the Claimants means. When we calculate your benefit, we will have used the figures that you have provided on your application form, or in the case of the self employed, the calculation net income for that period.

If there is subsequently a change to this income or to any capital used in the calculation, the Council must be informed immediately. Likewise if, for example, a child starts work or the income of a Non-Dependant changes, it could change the entitlement to benefit. The Claimant is committing an offence if he/she does not disclose a relevant change from the information previously declared to the Council and continues to receive incorrect benefit.

If the Claimant is on Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance (Income Based) the Council will have based the Housing Benefit on the assessment of income carried out by the DWP. It is most important that you inform both the DWP and the Council of changes to prevent overpayment of benefit that you will have to repay.

Other changes in circumstances which should be reported would be any change to the family unit, e.g. a Non-Dependant moving out.

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Question

What are sub-tenants?

Answer

When a person lets part of their property to another ‘Family Unit’, be it rooms or self contained accommodation it is known as ‘Sub Letting and this family become Sub-Tenants. The situation must be one of complete separation from the claimant’s family unit but may share bathroom and/or kitchen facilities.

The Sub-Tenant should have a Tenancy agreement with the Landlord and ideally be given a Rent Book to record the rent they pay.

The income to the Claimant from the rent received is taken into account in the calculation of benefit and must be declared to the Council and/or the DWP when applying for benefit, or must be reported if benefit is in payment when the Sub-Tenant is created.

Before Sub-Letting part of your accommodation you should take advice from your own Landlord, mortgage provider or the CAB, as there are many things to be considered outside the effect on your benefit entitlement.

Any valuation by the Rent Officer for the payment of benefit will reflect the accommodation available to the Claimant and will not include the part which is sub-let.

Question

Are there any special rules relating to people aged 60 or over?

Answer

There are two types of Pension Credit being Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit.

Guarantee Credit claims are processed as Income Support and JSA(IB) claims. This means that maximum benefit (but not necessarily the full rent) will be awarded once the Council has established the entitlement to Pension Guarantee Credit.

If Guarantee Credit is in payment, upper limits of capital are disregarded.

For Savings Credit, the Department for Work and Pensions will provide the Council with an Assessed Income Figure (AIF) which is the amount of income on which we must assess any benefit entitlement you may have.

Also the amount of capital holdings we disregard for people over 60 is £6000, with £1 for every £500 over £6000 being added to the weekly income.

Question

What is applicable amount?

Answer

Housing and Council Tax Benefit are awarded to Claimants who have limited financial means to support the payment of rent and Council Tax liabilities. Sometimes it is termed Means Tested, or Income Related. To discover if a Claimant is entitled to any benefit, the Council has to balance the weekly income against amounts which have been set by the Government.

The applicable amount (needs assessment) is built up by allowing separate amounts for various factors within the makeup of the family unit being considered. Therefore, households with children are allocated more than a single person. If a person is of retirement age or disabled, they will receive more allowance, as will a single parent or a Claimant with a disabled child.

This allowance is not a cash amount paid to a Claimant but purely a method of setting an amount to be compared with the weekly income.

The calculation of benefit entitlement will compare this figure with the weekly income and the amount of rent and Council Tax liability (see ‘The Calculation’).