To calculate how much Housing Benefit you are entitled to, we add together all your earned and unearned income. If you have a partner, we’ll include their income too.
We’ll deduct Income Tax, National Insurance and half of any pension contributions from your gross earnings.
If you’re paid monthly, we’ll work out the deductions using the average of two monthly payslips. The average is then converted into a weekly figure.
You’ll need to show us either two monthly payslips, two four-weekly payslips, three fortnightly payslips or five weekly payslips. All payslips must follow on from each other.
If you’ve just started work and don’t have these payslips, you can provide:
You will still need to provide the payslips listed above once you have received them.
If you’re self-employed, we’ll need to see your accounts. They should be for a recent trading period, for example the most recent financial year, or the last six to 12 months.
You’ll also need to supply evidence of your income and expenses by providing invoices and receipts for the relevant trading period.
We will work out your profit for the trading period and make the deductions. The remaining profit is then converted into a weekly figure.
If you have just started self-employment you can:
If you receive other welfare benefits they will be added to your claim and no amounts will be deducted. You will need to provide recent letters from the relevant departments confirming the benefits you receive.
We don’t count some income for the calculation of Housing Benefit, for example Child Benefit, Disability Living Allowance and 25% of money received from an ex-partner towards child maintenance.
We ignore a small amount from your earnings if you are working. This will depend on who is in your household and the number of weekly hours worked by you and/or your partner.
We calculate Housing Benefit using an applicable amount, which is the amount of money the government believes you (and your partner) need to meet your necessary weekly costs. The amount depends on the size and circumstances of your family.
We take your applicable amount away from your total weekly income, and any remaining income is known as your excess income.
To work out your applicable amounts we add up:
We treat student loans, grants and bursaries as income for Housing Benefit purposes.
Some childcare costs are not counted when we are working out your entitlement.
Capital is anything that has a monetary value, such as land and property, investments and savings.
Eligible rent is the maximum amount of Housing Benefit we can pay you regardless of how much your rent is.
Your bedroom requirement is the amount of bedrooms you need based on Housing Benefit regulations and the people living in your house.
A non-dependant is someone who normally lives with you such as an adult child, relative or friend and is not liable to pay Council Tax.
The benefits cap limits the amount of certain benefits you can get if you are under state pension age and you receive Housing Benefit. .
Your claim for Housing Benefit can be backdated for one month from the date of your form if you have a good reason for not applying sooner.