For further information, please contact the housing benefit team:
- email hbsupportteam@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
- contact us using our online form
- phone 023 9283 4556
What is housing benefit
Housing benefit is to help certain people on a low income who pay rent for where they live. Housing benefit is a means-tested benefit.
Who can claim housing benefit?
You can claim housing benefit if:
- you are a resident in supported exempt accommodation, or
- you have been placed in temporary accommodation by Portsmouth City Council, or
- you and your partner have reached State Pension age, or
- you or your partner has reached State Pension age and started claiming Pension Credit for you as a couple before 15 May 2019.
Who can't claim housing benefit?
Some people aren't eligible for housing benefit. You are not eligible if:
- you don't fall into any of the categories listed in the "Who can claim Housing Benefit?" section
- you don't pay rent
- you rent a former joint home from your ex-partner
- you rent from a close relative who lives in the same home as you
- you are the parent or guardian of your landlord's child
- you live in your home as part of your job
- you live in a care home, such as a nursing home or old peoples' home
- your partner, or both of you together have more than £16,000 in savings (except for some pensioners).
How do I claim housing benefit?
Tell us as soon as you can if you want to claim housing benefit, because we start counting from the day we get your first phone call, email, or letter. All you need to tell us at this stage is your name, contact details and national insurance number.
Then you’ll need to complete our online form, provide supporting evidence. If you’re claiming council tax support as well as Housing Benefit, you can do this on the same Housing Benefit and council tax support form.
The forms are also available from one of our Housing Offices. If you’d like some help filling in the form, contact the Housing Benefit Support Team. All questions relating to your housing benefit and council tax support claim should be answered truthfully.
Fraud occurs with housing benefit or council tax support when:
- A person gets more than they are entitled to by knowingly, or dishonestly, withholding or falsifying information related to their claim.
Learn more about benefit fraud.
How is Housing Benefit calculated?
It is a means-tested benefit where the amount you get depends on how much money you make, your situation, who lives with you, any other help you get, and any savings you have. If you have a partner, your combined income and savings will be taken into account.
Housing Benefit should pay for part or all your rent, not for other costs, for example fuel or meals. Any adults living with you can affect how much Housing Benefit you receive.
You can find more information about local housing allowance and changes to housing benefits on our Local Housing Allowance page.
How long will it take to process my claim?
It usually takes about 28 days to check your housing benefit claim. After that, it can take up to another seven days for you to get your first payment.
It might take longer if you didn’t give us all the information we asked for, or if we need to ask you for more details.
If you have an outstanding claim and are having problems with your tenancy, click the link to the Housing Benefit team on the contact us page.
How is housing benefit paid?
- If you are a council tenant your benefit will be paid weekly to your rent account
- If you are a housing association tenant your benefit will be paid fortnightly in arrears directly into your bank or building society account or by cheque
- If you rent from a private landlord, we give you money every two weeks to help pay for it. We calculate this differently. To learn more about how we do this, you can check out our Local Housing Allowance page.
The application form asks for details of the account you want to use. You can write to ask that your housing benefit be paid direct to your landlord every four weeks in arrears.
If you’re living in the property, housing benefit is usually paid from the Monday after the claim form is received. If we receive the claim form the same week the tenancy starts, we’ll pay housing benefit from the start of the tenancy. We only give you money before you move into a new home in special cases. For example, if you can't move in yet because the new home is being changed to help a family member who has a disability.
Can I appeal against a housing benefit decision?
If you're unhappy with the outcome of your housing benefit claim decision, you may be able to ask for the decision to be reviewed. You can learn more about the appeals procedure.
I already receive housing benefit, can I backdate my claim?
If you or your partner are old enough to get pension credit, you don’t need to ask for your housing benefit to be paid for past months. It will automatically be paid for up to three months before you ask for it, as long as you meet the income and savings rules.
If you are old enough to work, you can ask for your claim to be paid for up to one month before the day we get your request. We need to be satisfied with the reasons you give for not asking earlier, and we need to make sure those reasons existed for the whole period you want the backdated money.
These reasons are known as ‘good cause’. It’s up to you to prove ‘good cause’, which means that any reasonable person of your age, experience or circumstances would also have failed to claim benefit.
- did not claim benefit while in hospital or within a reasonable time after leaving hospital
- were ill and had no-one to make a claim on your behalf
- did not understand that you could claim benefit – perhaps because of age, inexperience or language difficulties
- suffered a recent family bereavement
The more details and proof you give us, the faster we can decide. Sometimes, we might need to ask you for more information or ask you to come in and talk about your claim. We will send you a letter to tell you our decision. If we can’t change the date of your claim, we will explain why in the letter. You can ask us to look at our decision again if you don’t agree.
I think I've been paid too much housing benefit - what should I do?
There are several ways you can pay back overpaid housing benefit:
- If you’re still receiving housing benefit, we could reduce this each week by a certain amount. If you think the amount we want to take from your housing benefit will make things hard for you, please call the Housing Benefit Overpayment Debt Recovery Team.
- If you stop receiving housing benefit, we may send you an invoice:
- You can pay this invoice with a credit or debit card anytime online,
- using our automated phone payment service on 0800 876 6576 or
- contact us at the Housing Benefit Overpayment Debt Recovery Team.
- Have ready the reference number shown on your invoice.
- You can pay by cheque, payable to Portsmouth City Council.
- Post cheques to: Revenues & Benefits, Benefits, Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2BE.
- Please don’t send cash through the post.
- Write the number from your bill on the back of the cheque.
- If you need a receipt, send your bill with the cheque.
You can pay by cash or cheque in person at one of the housing benefit offices listed on our contact us page.
If your landlord gets your housing benefit directly, sometimes we might ask them to give it back.
Fraud happens when someone gets more housing benefit than they should by knowingly withholding or falsifying information. This could be not telling us about money you or your partner have or not declaring someone else living in your household.
Our counter fraud team may recover the money from you.
Direct earnings attachments
A direct earnings attachment is a way for councils to get back money that was overpaid for housing benefits. This means employers take money from their employees’ salaries and give it to the council to pay off the debt.
Advice for employers can be found in the Employers guide to direct earnings attachment which explains:
- how to operate a direct earnings attachment
- how to work out how much should be deducted from the employee’s earnings
- how and when to pay deductions to the council
- employer’s responsibilities under the law
A payment schedule must be completed and sent to the council to give details of the amounts deducted from the employee’s wages:
- The completed schedule must be attached to any cheque payments or
- sent in separately when payments are made by BACS.
The full procedure is explained in the employers guide, however it is not intended to be a full description or statement of the law.
To see legislation for employers regarding direct earnings attachments, visit the official legislation website.
If you are an employer and have any questions not answered in the guide, please phone us on 023 9284 1643.
I have a carer. Will this affect my housing benefit?
It matters if your carer lives with you or not. To learn more about how your housing benefit changes if your carer doesn't live with you, check out our Housing Benefit – Carers page or talk to us for help.
Can I still get housing benefit if I'm not in the house?
Housing benefit is money that helps you pay for the place where you live. If you have to leave your home for a short time, you might still get this money, but only in some situations. To learn more about when you can get housing benefit while you're away, visit our Housing Benefit – temporary absences page.
I'm moving, can I claim housing benefit on both homes?
If you move from one home to another, rent might be payable on both houses at the same time. You may be able to claim housing benefit for both homes for a maximum of four weeks if:
- When you move to a new home and it's for good, your claim will help pay the rent for both places if you have to pay for both at the same time.
- You can't move into your new home yet because it is being changed to help you or a family member with special needs.
- you had to leave your home for fear of violence and intend to return (maximum absence of 52 weeks)
- your family is so large that the local authority has had to house your family in two properties (no time limit)
- you or your partner is a student studying away from home and needs to claim benefit elsewhere. You would need to prove that it is unavoidable and that it is reasonable to pay benefit on both homes (no time limit)
If you need to apply for housing benefit on two homes, use the online contact form to tell us about your change in circumstance.
What if the number of people living with me changes during the year?
If the number of people living in your home changes, you might need more or fewer bedrooms. This can change the amount of local housing allowance that will help pay for your home. Changes which can affect your local housing allowance are, for example:
- a young person reaching the age of 16
- or a child reaching the age of 10,
- or if there is a substantial change or improvement to the condition of your property.