Housing benefit – changes in circumstances

If you currently receive housing benefit and your circumstances change, let us know immediately by contacting Housing Benefit online. You should be aware that any overpaid Housing Benefit due to a change of circumstance may be recovered from you.

You must provide proof of the changes you have told us about. The information you need to provide will depend on what has changed. Please read the information below to identify what further information we require to process your change in circumstances:

If you are reporting a change in earnings, what you provide will depend on how often you are paid:

• If you are paid weekly, you must send us your five most recent wage slips.
• If you are paid fortnightly, you must send us your three most recent wage slips.
• If you are paid monthly you must send us your two most recent wage slips.
• If you have just started your job and do not have any wage slips please provide your contract of employment/confirmation letter confirming your salary.

All wage slips must be consecutive.

If you are reporting a change in self-employed earnings then you must complete a self-employed questionnaire with an estimate of your new earnings.

If you are reporting any other change in your income, you’ll need to provide evidence of the income that you or your partner receives. This could be:

• a P45
• pension slips from a former employer
• benefit award letters
• student grant or loan award letters
• proof of maintenance payments

If the change is to the amount of Employment & Support Allowance, Job Seekers Allowance, Income Support or Universal Credit you do not need to provide us with proof unless requested to do so.

If you are reporting a change in capital, and you and your partner have less than £6,000 total capital, we don’t need you to provide proof. You must have listed all your capital and told us the value of each. If you have more than £6,000 we will need to see proof such as statements covering the last 2 months for all accounts held. For all other investments and capital, provide certificates or other documentation.

If you are reporting a change in money you pay out, for example childcare, please arrange for your childcare provider to complete the childcare cost form.

If you make a parental contribution to a student, please provide proof of the amount you have to pay if the care is provided in term-time only.

If you are reporting a change in income of other people who live with you or someone moving in then we need to see proof of their income. This is unless they receive either Employment & Support Allowance, Job Seekers Allowance, Income Support or Universal Credit. Please refer to the Proof of earnings and the Proof of other income sections above to see what types of proof you need to send us.

If you are reporting a partner moving in we need to see proof of their National Insurance number, such as:

• National Insurance number card
• payslip from their current employer
• letter from the DWP or HMRC
• P45
• P60

In addition, we need to see proof of their identity, such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, passport, medical card, driving licence, UK residence permit, EEC identity card. You must also provide proof of all their income and capital – see ‘Change in income’ and ‘Change in financial circumstances’ sections above.

If you are reporting the birth of a child or a child moving in we need to see their birth certificate.

If you are reporting someone in household moving out we need to confirm their new address.

If you are reporting a change in rent, or a change of address, then we need to see a current tenancy agreement showing the full name and address of your landlord, tenancy start date, the amount of rent charged and a breakdown of any services included in the rent.

If you have reported more than one change you will need to provide the evidence detailed above for each of your changes in circumstances.