Who Can Claim?

• you are responsible for making payments for where you live; and or
• you are responsible for paying Council Tax

• Council property
• Privately rented accommodation (this includes paying rent to a private landlord, Housing Association, Co-op, or if you are a boarder or sub-tenant. Boarders and sub-tenants cannot claim Council Tax Benefit).
• You can claim Housing Benefit if you live in a Hostel but you cannot claim Council Tax Benefit
• You can claim Council Tax Benefit if you own the property that you live in but you cannot claim Housing Benefit

If you have a mortgage, your housing cost can be met through Income Support, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance or Pension Credit (Guarantee part). You can claim Council Tax benefit.

A form can be downloaded and completed from our forms page

• If you are not responsible for paying rent
• If either you or your partner, or you and your partner together, have more than £16,000 in savings (unless you get the guarantee part of Pension Credit).  A partner is a person you are married to, or a person you live with as if you were married; or a civil partner, or a person you live with as if you were civil partners.  
• If you pay rent to a close relative who lives with you.
• If you live in a care home, such as a nursing or elderly person’s home
• If you rent a property from your ex-partner and you both used to live there
• If you are the parent or guardian of your landlord’s child
• If you live in the home as part of your job
• If you are an asylum seeker, unless you've been given refugee status or indefinite or exceptional leave (also called discretionary or humanitarian leave) to remain in the United Kingdom
• If you have been admitted to the United Kingdom on the condition that you have no recourse to public funds. This means that you must not claim benefits
• If you are a sponsored immigrant and have lived here for less than five years
• If you are in the United Kingdom illegally or your permission to stay has run out

• If you used to live with your landlord as a family member, relative or friend and now pay that person rent
• If you live in a property run by a religious order and you are a member of that religious order
• If you rent from a trust and you are also a trustee or a beneficiary
• If you rent the property from a company and you are a director or an employee of the company
• If you used to own the property which you now rent
• If you are a student (most full-time students don’t qualify but some do)
• If as an adult you have lived with a tenant (other than your partner) and the tenancy has now been changed into both your names. This will depend on why the change was made
• You are temporarily living away from your usual home