Discretionary housing payments

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What is a discretionary housing payment?

It is a way of helping you if the housing benefit you get is not enough to pay your rent or you need extra help to pay your council tax.

How to claim

Fill in the discretionary housing payment form which is available under the downloads section.

When we get your form we will look at the information you have given; if we need more details we will contact you.

The award

There are no set criteria for deciding whether you can have a discretionary housing payment. We will look at each application carefully and consider your individual circumstances.

We will consider things like :

The amount you get in housing benefit and the amount of council tax you have to pay.
The financial and medical circumstances of you and anyone who lives with you
The income and expenditure of you and anyone who lives with you
Your savings and investments and any held by anyone else living with you
Any debts owed by you or anyone else who lives with you
If you have any exceptional circumstances
If you have been affected by Welfare Reform changes
Any other special situations

The amount of discretionary housing payment and the period of the award

We will tell you how much we have awarded and the period we have given it to you for.

You may not get as much as you need to pay your full rent or council tax or the award may not be for as long as you would like.

If you get an award there is no guarantee that another award will be made at a later date even if your circumstances have not changed.

I don't agree with your decision, what do I do?

There is no right of appeal to an independent tribunal. However, you can ask us to look at our decision again and another decision maker will look at your application. This is called reviewing the decision.

You can ask for a review if: