What is a Discretionary housing payment?
It is a way of helping you if the Housing or Council Tax Benefit you get is not enough to pay your rent or council tax.
Discretionary housing payments are not the same as Housing or Council Tax Benefit. They are special payments which come from a separate fund. Once the fund has been spent in any financial year no more Discretionary housing payments can be made.
How to Claim
Complete a Discretionary housing payment application form.
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 and Council Tax Benefit and the amount you have to pay
- Any efforts you have made to reduce your rent
- 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
- 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:
- we have refused your award, or
- we have awarded a reduced amount, or
- we have told you we have overpaid you
Please contact us if you want us to look at our decision again.