A General overview of Housing & Council Tax Benefit

What is Housing Benefit?

Housing Benefit helps to pay your rent if you are on a low income.

If you rent your home from a private landlord or housing association or you are a boarder, lodger, or live in a hostel, we may be able to help by giving you benefit.

What is Council Tax Benefit?

Council Tax Benefit is a reduction on your Council Tax bill if you are on a low income. You may qualify for Second Adult Rebate, depending on the financial and personal circumstances of the adults in your home.

What about my savings?

We will ignore savings if they are under £6000.

If you have savings between £6,000 and £16,000, we will work out your benefits by assuming that you have an extra £1 of income every week for every £250 (or every £500 if you or your partner are aged 60+)  of savings that you have.

For example:

If you (and your partner if you have one) are under 60 years of age and

You/Partner have savings of £6,200 = You have £1 extra income a week
You/Partner  have savings of £6,700 = You have £3 extra income a week
You have savings over £16,000 = You cannot get Council Tax Benefit

If you (and your partner if you have one) are over 60 years of age and

You/Partner have savings of £6,200 = You have £1 extra income a week
You/Partner  have savings of £6,700 = You have £2 extra income a week
You have savings over £16,000 = You cannot get Council Tax Benefit

How do I apply?

You should apply for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit now. You can get an application form from the Benefit Section at Daventry District Council.  Alternatively, you can download an application form by clicking here.  Once completed, this form must be returned by post to the council offices at the address below.

+44 (0)1327 302307

Couples who live together need to make a joint claim.

If you receive Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance (income based), you may qualify for the maximum Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. You must fill in our form and send it back to us.

How much will I get?

The amount of benefit you get will depend on your personal and financial circumstances.

You may get extra benefits if you are a pensioner, have children or are disabled.

You will not get benefit if you have savings over £16,000.

** Our on line benefit calculator may give you some idea as to the amount of benefit you could receive **

How is the benefit paid?

We can pay Housing Benefit to private tenants by cheque direct to you (or your landlord) usually every four weeks or by BACS payment.

Council Tax Benefit. We pay this by taking it off your bill.

If you have sent us all the information we need to work out your Housing benefit and Council Tax benefit, we will make sure that we pay your benefit quickly.

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