Discretionary Housing
Payments
Here you can find out about
discretionary housing payments, who may be eligible, and how to
claim.
Discretionary housing
payments are available to people who already get housing benefit or
council tax benefit but who need extra money to help pay their
housing costs.
By 'housing costs' we mean council tax and your rent, apart from
things in the rent like service charges, fuel charges, water rates,
or meals charges.
Who can get a Discretionary Housing Payment?
You can
get a discretionary housing payment if you are already getting
housing benefit or council tax benefit but you do not get the full
amount because:
- We are making a deduction from your
benefit because of an adult living with you (other than your
partner)
- Your income means you do not get full
housing benefit or council tax benefit
- The Rent Service thinks your rent is
high
What we need to know
Tell us
why you think you need extra help to meet our housing costs.
Include information on things like:
- Disability and ill health
- Income and expenditure, including
debts
- What would happen if you lost your
home
- Any other special circumstances
How to claim
There is an application form for a Discretionary Housing Payment
which you can download by clicking
here.
Please print and return us at:
Newham Benefit Service
PO Box 23504
London
E15 4UU
You can also obtain a leaflet about discretionary housing
payments and an application form by telephoning our Contact Centre
on 020 8430 2000.
How we assess Discretionary Housing Payments
We will look
at your application to see if we can make a payment and write to
you confirming whether your claim has been successful.
If we award you a discretionary housing payment we will tell you
how much you will get and how long the payments will last. Payment
will be for a limited period, but you can reapply when the payment
stops.
In some cases, we can backdate discretionary housing payments to
before you claimed it.
How we make payments
Awards of discretionary housing
payments are included in payments of housing benefit or council tax
benefit.
If you disagree with our decision
There is no
formal right of appeal against decisions about discretionary
housing payments, but we will look at our decision again if you
write and ask us to.