Capital

You cannot get Housing Benefit (HB) or Council Tax Benefit (CTB) if your capital or savings (or you and your partner's capital or savings) are above the upper savings limit of £16,000. Your HB will be reduced if your capital or savings (or you and your partner's capital or savings) are over the lower savings limit of £6,000.

The lower limit is set at £10,000 if you or your partner are over the qualifying age for pension credit (and not claiming income-related employment and support allowance, income support or income based job seeker's allowance).

There is no upper savings limit if you are getting pension credit guarantee and claiming HB.

Capital includes all of the following:

  • all bank, building society and Post Office accounts;
  • stocks, shares, National Savings Certificates and Premium Bonds;
  • land and property (but not the home you live in); and
  • cash

If you have a husband/wife/partner, we count your joint capital.

If you are working age:
When we assess your claim, we ignore any capital you have under £6,000. If you have capital between £6,000 and £16,000, we will add £1 a week to your income for each £250 (or part thereof).

If you are pensionable age:
When we assess your claim, we ignore any capital you have under £10,000. If you have capital between £10,000 and £16,000, we will add £1 a week to your income for each £500 (or part thereof).

Proof of capital
We need to see proof of all capital that you and your husband/wife/partner have. Some examples of proofs that you can supply are:

  • bank or building society statements;
  • building society or Post Office books;
  • a letter from the bank or building society which shows the types of account held, the account numbers and the balances;
  • original documents showing proof of ownership.

Bank slips from cashpoints showing balances are not acceptable.

Remember: We must see original documents, not photocopies.

Page last updated on 30 September 2011