Applying for benefit

What are benefits?

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (HB/CTB) are government schemes run by councils. They help people who are unemployed or on a low income.

  • Housing Benefit helps to pay your rent.
  • Council Tax Benefit helps with your Council Tax bill.

They are 'means-tested' benefits, which means that we need details about your income and capital to work out how much benefit to pay you. You can apply for both benefits.

Who can apply for Housing Benefit?

Any tenant who rents their home from:

  • a private landlord
  • the council, or
  • a housing association.

Who can apply for Council Tax Benefit?

Anyone who is responsible for paying Council Tax for their home. This means the person (or their partner) whose name is on the Council Tax bill.

How much benefit could I get?

Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit can pay for up to 100% of your rent or Council Tax charge. We work out how much you get by looking at your circumstances. You can also use our Benefit Calculator to give you an idea of the amount you could be entitled to.

How do I apply for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit?

The quickest way is to phone us on 01395 517446. We will ask you some basic questions to see if you will qualify, and arrange to ring you back to complete the form. When we have completed the form, we will tell you what evidence we need. We will then:

  • arrange to visit you so that you can check and sign the form, and we can see the evidence, or
  • post the form to you so that you can check it, sign it and return it to us with the evidence, or
  • arrange for you to come to our Sidmouth office to check and sign the form and to bring in the evidence for us to see.

If you have just claimed

  • Income Support (IS)
  • Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA)
  • Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), or
  • Pension Credit (PC)

you do not need to contact us if you told the Jobcentre Plus or the Pension Service that you pay rent and/or Council Tax. They will complete a Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit form for you and send it to us when you apply for one of these benefits.

We prefer you to claim over the phone and to have a visit because it is much faster, but you can apply directly yourself.

How long does it take?

We aim to process your claim within 14 days of you giving us all the information we need. If it is urgent, we will aim to do it faster than this. We will then write to you to tell you how much Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit you will get and how we will pay it.

Changes to housing benefit for claimants under the age of 35

From January 2012, if you are single, in private rented housing and aged under 35 you will only be entitled to housing benefit at the same rate as you would get for renting a single room in a shared house. Further information is available on the Shelter website.

Page last updated on 3 February 2012