Housing benefit
If you are on a low income, you may be entitled to housing benefit to help you pay your rent. We can help you with information on housing benefit and other welfare benefits advice.
Process for claiming housing benefit
To claim housing benefit, you will need to fill in a form, which you can get from Peabody or from your council housing benefit office. If you are a Westminster tenant you can have your housing benefit form verified by your revenues officer. Make sure you complete the form as soon as you can to avoid delays in receiving payment.
As soon as you have completed the form take it to your council housing benefit office. You will also need to provide original documents – not photocopies – to prove that the statements you have made in your form are true. Staff can advise you on the documents you need. Important documents such as your tenancy agreement, passport or pension book should not be put in the post.
The benefit office will give you a receipt, which you should keep of proof that your have returned your form. Your claim will be made from the date that you hand in the form, so if you are waiting for certain documents to go with your claim, such as wage slips, hand the form in at once, and send the information on when it arrives.
What your housing benefit covers
Housing benefit may cover all of your rent, or only part of it, depending on your income and circumstances. If you have other adults living with you your payments may be reduced to take account of their contribution to the family income. This is called a non-dependant deduction. Some service charges do not qualify for Housing Benefit.
Staff can help you calculate how much you will need to pay yourself.
Housing benefit is usually paid for up to one year, the housing benefit office should let you know when you need to renew your claim by completing a new form. It is very important that you do this at once if you want your housing benefit payments to continue.
Changes to your housing benefit
You must tell the housing benefit office in writing about any changes in your circumstances, for example, family members leaving home, starting work, increases in your rent payments etc that may affect your claim. It is a criminal offence to fail to tell the housing benefit office about changes which may affect your claim.
Changes to your advantage of the tenant may not be backdated if they are reported more than a month after they occurred. You will need to show the housing benefit office any original documents you have that prove the change, for example, your rent increase notification or pay slips.
Falling behind with repayments
It is your responsibility to make sure that your housing benefits paid so that you do not fall behind with your rent payments. If your payments are delayed, you should chase up the housing benefit office and keep us informed of your progress. We can help you do this.
Mistakes made to housing benefits claims
If you think that the housing benefit office has made a mistake when assessing your claim, you can ask them to review their decision. If you are still not satisfied you can ask a Housing Benefit Review Board to look at your case again. Peabody's welfare benefit advice team can help you do this, just contact Peabody Direct to discuss your case with one of our welfare benefit advice team.
Who to contact for more help or advice?
For advice on claiming benefits, you can also contact our welfare benefits advice service, tel: (020) 7021 4888. Alternatively you may wish to contact your local:
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