Benefits and Housing

Housing costs form a significant part of everyone's household budget. Help towards your housing costs may be available if you are on a low income. The support you may receive and how you receive it can vary, as outlined below.

Universal Credit (UC)

You may be eligible for the housing element paid in with your UC payment. This will be paid directly to you for you to then pay on to your landlord. The amount you receive may vary depending on who your landlord is and how many bedrooms you have.

Where you fall into arrears with your rent, your landlord may choose to apply for an Alternative Payment Arrangement with UC where your housing element is paid directly to your landlord instead (also know as a Managed Payment to Landlord).

You can apply for UC on the Gov.uk website.

Housing Benefit (HB)

HB is one of the six benefits being replaced by UC. You may still be receiving HB to help towards your housing costs if you have not yet migrated to UC, but you cannot make a new claim for HB unless:

You (and your partner if you have one) are a pensioner.
You live in a hostel or refuge.
You live in accommodation that includes care, support or supervision.
You live in temporary accommodation provided by the council.

You can typically apply for HB on your local authority's website. For Wakefield Council residents, apply here. For any enquiries or application updates, call Wakefield Council on 0345 8 504 504.

Shortfalls in the help you receive towards your housing costs and Discretionary Housing Payments

It is important to remember that any support you may receive in relation to housing costs under UC or HB may not cover all of your rent, depending on your circumstances and whether you are renting from a social or private landlord. Additionally, there may be some charges included in with your rent which you cannot receive any support towards. You will however still be required to pay your rent in full. For more information, check here if you are claiming UC, or here if you are claiming HB.

If you do not receive enough support in relation to your housing costs to cover your rent, you may be able to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) to cover some or all of the shortfall. Cash Wise can help you with this, or for more information in relation to DHP's in Wakefield, click here.