Discretionary Housing Payments

Discretionary Housing Payments are made to help people struggling with housing costs, separate to Housing Benefit and Universal Credit.

You can apply for Discretionary Housing Payments if you receive Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit and need help to:

• meet the shortfall between the Housing Benefit or Universal Credit paid and the eligible rent
• cover the costs of moving house (which includes rent deposit, rent in advance and moving costs)
• cover rent arrears that are putting your tenancy at risk.

This includes any tenants who get Housing Benefit who are affected by changes made by the government, particularly when their options for moving home or increasing their income are limited.

Claiming Discretionary Housing Payments

Apply for Discretionary Housing Payments

If you are unable to apply online please contact us.

You should make your application for Discretionary Housing Payments as soon as you need help.

We have a limited Discretionary Housing Payments fund available, and can only make payments when we are satisfied someone needs extra financial help to meet their housing costs. We will consider each claim on its merits.

We cannot award Discretionary Housing Payments if:

• you are already getting all your eligible rent paid by benefit
• if the only shortfall is due to a previous overpayment
• you want help to pay certain items that may be included in the rent that are not normally covered by Housing Benefit or Universal Credit Housing Costs, such as water rates, heating, lighting.

When deciding whether you are entitled to Discretionary Housing Payments, we will look at:

• the income of your household compared to the expenditure, including whether any expenditure is on non-essential items
• any savings which could be used to pay the shortfall in rent
• whether any member of the family have health problems or disabilities
• whether there are young children in the family
• whether there has been a recent bereavement within the family
• whether there are any rent arrears
• whether it would be possible to negotiate a lower rent or move to cheaper accommodation.