Housing Benefit

What Housing Benefit is, how much you could get, who can apply for it, before you apply, how to apply, after you've applied, ask us to review a decision.

On this page:

What Housing Benefit is

You may be able to claim Housing Benefit to help to pay your rent, if you're unemployed, on a low income or claiming benefits. It is being replaced by Universal Credit.

It does not cover costs for heating, electricity or other household bills.

Council or Housing Association tenants may also get help with some service charges.

If you get Housing Benefit, you may also be entitled to a Council Tax reduction. You can apply for a Council Tax reduction at the same time you apply online for Housing Benefit.

How much you could get

How much you get depends on:

if you're a Council tenant, Housing Association tenant, or a private tenant
how much rent you pay
your household income including benefits, pensions and savings (over £6,000)
your personal circumstances, for example, your partner, children or someone with a disability lives with you
if anyone in your household is a non-dependant - they are over 18, not in full time education, they work or they claim benefits.
how many rooms are in your home.

You can find out more about what Housing Benefit you'll get on the GOV.UK website.

Local Housing Allowance

If you're a private tenant, you could get help for some or all of your rent. This is called Local Housing Allowance (LHA).

The amount you get depends on the area you're living in, and the number of rooms you need.

The weekly Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates from April 2024 to March 2025 in Renfrewshire are:

1 bed shared accommodation £82.85
1 bedroom £92.05
2 bedrooms £120.82
3 bedrooms £138.08
4 bedrooms £253.15

You can find out more about Local Housing Allowance (LHA) on the MyGov.Scot website.

Who can apply for it

You can only make a new claim for Housing Benefit if:

you've reached State Pension age
you live in supported, sheltered or temporary housing.

You must pay rent for the property and it is your main home.

Otherwise, you should apply for Universal Credit if you need help with housing costs.

If you live in temporary, refuge, sheltered or supported housing

You may be able to make a new claim for Housing Benefit if you're living in:

temporary accommodation, such as a B&B arranged by your council
a refuge for domestic abuse survivors
sheltered or supported housing which provides you with 'care, support or supervision'.

You can find out more about who can claim for Housing Benefit on the GOV.UK website.

If you've reached State Pension age

If you're single and you've reached State Pension age, you can make a new claim for Housing Benefit.

If you're in a mixed-age couple, where one of you has reached State Pension age and the other has not, you will need to claim Universal Credit until you both reach State Pension age.

If you've been getting Housing Benefit as a mixed-age couple since before 15 May 2019, this continues unless your situation changes.

You can check your State Pension age on the GOV.UK website.

If you are making a claim for Pension Credit

If you're eligible for Housing Benefit, you can apply at the same time you are applying for Pension Credit. Your Pension Service office will send your Housing Benefit claim form to us, if you apply for it at the same time. We will contact you if we need further details.

Find out more about Pension Credit on the GOV.UK website.

Before you apply

Check if you can get Housing Benefit before you apply by using the free benefit calculators on the GOV.UK website.

Information you need to tell us in your application

When you apply, you'll need to tell us:

your national insurance number
your nationality
details of your partner, if you have one, and anyone else living within your household
income from any work you do or any benefits or pension you receive
any accounts, savings, investments or property you have
details of your rent, like how much you pay, when you pay it and any other costs included
details of the property you rent, like what type it is or how many rooms it has
a bank or building society account to pay you the Housing Benefit.

Backdating your Housing Benefit claim

If you're of working age, Housing Benefit can only be backdated up to one month from the date of your application.

If you're of pension age, Housing Benefit can only be backdated up to three months from the date of your application.

We will take into account any factors that would have caused a person of your age, health and experience not to have claimed for it earlier.

You must show us:

you had good reasons for not making your claim sooner
these reasons cover the period you are asking us to pay from
you would have qualified for Housing Benefit during this period.

If you had someone acting on your behalf during this period, we will make a decision based on their reasons for not making a claim sooner, not yours.

Depending on what you tell us we may ask for supporting evidence, such as a letter from your doctor if you are ill.

How to apply

You should make your claim as early as possible. It is important that you continue to pay your rent while we process your application.

Apply online

Before you start, you'll need to register for MyAccount through mygov.scot. If you've already registered, you don't need to do it again.

Apply online for Housing Benefit

Other ways to apply

Complete a paper application [1MB] form and post it to:

Renfrewshire Council
Benefits Service
Renfrewshire House
Cotton Street
Paisley
PA1 1AD.

You can also ask our Advice Works team to help you apply.

Or you can ask us to send you a form by post:

email customerservices.contact@renfrewshire.gov.uk
phone 0300 300 0300
write to:
Renfrewshire Council
Benefits Service
Renfrewshire House
Cotton Street
Paisley
PA1 1AD.

After you've applied

If we need more information

We may ask you for more evidence to support your claim.

This could include:

bills
bank statements
proof of your identity
your income
expenses like childcare
proof you're a student.

How long it'll take

If your application is successful, we'll usually start paying Housing Benefit from the Monday after the day we receive your claim.

How we pay it

If you are a council tenant, we pay Housing Benefit directly into your rent account. This reduces the amount of rent you have to pay.

If you're a private tenant or a Housing Association tenant, we'll pay your Housing Benefit directly into your bank account.

Housing Benefit is paid at the end of each 4 weekly period.

We will continue to pay you Housing Benefit unless there are specific circumstances such as:

you are 8 or more weeks behind in your rent
we think you will have difficulty managing your finances
we think that you will not pay your rent.

If your circumstances change

You must let us know if your circumstances change while you get Housing Benefit, to prevent you from receiving the wrong amount from us.

If you do not tell us about changes when you are receiving benefits or money from the Council, it could be considered fraud.

Ask us to review a decision

If you are not satisfied with our decision, you can ask for a review or for more information.