Discretionary housing payments

This content applies to England only.

Housing laws vary between England and Scotland. This page applies to England only. Get advice relating to Scotland

If you get some housing benefit or council tax benefit but are having difficulty paying the rest of your rent yourself, you may be able to get a discretionary housing payment.

When can a discretionary housing payment be made?

A discretionary housing payment can be paid to you if the council believes that you need further help with housing costs. This may include help with paying off arrears in some circumstances, although not if you were recieving enough housing benefit to pay all of your rent at the time the arrears built up.

A discretionary housing payment cannot be paid if the reason for shortfall is that your housing benefit has been reduced to recover an overpayment.

Who can get a discretionary housing payment?

Other than the ones above, there are no rules about who can get discretionary housing payments. Each housing/council tax benefit department is given a pot of money and they are allowed to decide who should be given the payments.

The housing/council tax benefit department will usually take into account any special circumstances that contribute to your financial difficulties, for example, if:

you have to pay child maintenance
you have to pay legal costs
you have extra heating costs because you spend a lot of time at home because you are sick or have a disability
you have additional travel costs because you travel to a doctor or hospital or you care for a relative or friend.

How can I claim?

You will have to fill in a claim form. You will be able to get this by phoning or going into your local council office. Be sure to ask for a discretionary housing payment form, as it is different to the form that you will have filled in when you first claimed housing or council tax benefit.

What information should I send with the claim?

You will be asked to give evidence of your expenditure (ie the money you have going out). This could be a copy of a bill or your bank statements. You should also provide any information about your circumstances that make things difficult for you financially.