Housing benefit non-dependant deductions
Deductions are made from housing benefit when other adults are also living in the claimant's home, with several exceptions.
Definition
A non-dependant is an adult son, daughter, friend or relative who 'normally resides' with the claimant.[1] It is assumed that a non-dependant makes contributions towards the rent, whether such contributions are made or not. The partner of a claimant, a lodger or a joint tenant is not a non-dependant.
A person may live in two places. A person residing with the claimant is not a non-dependant if their normal home is elsewhere.[2]
Exclusions
No non-dependant deduction is made (for any number of non-dependants) if the claimant or any partner is registered blind or has regained their sight within the last 28 weeks, or is receiving the care component of disability allowance, the daily living component of personal independence payment, or attendance allowance.[3] If the claimant or any partner is aged 65 or over, a deduction is delayed until the non-dependant has been living in their home for 26 weeks.[4]
Additionally, no non-dependant deduction is made for any particular non-dependant who is:[5]
under the age of 18
in receipt of income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance and under the age of 25
in receipt of universal credit and under the age of 25 and with no earned income
a full-time student (with rare exceptions)
receiving a work based training allowance
in prison or similar forms of detention
in hospital for over 52 weeks
staying in the household but whose normal home is elsewhere
not residing with the claimant because they are a member of the armed forces away on operations
One deduction is made per non-dependant (unless one of the above exceptions applies), but in the case of non-dependant couples, only one deduction applies between them.[6]
Deduction rates
The housing benefit regulations fix the amount of the deductions in relation to whether the non-dependant is working and how much they earn.[7]
For details of the amounts of the deduction for the current year and recent years, see Benefit rates.
The claimant is responsible for providing evidence of a non-dependant's income. If this is not provided the local authority can make the highest rate of deduction but should not where it is unlikely to reflect the non-dependant's circumstances.[8]
Last updated: 12 March 2021