Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Reduction
On this page you can check if you are eligible for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction and if eligible you can:
- Apply for Housing Benefit if you rent your home and/or
- Apply for Council Tax Reduction if you are the person who is responsible for paying the Council Tax for the home you live in
Important: Please read carefully before making your claim
Full service Universal Credit is available across Kirklees, so you may have to claim Universal Credit instead of Housing Benefit for help towards your rent
You can only make a claim for Housing Benefit if one of the following applies:
- You live in supported/exempt accommodation.
- You are a pensioner.
- You live in temporary accommodation provided by the Local Authority
If you do not fall into any of the above categories you need to claim Universal Credit
Please note: Universal Credit does not include help towards Council Tax. If you need help with your council tax payments you can claim Council Tax Reduction.
Council Tax Reduction
Council Tax Reduction is money towards your Council Tax bill from a scheme designed to help households on low incomes.
There was a public consultation held in October 2023, that agreed that the Council Tax Reduction scheme should change.
From 1 April 2024 we have introduced a new scheme which will save money and contribute towards the financial challenge the council faces.
If you receive Council Tax Reduction, how much more you will need to contribute, will depend on your income and personal circumstances.
Under the previous scheme - up to 31 March 2024
Working age
- our calculation, based on your income, was assessed on 100% of your Council Tax charge
- We then reduced your Council Tax Reduction award by 20%
Working age - protected groups
- Up to 100% of your Council Tax charge was considered for a reduction
Under the new scheme - from 1 April 2024
Pension age
- If you are of Pension Credit qualifying age, you will only be affected if your partner is working age
Working age
- You will have 25% of your Council Tax charge to pay regardless of your income
- We then calculate your Council Tax Reduction based on your income, on the remaining 75% of your charge
Working age - protected groups
- You will have 25% of your Council Tax charge to pay regardless of your income
- We then calculate your Council Tax Reduction based on your income, on the remaining 75% of your charge
Protected groups up to 31 March 2024
- Lone Parents with a child under 5 years
- Certain disability benefits
- War pension
- Highest rate of the Limited capability for work/ Health Element in your Universal Credit award
The scheme continues to recognise the additional costs of being a lone parent of young children, disability, and it will also continue to recognise war pensions and disregard that income regardless of the decision. However, the scheme will no longer protect you and you will be expected to make an appropriate contribution.
If you struggle to pay your Council Tax bill, there is practical advice you can find about accessing help from a variety of services, and information about financial and debt advice at: Cost of living
We recommend that you pay your council tax by Direct Debit because you can control when payments are taken. It is easy to set up online, all you need is your Council Tax account number and bank details
Housing Benefit
Housing Benefit is a national welfare benefit designed to help households on low incomes to pay their rent. It is not linked to National Insurance contributions.
You must:
- rent your home. This includes boarders and people living in hotels or bed and breakfast accommodation
- have less than £16,000 in capital, savings, shares and property, unless you are aged 60 or over and receive the 'guaranteed credit' of Pension Credit
You may not qualify if:
- you live with a member of your immediate family and pay them rent or board
- you are a student. Except for in certain circumstances as the government expects students to use their loan to pay rent
- we suspect you have created an arrangement to take advantage of the scheme
We calculate Housing Benefit using:
- your household's size and circumstances
- your household's income, savings and capital
- the amount of rent you pay
- bedroom allowance (if appropriate)
- Local housing allowance rates (if appropriate)
Apply for Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Reduction
Fill in our simple online form.
Clock Completing this form takes around 30 mins to an hour to complete but you can save and return to it as many times as you need to.
Paperclip To complete this form you will need: details of your income, savings information, rent and household members details
You will need to provide evidence so that your claim can be processed, at the end of the form you will be shown what evidence you need. This usually includes:
- wage slips
- bank statements
- details of any benefits and/or tax credits you may be in receipt of
- your National Insurance Number
- your tenancy agreement
- self-employed accounts
You can use Forms for supporting information to help you provide evidence for your claim.
Apply for Housing Benefit or Council Tax ReductionAfter you’ve applied
We can normally pay you from the Monday following the date you submit your claim form.
If you start your claim and complete it within a month we can treat it as being received on the date you started it. If it takes you longer than a month to submit your form, your claim will be paid from the Monday following the date it is submitted.
Apply for Council Tax Reduction when Universal Credit or Housing Benefit is already in payment
If you have already made a claim for Universal Credit or Housing Benefit through the Department for Work and Pensions/Pension Service or you already have Universal Credit or Housing benefit in payment.
Fill in our simple online form.
Clock Completing this form takes around 10 minutes
You can use Forms for supporting information to help you provide evidence for your claim.
Apply onlineAfter you’ve applied
You will need to provide evidence so that your claim can be processed, at the end of the form you will be shown what evidence you need. This usually includes proof of your ID, National Insurance Number, income, savings and your tenancy agreement.
Upload evidence
Upload your evidence afterwards if you don't have it when you complete your application form.
We usually pay your Housing Benefit:
- direct to your rent account if you are a council tenant
- direct to your bank account every 2 weeks if you are not a council tenant. If you do not have a bank account we send you a cheque every two weeks.
In some circumstances, we can make payments direct to your landlord. Please contact us if you want to discuss who we should pay benefit to:
You are responsible for making up any shortfall between your Housing Benefit and your rent.
If you disagree with our decisions, you can appeal. Your appeal must be in writing and made within one calendar month from the date you received your benefit decision notice.
For more information: Housing Benefit appeals
- We use Local housing allowance rates in our Housing Benefit calculations for tenants renting from a private landlord.
- They represent the maximum amount of benefit we can pay.
- The LHA rate we use to calculate your benefit isn’t necessarily the same as the number of bedrooms in your home. You need to calculate how many bedrooms the government says your household needs to identify the LHA rate you’re entitled to.
There are two different local housing allowance areas in Kirklees:
- Kirklees (covers 96% of our area)
- Bradford and South Dales (covers parts of Birkenshaw and a small area around it)
| Area | 1 bed shared | 1 bed self-contained | 2 bedroom | 3 bedroom | 4 bedroom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirklees | £56.50 | £85.00 | £103.56 | £126.58 | £162.25 |
| Bradford and South Dales | £68.30 | £80.55 | £103.56 | £120.82 | £141.53 |
A non-dependant is someone over 18 who normally lives with you but doesn't pay rent. This could be a friend or member of the family such as grown up children or parents living with you.
We make these deductions whether the non-dependant contributes to your household or not.
The deductions are fixed amounts based on your non-dependant's gross weekly income.
Non-dependant deductions start from the date the adult moves in or turns 18, but there are exemptions.
It is your responsibility to tell the council if a non-dependant lives with you.
You will have to repay any Housing Benefit overpayments if you do not tell the council about non-dependants.
- Your council tax reduction bill will be recalculated to take into account non-dependant deductions.
Non-dependant deductions do not apply if you or your partner are:
- registered blind
- receiving attendance allowance
- receiving the care component of Disability Living Allowance (at any rate)
- receiving the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment
No deductions are made if the non-dependant is:
- aged under 18
- a full time student
- has been in hospital for 52 weeks or more
- a member of the Armed Forces who is absent while on operations
- Is available for people of pension age only.
- The scheme is designed to help you with your council tax bill if you have another adult living with you (but not your partner or someone who pays rent to you), who is on a low income.
- Apply using the Housing Benefit and council tax reduction application form
- Housing Benefit is reduced for tenants of working age, who rent a home from the council or another social landlord, which is larger than their household needs.
- Benefit is reduced by 14% for one spare bedroom, and 25% for two or more spare bedrooms.
- Some family members are expected to share bedrooms depending on age and circumstances.
Download our Under occupation guidelines
- We will reduce your council tax bill by the level of reduction you are entitled to.
- You are responsible for making up any shortfall between the level of reduction you receive and the actual amount of your bill.
- You must tell us straight away if you have any changes in your circumstances which may affect your entitlement
- Legislation* allows councils to impose a penalty of £70 where a person has negligently made an incorrect statement in their Council Tax Reduction application or where a person negligently fails to notify a change of circumstances when required to do so.
- * The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Detection of Fraud & Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended) (Sections 14A, 14B & 14C)
If you think your reduction is wrong you must write to us explaining why you think the reduction is wrong.
For more information: Council Tax reductions appeals
Tell us straightaway if:
- any of your children leave school or leave home
- anyone moves into or out of your home including lodgers and subtenants
- your income or the income of anyone living with you, including benefits, changes
- your capital, savings or investments change
- you or anyone living with you becomes a student, goes on a Youth Training Scheme, goes into hospital or nursing home, goes into prison, or gets, changes or leaves a job
- your rent changes
- you move: tell us about a change in address
- you or your partner are going to be away from home for more than a month
- you receive any decision from the Home Office; or
- anything you have told us about changes