Guide to Housing Benefit for Students

What is Housing Benefit?

Housing Benefit is help towards your rent. Anyone who has to pay rent to the Council, a private landlord, or a Registered Social landlord, who is on a low income can claim, regardless of whether they are retired, unemployed, or in full or part-time work. However there is a capital limit of £16,000, which applies in most cases.

Normally, full-time students are not entitled to claim Housing Benefit for the duration of their course. Part-time students however, may be able to get help with their rent.

Which full-time students can claim?

• Lone parents
• Students on Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance (Income Based)
• Students aged under 19 undertaking a further education course
• Student couples with dependent children
• Students or their partners aged 60 or more
• Disabled students
• Student under 20 for whom child benefit is payable

If you fall into one of the above categories you may be able to claim Housing Benefit.

How will my benefit be calculated?

Any entitlement to Housing Benefit will be based on the eligible rent. If you are in receipt of Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance (Income Based), you will receive maximum Housing Benefit which will be 100% of the eligible rent. All other claims are 'means tested'

Your income will include capital, student loans, grants, covenant income (parental contributions), earned income, unearned income and benefits.

Income

All income is assessed on a weekly basis. If you or your partner have "earned income" (that is, wages, salary or profits from a business), deductions are made for Tax, National Insurance and half of any pension contributions made.

Certain categories of income are "disregarded" in whole or in part, for example Disability Living Allowance. These disregards have the effect of increasing your entitlement to benefit by reducing the "Assessed Income" on which your benefit is calculated.

Student Accommodation

Halls of residence

Part-time or full-time students to claim for the accommodation they rent from their educational establishment.

Also under Housing Benefit Regulation 48 an eligible student living in accommodation rented from their educational establishment can also qualify for Housing Benefit outside the period of study. This applies only where the reason for the student occupying the dwelling is to facilitate their attendance on the course.

Student Loans

Student Loan income is taken into account regardless of whether you have borrowed up to your limit or not. The loan is normally paid over quarterly instalments, however not for the instalment quarter that contains the summer vacation.

The student loan is then divided by the number of weeks for which the claimant is defined as a student, this is over the remaining 3 quarters which usually total 42 or 43 weeks. There are set amounts for books and equipment and travel that are disregarded from the amount of the loan.

Grants

Are normally paid to students with dependents or disabilities. Set amounts for tuition fees, examination fees, disability awards, two homes grants, books, equipment and travel are disregarded unless already disregarded from the student loan. The rest is taken into account and averaged over the number of weeks of the period of study.

Capital

If you or your partner are under 60 and have capital of between £6,000 and £16,000, the Government Regulations require that we assume a notional income of £1 per week for every £250 (or part £250) in value.

This is shown as "Capital Income" on any Benefit Notification.

If you or your partner are 60 or over and have capital of between £6,000 and £16,000, the Government Regulations require that we assume a notional income of £1 per week for every £500 (or part £500) in value.

This is shown as "Capital Income" on any Benefit Notification.

Applicable Amounts

Applicable amounts are the assumed living costs of individual households for the purposes of the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Schemes. These amounts are specified in Government Regulations. They consist of personal allowances related to age and marital status, and various premiums for special circumstances such as disability, pensionable age, or a family. All allowances and premiums to which you are entitled are shown separately on any Benefit Notification.

Calculation of your Housing Benefit

The maximum entitlement to Housing Benefit is 100% of your eligible rent. Eligible rent may exclude some elements of your gross rent which cannot be met by Housing Benefit, for example - Water rates and some service charges. The eligible rent may be subject to a Rent Service determination, depending on the type of tenancy you have.

All persons over 18 years of age living with you as part of your family are assumed to make a contribution to your housing costs, and therefore a deduction, known as a non-dependent Deduction, is made from the maximum entitlement to Housing Benefit in respect of each of those persons. The Non-dependant's income is used to determine the level of deduction made from your benefit. Failure to provide details will result in the highest level of deduction. The lowest level of deduction is made in respect of non-dependants on State benefits.

A summary of the deductions made is shown below: 

Summary of deductions

For each non-dependent:
Level of gross weekly income		deduction per week from benefit
		on a 48 week basis
Not earning or less than £116.00		£8.02	£7.40
Between £116.00 & £171.99		£18.42	£17.00
Between £172.00 & £222.99		£25.30	£23.35
Between £223.00 & £295.99		£41.38	£38.20
Between £296.00 & £368.99		£47.13	£43.50
More than £368.00		£51.73	£47.75

There is no deduction for non-dependants under 18 on a YTS Training Scheme, or between 18-25 years on Income Support or Job Seeker's Allowance (income based).

Non-dependants over 25 years on Income Support/Job Seekers Allowance (income based) attract the lowest deduction or in receipt of Pension Credit.

No deductions are made in respect of non-dependants if you or your partner is registered blind, in receipt of Attendance Allowance or the Care Component of Disability Living Allowance.

If your assessed income is greater than your applicable amounts, then 65% of the excess is deducted from your maximum entitlement (after any non-dependant deductions as above). If your assessed income is less than your applicable amounts, or you are on Income Support, you are entitled to maximum Housing Benefit, less any non-dependant deductions. If the Housing Benefit comes to less than the Statutory Minimum of 50 pence per week, then you will not receive any benefit.

How do I make a claim?

An application form can be requested by writing to the address, or telephoning the numbers at the end of this leaflet, or by calling into one of the Customer Service offices.

Please read the form carefully before completing. Every question on the form must be answered, and you must provide all the evidence necessary. If you fail to do so, you will be asked to provide further information and this will lead to a delay in your claim being processed.

If you are in receipt of Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance (Income Based) you will also need to complete an HCTB1 form issued by the DWP or Jobcentre Plus. This form needs completing and returning to the DWP or Jobcentre Plus. They will forward this onto us with the start date of any entitlement.

If you are a full-time student you will receive a discount on your Council Tax. Please ask for the student leaflet for more details.

What date will my entitlement start?

If you are in receipt of Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance (Income Based), and have made and claim with us within 4 weeks of the start of your benefit, any Housing Benefit will be paid from the Monday following the start of your benefit claim. All other claims start from the Monday following the date your claim is received by this office.

If you wish your claim to be backdated, you must give the date you wish it to begin, and reasons for your delay in claiming. You have to demonstrate 'good cause' for not making a claim at an earlier date. Good cause must be demonstrated for the whole of the period you are requesting the backdate.

Please bear in mind that you have to be resident in the property within the first week of your tenancy for Housing Benefit to be awarded from the tenancy start date. However in certain circumstances benefit can be paid whilst you are absent from home, please see Absence Away From Home leaflet.

How is Housing Benefit paid?

Housing Benefit is paid by cheque. If you wish your landlord to receive the payments, the cheques will be sent direct to them four weekly in arrears. If you wish to receive the cheques yourself, they will be sent fortnightly in arrears. If your landlord can provide evidence that you are the equivalent of more than 8 weeks in arrears, they can request all payments to be sent directly to them. This is done to protect your tenancy.

Discretionary Housing Payments

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) help customers who receive Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit and are not getting the full rent or Council Tax paid.

Payments made under the new scheme are not intended to be payments of benefit.

To receive an award you must:

• Be getting Housing Benefit to receive extra help to pay the rent (but not help with the cost of service charges not payable by Housing Benefit, such as fuel charges).
• Be getting Council Tax Benefit to receive extra help to meet your Council Tax liability.
• Satisfy the DHP Officer that you require extra help with housing costs i.e. rent and/or Council Tax.

We will only have so much money per year to pay out awards of Discretionary Housing Payments, therefore how the money is spent throughout the year will be carefully monitored.

As part of the claim process you will be asked to provide details of your weekly outgoing and where necessary, provide proof of some items of expenditure.

You may be asked to state why the property you live in is particularly suitable for your needs, and whether moving is an option.

You may be advised to find more affordable accommodation, and could be sent a list of Housing Associations who have property in the area. These can be requested from this office at any time.

In order to claim extra help with your housing costs (Rent and/or Council Tax), contact us for a DHP application form.

Changes of circumstances

If your family's circumstances or income change, it is your responsibility to tell us. Tell us immediately, as it may affect your benefit, and any resulting overpayment will be reclaimed from you. If you knowingly give us false information, the money will be reclaimed and you may be prosecuted. A change of circumstances can only be backdated in your favour for one calendar month, however if the change results in an overpayment of benefit, your benefit will be recalculated from the date of change.

To give you an idea of the changes we need to know about, these are some of the main things you should tell us:

• If anyone stops or starts getting Income Support
• If anyone's Income or Savings change
• If anyone stops or starts work
• If anyone stops or starts getting benefit, for example Jobseeker's Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Tax Credit, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance
• If anyone comes to live in your home
• If anyone already living in your home leaves
• If anyone stops or starts full-time education, for example, if a child leaves school or if you no longer receive child benefit for one of your children
• f you start to let part of your home to someone who pays you rent or board
• If you or your partner go into hospital for more than 4 weeks
• You are going away from home for more than 4 weeks.

Benefit Interventions

It is necessary to carry out periodic reviews of your entitlement and you will be sent a review form or receive a visit from a member of our visiting team. All the form must be fully completed, and all the evidence provided.

If you fail to do so, your claim could be suspended pending the information being supplied.

How to Appeal

If you disagree with the decision you can:

• Ask us to explain the decision
• Ask us to revise (change) the decision
• Appeal against the decision.

If you wish to appeal against a decision we have made, you must do so in writing within one calendar month of the date we notified you of the decision. You must also state why you think the decision is wrong.

Whenever you ask us to explain our decision, or to revise it we will check all parts of your claim and advise you of how we came to the decision. In doing so, if we find anything wrong with the decision we made, we will write to you with the decision an your right of appeal will start again.

If we do not change the decision in your favour we will send the case to the Appeal Service which is an indepdendent body who will look at each individual appeal in an impartial manner.

More Information and Advice

If you require any further information, or an application form please contact:

Finance Department
Erewash Borough Council
PO Box 2
Wharncliffe Road
Ilkeston
Derbyshire
DE7 5SE
telephone: (0115) 9071010
E-mail: benefits@erewash.gov.uk
or call into one of the Finance Customer Services offices at either:
Town Hall, Ilkeston or Civic Centre, Long Eaton