External services

Housing finance

Are you losing out on your entitlement?

  • If you are on a low income, you could be entitled to Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit (or both)
  • It costs nothing to complete a form - we provide a pre-paid envelope for its return.

To obtain a form or ask about possible entitlement contact:

Ilkeston Town Hall or Long Eaton Civic Centre
Tel: 0115 907 1010
email: benefits@erewash.gov.uk

or check your entitlement using our online Housing and Council Tax Benefit calculator (opens in a new window).

Benefits overview

There are several benefits available to persons on low income and what you are entitled to depends on the type of accommodation you live in, the size of your family and the amount of money you have coming in each week.

If you own your own home, or are paying a mortgage to buy your own home, then the only benefit available to you is help to pay your Council Tax.

If you live in accommodation which is rented from a private landlord or housing association, then you would qualify for help with your rent and your Council Tax.

Housing Benefit is changing

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) aims to simplify Housing Benefit. This will be introduced from 7 April 2008. It will only affect new claims or people changing address after this date. If you have a change to your income or capital you will continue to be assessed in the current way.

How it will affect you

  • If you live in a Housing Association property, LHA will not affect you.
  • LHA is a flat rate allowance based on the size of your household and the area in which you live.
  • There are no changes to the way we work out your benefit, this will still be based on your income, savings and proof of a valid tenancy.
  • The Rent Service will set the LHA rates and these will be published by us so that you can be clear about the amount of rent that LHA will cover.
  • You will be able to shop around with your allowance. If you find a property you like with a rent that exceeds the LHA you will need, as you do now, to make up the difference.
  • If you find somewhere with a rent below your allowance, you will be able to keep the difference up to a maximum of £15.00 per week.
  • Payment will normally be made to you, and you will then pay your landlord, under certain circumstances we will pay directly to your landlord.
Local Housing Rates for Derby
DerbyWeekly(£)Monthly(£)
Shared Room49.00212.33
1 Bedroom84.23365.00
2 Bedrooms107.31465.01
3 Bedrooms126.92549.99
4 Bedrooms183.46794.99
5 Bedrooms229.62995.02
Local Housing Rates for Nottingham
NottinghamWeekly(£)Monthly(£)
Shared Room63.00273.00
1 Bedroom91.15394.98
2 Bedrooms109.62475.02
3 Bedrooms126.92549.99
4 Bedrooms173.08750.01
5 Bedrooms221.62960.35

The rules governing the payment of these benefits can be found on the Housing Benefits page.

Related documents

The following document is in Portable Document Format (PDF). You can download the PDF software for free from the Adobe website (opens in a new window)

Also on our website

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