Extra help to pay your rent (Housing Payment)

If you're claiming Universal Credit or Housing Benefit but are still struggling to pay your rent, we might be able to offer you a Housing Payment (HP) to help you. This is a short term payment that we can award to help cover your housing costs.

Apply for a Housing Payment

You can apply for a Housing Payment if you need extra help with your housing costs and:

you already receive a housing payment as part of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit
your Universal Credit or Housing Benefit doesn't cover the full cost of your rent

Housing Payments aren't paid for:

services that are included in your rent
making up a reduction because you've been overpaid a benefit

You don't have an automatic right to a Housing Payment. We consider each application on its own merit and take into account:

your income
your expenditure
your personal circumstances
if you’ve had a Housing Payment before and what you’ve done to improve your financial situation

We have a limited amount to spend on Housing Payments each year. Once we've spent this, we can't make any further awards. We therefore have to make sure that we help those who need it most. You can read more about the way we award Housing Payments in our Housing Payment policy.

For more information about applying for a Housing Payment, contact us online. You can also find other ways to contact us.

What happens next

After you've applied we'll check the information you've provided and decide whether you're entitled to a Housing Payment. We’ll write to you to let you know what we've decided.

If you’re entitled to a Housing Payment, we’ll tell you how much you'll receive and for how long. If you still need help after this period, you'll need to apply for a Housing Payment again.

The payment will usually start from the Monday following the date of your application. If you receive Housing Benefit, it'll paid into the same account.

The most we can give you is the difference between the housing element of your Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, and the amount of rent you have to pay. If you receive Universal Credit, a new payment arrangement may be made.

You can see the details of your Housing Payment by registering for a My Bentax account online.

If you don’t agree with our decision

If you think our decision is wrong, you can ask us to look at it again.

Please note: you don't have the same right of appeal as you would for Housing Benefit. This is because Housing Payments are a discretionary award and not an entitlement.

If your circumstances change

You need to tell us if there are any changes to your circumstances. This includes your financial situation or anything else that means we may need to review your Housing Payment. Read more about the changes in circumstances that we need to know about.

We may ask you to pay back your Housing Payment if we find out later that you weren’t entitled to it.

What you can do to improve your situation

If we award you a Housing Payment, we'll expect you to try to improve your financial situation. If you're struggling with money, please contact an advice service who can help you:

Money and debt advice - local and national services.
Benefits advice - help to claim benefits or to check if you’re receiving everything that you’re entitled to.
Housing advice - general housing advice, support to keep your tenancy, or if you’re worried about becoming homeless.