Payment of Housing Benefit

How your benefit will be paid

• Council Tenants - Housing Benefit is paid weekly to your rent account.
• Private and Housing Association Tenants - Housing Benefit is paid directly to your bank account, in arrears, every two weeks.  We cannot pay Housing Benefit into Post Office Accounts.  
• Local Council Tax Support is paid as a credit onto your Council Tax Account.

We can consider paying your benefit directly to your Landlord if you:

• Have rent arrears of eight weeks or more.
• If you owe rent when you move out of your property but you are still entitled to Housing Benefit.
• Are having deductions for rent arrears taken from your Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit
• Are a vulnerable person and you cannot take responsibility for paying your rent.
• Your claim is calculated under Local Housing Allowance rules and you can show us that you will have difficulty taking responsibility for paying the rent yourself.  

If you think any of the above rules apply to you, tell us about it when you claim or you can fill in our online Paying your Landlord form below.

Apply Online - Benefits Direct Payment to Landlord (opens new window)

Local Council Tax Support

Local Council Tax Support is paid as a credit directly to your Council Tax account reducing your bill for the year. 

Council Tax is set once a year so we work out your Local Council Tax Support for an advanced period. Once Local Council Tax Support is awarded, you will be sent a bill giving you details of what additional payments are required or if your bill has been cleared.