How we pay benefit

How much benefit you'll get depends on:

• the amount of rent you pay
• how many people live with you
• how much money you have coming in
• if you have any savings

Housing Benefit may be reduced if:

• there are any non-dependants in your home
• you're a council or housing association tenant and have one or more spare bedrooms 
• you're single and under 35 years (in most cases)

If you rent from a private landlord, how much you get depends on the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). 

Paying your benefit - Private tenants

If you're a tenant of a private landlord, we'll pay your benefit direct to your bank account every two weeks in arrears. You need to make sure that you have a bank account set up for us to do this. 

Council tenants

If you're a council tenant, we'll pay benefit directly to your rent account one week in advance. We'll let you know how much rent you'll need to pay when the benefit has been credited to your rent account.

Changing your bank details

If you change the account that we usually pay benefit in to, you'll need to let us know about this. To do this, you will need to create or log in to your online account with us. Once inside your account go to 'Submit a Request' and select the 'Change bank details' form.

Direct payments to your landlord

It may be possible to pay this directly to your landlord if:

• you're more than eight weeks in arrears
• you're unable to deal with your own finances

Landlords are usually paid every four weeks in arrears.

To apply for direct payments, you will need to create or log in to your online account with us. Once inside your account go to 'Submit a Request' and select the 'Pay benefit to your landlord' form.

Submitting a request

To complete a form you will need to open or log into an online account. You'll then be able to submit any forms and view any future changes to your benefits online. 

PLEASE NOTE - You will need your own e-mail address to set up an account. We will contact you electronically if we need further information and to let you know when your request has been processed.

Need help?

Please use our enquiry form to get in touch if you do not have an e-mail address or need us to contact you.