Housing benefits and support

If you pay rent for your home and you are on a low income, you may be able to get some help by claiming benefit.

View your housing benefit account details easily online

Universal Credit is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), not Chorley Council. View information on Universal Credit.

The government have announced an extension of the Household support fund to be made available to Councils in England to help with significant rising living costs. It is intended to help those who do not have enough resources to meet immediate short term needs and require assistance with essential items over the coming months.

Circumstances change all the time and we need to be kept informed of any new information that could affect your Housing Benefit or Council Tax support claim.

Council Tax Support can help towards the cost of your Council Tax charge if you are on a low income or in receipt of other benefits. You can claim if you are working and your earnings are low.

Appeal against your Council Tax valuation band, your Council Tax calculation or your Council Tax support calculation.

Benefit fraud is when people claim benefit they are not entitled to, by giving us false information or not telling us when their circumstances have changed. This is a criminal offence that can result in prosecution and any overpaid benefit being recovered.

Housing and Council Tax Benefit is reduced for each non-dependant living in your home. For non-dependant couples, the income of both members of the couple are added together to find the total gross income. The reduction in your benefit is called a non-dependant deduction.

An overpayment is when more benefit is awarded than someone is entitled to (this can happen when somebody does not tell us about a change in their circumstances). This includes any housing benefit that has been paid to a claimant or their landlord or any Council Tax support which is paid direct to your Council Tax account.

Council Tax support and housing benefit is normally paid from the Monday following the date a claim is received by us. If you want benefit or Council Tax support to be paid from an earlier date you will need to request backdating.

If you want to know more about the benefit decision we have made, or if you think the decision is wrong, you should get in touch with us within 1 month of the date of the decision by email to contact@chorley.gov.uk.

Payment will usually be made straight into a bank or building society account on a Wednesday evening and should be in the account on the following Monday. Housing benefit is paid every 4 weeks, in arrears.

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP's) help people with their rent when their housing benefit or Universal Credit housing costs payment does not meet the full value of their rent. You must be in receipt of some housing benefit or Universal Credit housing costs for an award to be made.

This page offers advice and information to help landlords understand the rules relating to a tenant's claim for housing benefit.

View information on under occupancy rules and how the rules may affect your housing benefit.

If you live at a property with another person (who is not your partner) and that person has a low income then you may qualify for second adult rebate.

Search to find your local Job Centre Plus.

If you rent your property from a private landlord then your benefit will be calculated using a Local Housing Allowance rate. The rate we apply is determined by the number of bedrooms your household needs and the area the property is in.

An overpayment is when more benefit is awarded than someone is entitled to (this can happen when somebody does not tell us about a change in their circumstances). This includes any housing benefit that has been paid to a claimant or their landlord or any Council Tax support which is paid direct to your Council Tax account.

View information on budgeting support

View information on emergency food support available.

If you are self-employed and claim Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support you will need to provide evidence of your income. This is usually on an annual basis.