Housing benefit restrictions for private tenants
Eligible rent
If you belong to one of the groups below your claim will be assessed under the Housing Benefit rules on eligible rent.
- If you were entitled to benefit before 7 April 2008
- Local Authority tenants
- tenants of registered social landlords (Housing Associations)
- tenants who have a registered or 'fair' rent
- tenancies which start before January 1989
- protected cases such as supported housing provided by social landlords, charities or voluntary organizations, who also provide care, support or supervision
- where the landlord provides meals
- tenancies in caravans, houseboats or hostels
Ineligible services
Not all of the rent you pay to your landlord is for the actual property. Some might be for fuel charges, water rates or meals. Housing Benefit can only help you with the rent that that is paid for the accommodation. When working out your entitlement to Housing Benefit, there are certain charges that we cannot pay. These are called ineligible charges and include:
- fuel for heating, lighting, cooking or hot water
- water rates
- meals
- cleaning or laundry
- counselling, care or services
If you have amenities and service included in your rent you need to tell us because some charges are allowed.
Rent Officer restrictions - if you rent from private landlords
Housing Benefit helps pay rent which is at or below the average rent for the area that you live in.
Your rent may also be restricted if your home is larger than the needs of your family.
The Rent Officer will tell us how much of the rent we can use to assess your Housing Benefit. This is called the eligible rent, and they will take into account:
- whether your home is a reasonable size for you and your family
- the amount of rent that is reasonable for your particular home
- the amount of rent that is resonable for the area that you live in
If you want to know about the average rent in an area, please complete a Pre-tenancy determination before you move. See Are you about to move for more information.
The Rent Service is independent of the council and are experts in the local property market. They collect details about properties that are available to rent and have been let recently to set the average rent. They get information from agents, landlords and tenants.
If you are a single person under 25
The law restricts your rent if you are a single person under 25. You are only allowed Housing Benefit for the “single room rent” that is set by the Rent Officer. It is the average rent figure for renting a single room and sharing the kitchen and bathroom.
If you disagree with the Rent Officers decision
When to appeal
If you think the Rent Officer is wrong about the average rent for your property you can appeal.
When not to appeal
You should only appeal the decision if you think the Rent Officer’s average rent or market rent is incorrect. If you disagree because you cannot afford to pay the difference you should not appeal against the Rent Officer’s decision. You can ask for a Discretionary Housing Payment instead.
How to appeal a Rent Officer decision
You need to write to us asking us to appeal against the Rent Officer Decision. You will need to tell us why you think the decision is wrong. We will send your letter to the Rent Officer along with any other evidence you have given us.
Another Rent Officer will look at the decision again. The new Rent Officer can agree with the original decision or give a new decision. The new decision can be higher or lower than the original decision, so your benefit can go up or down. We have to use the new decision even if it means your benefit will go down.
