Discretionary payments towards rent and council tax

What are discretionary payments?

There are two types of discretionary payments available to provide extra financial help in certain circumstances.

• discretionary housing payments can help towards your rent and;

• discretionary council tax payments can help towards your council tax.

In both cases:

• you need to be in receipt of housing benefit and/or council tax support, and

• the amount of your housing benefit or council tax support is less than the amount of rent or council tax you are charged.

Discretionary payments can be used to make up some or all of the shortfall.

We cannot provide a discretionary payment to help with other items such as water or service charges or for things like heating and food.

How much help can I get and for how long?

We can pay discretionary payments for different periods of time depending on your circumstances. Discretionary payments are only intended to help you through temporary difficulties or periods of hardship. They are not intended to be given for long term or indefinite periods

How do I claim?

Many people who do not get full housing benefit and council tax benefit have difficulty paying their rent and council tax.

To qualify for a discretionary payment we need to see that you are affected by something out of the ordinary that makes it very difficult for you to pay your housing costs or that means it is important to live where you do.

Therefore we need to find out about your individual circumstances.

A discretionary payment claim form is available in the downloads section on the right hand side of this page. Alternatively contact us and we can send one to you for you to complete. Our contact details area at the top right hand corner of this page. This form can be used to claim both a discretionary housing payment and discretionary council tax payment at the same time.

When we get your form we will look at the information you have given, and if we need more details we will contact you.

How do you decide if I can have a discretionary payment?

There are no set criteria and everyone's circumstances are different, but we will consider things like:

• the amount of help you get towards your rent and council tax and the amounts you have to pay.

• your household's financial situation, including income, savings, expenditure and debts.

• the medical circumstances of you and anyone who lives with you

• if you have been affected by Welfare Reform changes

• circumstances have affected you that are beyond your control

• temporary hardship and difficulties when starting work

• temporary situations that make it difficult to move home in the short term, or there is a risk of imminent loss of the home, where we think that a discretionary payment will prevent this.

How will a discretionary payment be made?

We will pay a discretionary housing payment along with your housing benefit. A discretionary council tax payment will be paid directly onto your council tax account.

If you get an award there is no guarantee that another award will be made at a later date even if your circumstances have not changed.

What happens if I disagree with your decision?

There is no right of appeal to an independent tribunal. However, you can ask us to look at your claim again and your application will be reviewed by another officer to check that the original decision was correct. Please either write to us or send us an e-mail, our contact details at the top right hand corner of this page.

• Subscribe to this page