Benefits
Benefit can help meet the cost of your rent and council tax if
you:
Have a low income - whether you work or not, are responsible for
paying the rent/ council tax, live in the property, do not have
savings above £16,000* (*unless you claim and qualify for
Pension Credit Guarantee Credit)
The amount of benefit depends on:
The amount of rent/ council tax you pay, whether anyone else
(such as lodgers or grown-up children) live with you, the amount of
money you have coming in each week, the amount the Government says
you need to live on.
You may not be eligible to apply for benefit if:
You have come to live in the UK within the last two years**, you
are subject to immigration control, you are from outside the Common
Travel Area and are 'economically inactive', you have a
second property elsewhere, you are a student, you are a prisoner,
you are absent from your home.
** Special rules apply to people who are not British nationals.