How much benefit will you get?
How much you get depends on your personal circumstances and
includes:
- how much money you have coming
in;
- the amount of any savings;
- if you have children;
- if you are disabled;
- who else lives in your home;
and
- the amount of rent and council tax
charged.
We can pay up to a maximum of 100% of your council tax and
100% of eligible rent. Your eligible rent may not be the same
as the amount you pay your landlord.
Using what you tell us we will work out your Housing and Council
Tax Benefit based on:
How much money you have coming in
If you get Income Support or
Jobseekers Allowance (income based) or if you are over 60 and get
Pension Credit (Guaranteed type), and you have to pay rent and/or
council tax, you can get the maximum amount of Housing Benefit and
Council Tax benefit.
Otherwise we add together your earnings and any other
income you and your partner receive (if you have one).
Earnings include:
- gross pay less tax, National Insurance contributions and half
of any contribution you make to an occupational or
personal pension. Some childcare charges may also be deducted
- Business profits after any allowable expense are taken
away.
Other income includes:
- any other money coming in such as an occupational pension, most
Social Security Benefits and Pensions, Tax Credits and Pension
Credits. We do not count certain benefits you may get such as
Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance. You need to
tell us if you receive these benefits as you may
get more benefit in certain circumstances.
The amount of any savings
We will look at any savings you and your partner (if you have
one) may have. If you have £6,000 or less we will ignore them.
If you have more than £6,000 but not more than £16,000 we will
take into account £1 per week for every £250 (or part) above
£6,000. If you are over 60, we will ignore the first £6,000 and
take into account £1 per week for every £500 (or part).
If you have savings of more than £16,000 you will not normally
be able to get any Housing or Council Tax benefit (unless you
are a pensioner and receive the guarantee credit element of Pension
Credit).
Personal circumstances
We use amounts set each year by the government called personal
allowances and premiums to work out how much you need to live
on.
A personal allowance depends on:
- your age,
- if you are single or have a partner,
- how many dependent children you have and their ages.
Premiums are extra sums of money intended to recognise the
special needs of:
- families
- disabled people and people who care for a disabled person
- one parent families
- people who have been sick for over 52 weeks
If you are not on Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance (income
based) you may still get maximum Housing Benefit if the money you
have coming in is less than the allowances and premiums described
above. If you have more money your Housing and Council Tax Benefit
is reduced.
Reduced Housing and Council Tax Benefit
A deduction will be made from your Housing and Council
Tax Benefit if you have another person living with you like an
adult son or daughter. These people are called non-dependants.
The deduction will depend on the age and circumstances of your
non-dependent. We do not make deductions if:
- you are blind or receive the Care Component of Disability
Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance
- the non-dependent is aged 16 or 17
- the non-dependent is on youth training, a student, a long term
hospital in- patient, in legal custody or aged under 25 and on
Income Support.
You must include on your benefit claim form any people living
with you and tell us if anybody leaves or joins your household
or has a change in their financial circumstances.
If you are under 25
For the majority of single people under the age of 25, the
amount of Housing Benefit that they receive will be restricted to a
market rent level based on a one bedroom property where the kitchen
and/or bathroom is shared with others. There are some
exceptions to this rule and Housing Benefit staff can provide more
information on this rule.
What if your Housing and Council Tax Benefit does not meet
all of your rent or council tax?
If your Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit does not
meet your rent or council tax in full we can consider awarding
extra benefit. This is called Discretionary Housing
Payment. This award is at the discretion of the Council and
there is a limited budget provided by Central Government for this
purpose. To apply for Discretionary Housing Payment please
contact us at benefits@maidstone.gov.uk.
Calculate how much benefit you may be entitled to
Answer the questions on the Benefits
calculator to estimate how much benefit you may be
entitled to.