Discretionary housing payments

To be considered for a Discretionary Housing Payment:

• you need to be in receipt of Housing Benefit and

• the Housing Benefit you receive must be less than your contractual rent – the payment cannot be used for services included in your rent such as utility bills 

or

• you are being paid the housing element of Universal Credit (Discretionary Housing Payment cannot be used for services included in your rent i.e. utility bills). 

An application should be made by completing our online Discretionary Housing Payment application form.

Apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment

Alternatively you can download the form below.

• Discretionary Housing Payment Application form ( pdf - 122.62 KB )

We will look at your application and decide whether we can award you additional help. We may ask you to provide extra information in support of your request.

If we make the award we will write and tell you:

• the reason we have made the award

• how much you will be awarded and

• the period of the award

If we decide that we cannot make the award we will write to you and tell you:

• the reason we have not made the award and

• what you can do if you do not agree with our decision

If you do not agree with our decision you can write to us asking for a review  If we are unable to change our decision your request will be heard by a panel of senior officers. 

We will write to you and let you know the outcome of your claim. We call this a decision notice. We aim to make a decision within 14 days.