How to apply for council tax support and housing benefit online

Making a claim for council tax support or housing benefit online is quick and easy to do.

In certain circumstances, we may not require evidence to support your application. However, your online form will tell you what evidence to provide and when to upload it. Please make sure your evidence is up to date and, if you are not able to supply it when submitting your application, please supply within one month of making the claim.

Please note that usually your claim will only be processed from the following Monday that it is received. We may be able to back date your claim if you can show good cause for not making your claim earlier. Please read the important information in this page. Please also check your eligibility by using a benefits calculator (GOV.UK) before applying. 

Apply online (financialassessments.co.uk)

Universal credit

If you claim universal credit any help you are eligible for towards your rent costs will have already been paid within your universal credit payments. Therefore, you do not need to normally make a separate claim for housing benefit.

However, there are some exceptions to this and, if you are in supported accommodation or have been placed in temporary accommodation by our Housing Needs Team, then you may continue to have housing benefit paid instead.

Help towards your council tax is not included in your universal credit payments, so you will have to make a separate claim for council tax support.

If in doubt, please do not hesitate to contact us: benefits contact form

How benefits are calculated

Housing benefit and council tax support are calculated by comparing how much income you have got coming in with how much money the government says you need to live on. The amounts are known as personal allowances and reflect the basic living needs of the person making the claim and any of their family members.

If you have other adults that live with you they may affect your claim. More information: guide to non-dependants

Benefit calculators

You can use online calculators to work out if you can apply for benefits and how much you might be able to get:

• Work out how many bedrooms you are entitled to in your property (GOV.UK) (you need to do this to work out your housing benefit)
• If you rent from a private landlord, find your local housing allowance rate (GOV.UK) (you need to do this to work out your housing benefit)
• Work out what council tax support and housing benefit you could get (GOV.UK) (also other benefits you could receive including universal credit)

Last updated: 08/12/2023 12:10