Do I qualify for benefits?

If you are on a low or fixed income, you may be entitled to receive benefit to help pay your Council Tax liability and rent charges if you rent from a private landlord.

The amount of Housing and Council Tax Benefits you receive will depend on the following factors:Flip Coins

If you do not currently receive benefit and feel you may qualify, please visit our Making a Claim page for information on how to apply.

For more information on Housing and Council Tax Benefit eligibility, please contact our Benefits section at the Civic Centre on 0115 901 3970 or email housingbenefits@gedling.gov.uk

Low and fixed incomes

If you receive a low or fixed income you may be entitled to receive Council Tax and Housing Benefit. To find out if you qualify, please visit our Low and Fixed Incomes page.

If your income is below the figures quoted there, we recommend you visit our Making a Claim page for information on how to apply. Alternatively, please contact our Benefits section using the details provided above.

Is any of my income disregarded?

When calculating Housing and Council Tax Benefit you must declare any Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and War Pensions you receive, even though these may be disregarded in calculating your benefit entitlement. (External sites)

If you receive Disability Benefits or Carer's Allowance your income could be even higher and you could still qualify for a reduction in your Council Tax.

If you are in work we only count wages after tax, National Insurance and half of any payments to personal pensions.

From 2 November 2009, we will disregard any Child Benefit you receive when making a claim, similar to the way Child Maintenance was disregarded from claims made after October 2008.

What about my savings?

If you are below the age to claim pension credit the first £6,000 is disregarded and £1 per week added to your income for every £250 or part there of over £6,000 you hold in capital.

From 2 November 2009, anyone over the age to claim pension credit will be able to disregard the first £10,000 of savings and £1 per week added to your income for every £500 or part there of, you hold in capitalwhen calculating their benefit entitlement.

If you hold over £16,000 in capital you will not qualify for Housing/Council Tax Benefit unless you are in receipt of Pension Credit (guaranteed element).

What is my Needs Allowance?

Your needs allowance is the amount of money the Department for Work and Pensions decides you and your dependant family need to live on.

This figured is determined by your household circumstances and takes the following into account:

  1. A Personal Allowance based on you or your partner's age and whether you are single or living with your partner.
  2. A Child Allowance awarded for each child in your household.
  3. Additional Premiums awarded where members of the household are disabled or carers.

These elements are added together to determine your overall needs allowance.

What if other people live in my household?

A deduction will be made from your benefit entitlement for any non-dependants living in your home, not including your partner. However, if you receive Attendance Allowance or the care component of Disability Living Allowance we can disregard these from your claim. (External sites)

Change of circumstances

Anyone receiving benefit must notify us immediately of any change in circumstances that could affect the amount of benefit they receive. For more details, please visit our Change of Circumstances page.

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