South Ayrshire Council

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit

Housing benefit/Council tax benefit are means tested benefits to help people on low income to pay their rent/Council tax.

If you pay both rent and council tax, you can apply for both Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit at the same time with one claim form.

Changes to Council Tax Benefit from 1 April 2013

The UK government will abolish the existing Council Tax Benefit scheme from 1 April 2013, with a localised scheme operating in its place. In Scotland this will be called the Council Tax Reduction Scheme from 1 April 2013.

Claims for the new Council Tax Reduction Scheme from 1 April 2013 should still be made to South Ayrshire Council as normal.

If you currently receive Council Tax Benefit, there will be no requirement to make a claim for the new Council Tax Reduction scheme.

More information will be available nearer the time.

Will I be entitled to Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit

You can use the online calculator to see if you may be entitled to Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit. You can also use this calculator to find out how a change in your circumstances might affect your current Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit.

How to claim

If you wish to make a claim direct to South Ayrshire Council you can download a claim form and additional information to help you to complete the claim form. If you have any difficulty downloading the claim form or the additional information, please contact your local office. Details are shown below.

If you are currently making a claim for Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit you may have already completed a claim form for Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit. The Jobcentre Plus or Pensions, Disability and Carers Service will tell you if they are going to send that claim form to the Council for you. If they are going to send your claim form to us you should not need to complete one of the Council's claim forms.

Changes to Housing Benefit from 1 April 2013

What are the changes?

From 1 April 2013 the Government is introducing size limit rules into Housing Benefit for working age people only who are renting from a local authority, a registered housing association or other registered social landlord.

The new rules will restrict the size of accommodation you can receive Housing Benefit for based on the number of people in your household.

The new rules allow one bedroom for:

• every adult couple (married or unmarried)
• any other adult aged 16 or over
• any two children of the same sex aged under 16
• any two children aged under 10
• any other child, (other than a foster child or child whose main home is elsewhere)
• a carer (or team of carers) who do not live with you but provide you or your partner with overnight care

How could you be affected?

It is possible that the amount of Housing Benefit you get to pay your rent and any service charges could go down.

If you are assessed under these rules as having more bedrooms than are necessary for your household you will be considered to be under-occupying that property.

If you have one or more extra bedrooms your Housing Benefit may be reduced. The amount allowed for rent and any service charges will be reduced by:

• 14% for under-occupancy by 1 bedroom
• 25% for under-occupancy by 2 bedrooms or more

If you are thinking of moving you need to consider these changes before renewing or making a new tenancy agreement.

You may be able to get a Discretionary Housing Payment to make up all or some of the reduction – see our section on Discretionary Housing Payments.

When will these changes take effect?

The new size limit rules are due to take effect on 1 April 2013.

It is important that you start to consider what your options might be now and where necessary talk to your landlord or local authority

If you want to know more about this please contact Benefit Services on 0300 123 0900 or Benefit.services@south-ayrshire.gov.uk

Where to get more information

If you want to know more about Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit please contact Benefit Services on 0300 123 0900.

Office	Address
Ayr Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit	Riverside House, 21 River Terrace, Ayr KA8 0AU, Tel: 0300 123 0900
Ayr Council Tax Benefit	County Buildings, Wellington Square, Ayr KA7 1DR, Tel: 0300 123 0900
Troon and Prestwick	Municipal Buildings, South Beach, Troon KA10 6EF, Tel: 0300 123 0900
Girvan and Maybole	19 Knockcushan Street, Girvan KA26 9AQ, Tel: 0300 123 0900

Email benefit.services@south-ayrshire.gov.uk

Other Advice

Free help and advice is available from South Ayrshire Trading Standards Consumer & Business Advice Centre, 5 River Terrace, Ayr, KA8 0BJ

South Ayrshire Debt Helpline
Tel: 01292 616060
Fax: 01292 616061
Web: www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards