Housing Benefit
Most people who are entitled to help with their housing costs will need to claim universal credit.
You should claim Housing Benefit from the Council if you answer "Yes" to any of these questions:
- Are you of pension age?
- Do you live in temporary accommodation?
- Do you live in supported accommodation?
If the answer to all three questions is no, you will need to claim Universal Credit instead.
Please note only one claim is required per household.
Local Housing Allowance Rates
Local Housing Allowance is a way of working out the maximum benefit that might be paid for tenants renting accommodation from a private Landlord.
It only applies to those making claims for Housing Benefit, or those already claiming who move to privately rented accommodation, on or after 7 April 2008.
You can view tables the Local Housing Allowance rates for the West Devon area and additional information on our Local Housing Allowance Rates page.
Housing Benefit Overpayments
If you have been overpaid Housing Benefit, you may have to repay it.
If you think you're receiving too much Housing Benefit you need to tell us, as you may have to pay it back.
We can recover overpayments by:
- asking your employer to operate a Direct Earnings Attachment (deducting directly from your wages)
- deducting directly from any ongoing benefit entitlement
- deducting directly from other social security benefits
- receiving a payment from you
If you are having difficulty repaying an overpayment, please Contact our Housing Benefit Team as soon as possible.
How much of my War Pension is considered in any calculation?
We currently disregard 100% of War Disablement and War Widows Pension income when calculating Housing Benefit entitlement. This is allowed for under Section 134(8) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.