Housing Benefit Council Tax

1.    HOUSING BENEFIT/COUNCIL TAX BENEFIT

2.    COUNCIL TAX-APRIL 2011

1. HOUSING/COUNCIL TAX BENEFIT

Whilst most students are not entitled to Housing Benefit the following groups are eligible to claim when studying full-time;-

Lone Parents and Lone Foster parents -If you are a lone parent or lone foster parent of a child under 16, or a child under 20 if s/he is still in full-time non-advanced education, you will be eligible for H.B. Lone parents can only get Income Support until their youngest child's 7th birthday (5th from October 2011) but can continue to get help from Housing Benefit after this. If Income Support stops when your child is 7 or when you become a student (because your income is too high you must make a separate claim for Housing Benefit to the Local Authority to continue to get H.B. You can continue to get H.B. until your youngest child finishes school or college or until their 20th birthday-whichever is the earlier. This is usually for the period that you can claim child benefit. (Your claim will end at this time even if you are part-way through your course).

I.S/J.S.A.-If you or your partner are in receipt of Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance (although you are not usually entitled to JSA as a full time student) you will receive full Housing Benefit up to the level of the Local Reference Rent/ Local Housing Allowance. You can find out what these levels are by visiting your Local Authority website and typing in Local Housing Allowances rates. The rates fluctuate monthly and your rate will be determined by what type of accommodation is required by you and your family.

Students who are retired-If you, or your partner if you have one, are aged 60 or over, you will be eligible for H.B. for the duration of your course.    

Students with Disabilities-If you qualify for a disability premium or severe disability premium with your H.B. (e.g., if you get disability living allowance or employment and support allowance, long term incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance, incapacity benefit or employment and support allowance in youth or are registered blind, or are deaf and receive a disabled student allowance for deafness), you will be eligible for H.B.

*N.B. From April 2011 disabled Housing Benefit claimants with a non-resident carer who receive the higher rate care component of D.L.A will be entitled to funding for an extra bedroom.

Long Term Sick-If you have been incapable of work for the last 28 weeks, you will be eligible for H.B. for the duration of your incapacity after this point.-(*you will need to claim employment and support allowance first to establish eligibility)

Deafness-If you get a disabled student allowance because of deafness you will be eligible for H.B. You are eligible for H.B. from the date you apply for the allowance. However if you are still waiting to receive confirmation about the allowance , the local authority may put off making a decision about your H.B. claim but should then fully backdate your benefit.

Student couples (where both members of the couple are students) with a dependant child-If you are a member of a couple and your partner is also a full-time student and you have a dependant child you will be eligible for H.B. Unlike Job Seekers Allowance where you can only claim in the summer vacation if you cannot find work, you can claim Housing Benefit throughout the year. If you are also claiming Job Seekers Allowance, remember that when these benefits stop at the end of the summer vacation, you need to inform the Local Authority of your change in circumstances and submit your new student finance income details to have your claim continued .You will receive a new assessment based on your student finance income.

Students Partners-If you are part of a couple and your partner is not a student, s/he is entitled to make a claim for both of you or the family unit.

PART-TIME STUDENTS

If you are registered as a part-time student you can claim Housing Benefit throughout your studies as long as you satisfy all of the other conditions of entitlement. Housing Benefit is a means-tested benefit and it depends how much money you have coming in and what savings you have and the size and needs of your family as to whether you receive any payment.

CLAIM PROCEDURES

If you are claiming Income Support or Job-Seekers Allowance you can claim both Housing and Council Tax Benefit as part of this process-however if you do not know whether you are entitled to it, it is better to claim Housing Benefit direct from the Local Authority. You can obtain a claim form from any one stop shop/local offices of the council and if you submit your claim with all the evidence required you usually receive a promise that your claim will be dealt with more quickly-usually within 14 days.  Most full-time students are only entitled to Income Support or Job-Seekers Allowance during the summer vacation when the student income is not taken into account but a lot more students are entitled to Housing Benefit throughout the year and generally receive at least 70% of their rent payment up to the level of the local housing allowance or local reference rent if they only receive student finance income and child benefit/child tax credit.  From November 2009 Child Benefit has not been counted as income for the purpose of calculating Housing Benefit.

Student Funds

Claimants need to check that the authorities are taking the appropriate student support income into account and applying the correct disregards. The only student income counted for benefit purposes is the Maintenance Loan, Maintenance Grant and the Adult Dependants Grant. The Maintenance Loan has disregarded elements for books, travel etc as well as a weekly £10 disregard. The Higher Education Grant, Special Support Grant, Childcare Grant and Parental Learning Allowance are all completely disregarded as income. Some University Bursaries are also disregarded.

LOCAL HOUSING ALLOWANCES

The National Local Housing Allowance Scheme has standardised what rents can be charged for the private rented sector in certain areas of cities. Figures are published monthly and are available on the Local Authority's website. For Liverpool claimants this information can be viewed at http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/ Claimants will be given allowances on what size property they are eligible for according to their needs and unless you have rent budgeting problems or are unable to manage your affairs the Housing Benefit will always be paid to you the tenant.

2. COUNCIL TAX

Full-time Students are not liable for Council Tax payments but in order to stop the Local Authority billing them need to provide an exemption certificate which they can obtain from the University. You need to download this certificate from the Information Portal and get it stamped at the Gateway Reception desk. Students should then submit this to the local council, obtain a receipt and keep a copy. The annual bill should then be amended and a new statement issued.

Households which are occupied exclusively by full-time students are exempt from council tax payments .Households where one part-time student or non-student lives with other full-time students will receive a 75% bill, and a full-time student with a partner or other adult who is not a student will also receive a 75% bill, where only two adults occupy the property. Where a student lives with two or more other adults who do not attract exemption the bill will be 100% i.e. the full council tax charge.

IF YOU WANT ANY FURTHER INFORMATION OR ADVICE on any aspect of Social Security benefits whilst studying please contact Student Support and Wellbeing to make an appointment with the Student Welfare/Benefit Adviser. Tel 0151-291- 3813 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it