About Housing Benefit & Council Tax Support

Making it easier to get what you need

Citizen Access - Benefits is your Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support portal. You'll find it easy to use, with handy hints along the way!

On the portal you can:

• make a claim for Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support
• update your claim by reporting a change in circumstances
• view your claim details and decision notices 
• upload supporting evidence

Once you have accessed the portal, do not bookmark or save the page to favourites as it may not work properly when you next try to visit.
You can save this page to your favourites to re-visit Citizen Access - Benefits.

If you need extra help, or have no internet access, you could:-

• ask a friend or family member's to help you
• ask your Support Worker for assistance

Still have questions? Contact the Benefits Team

For more information about electronic communications, see the Electronic Communications Directive (PDF) [158KB] authorising us to do this.

Housing Benefit

The majority of people will receive help with their rent through Universal Credit. There are however a small number of people who can still claim Housing Benefit:-

• you, and your partner if you have one, have both reached the qualifying age for Pension Credit (check your state pension age)
• you have been placed into temporary accommodation by our Housing Team; or
• you are living in supported accommodation and receive care, support or supervision from your landlord (or other organisation on your landlords' behalf)

To work out your Housing Benefit, we look at your circumstances, including:-

• The people who live in the property with you
• All income and capital
• Your rent and the number of bedrooms needed

If you, and your partner if you have one, have total capital over £16,000 you will not be entitled to Housing Benefit (unless you are in receipt of Guarantee Pension Credit).

Council Tax Support 

Universal Credit does not include help towards the cost of your Council Tax. If you need help paying this, please make sure you claim as soon as possible.
In order to claim, you must be named on the Council Tax demand and live in the property as your main home.

Working Age

The Council Tax Support scheme for WORKING AGE applicants is a local scheme, which uses income bands and household size to work out the level of discount.
It can help pay up to 70% of your Council Tax if you are on a low income and have savings less than £10,000.

Pension Age

The rules for the Council Tax Support PENSION AGE scheme are set by Central Government and use the household income, plus the size and needs of the household to work out the level of discount.
It can help pay up to 100% of your Council Tax if you are on a low income and have savings less than £16,000; or receive Guarantee Pension Credit.

Read more about these schemes