As a low-income household in Stratford you may be struggling to pay your rent and your council tax for your House in Stratford.

However, you should be aware that Council Tax benefit is a way of helping out low-income families pay part of their respective rent and Council tax.

In some cases depending on the families’ particular circumstances, you may qualify to have 100% of your rent and Council tax paid for you.

Therefore, here is some valued information and advice to see if you qualify for Council Tax and or Housing Benefit for your House in Stratford.

Housing and Council Tax Benefits.

This is a source of help to people on low incomes or people who may be claiming other state benefits and is there to help them meet the cost of their Council tax or rent or in some cases both. The council tax benefit falls into two types of categories you have the mainstream Council tax benefit and then you have what is known as the Rebate for a Second Adult.

Both of these benefits, that is Housing and Council Tax are respectively means tested.

Therefore, when making your claim the council will take into account the following to see whether you qualify or not.

·        Your Total Household Income

·        Your Total Capital

·        The number of people living with you.

Rebate For Second Adult.

Another way of helping to pay your Council Tax is the rebate for a second adult.

If you are the only person in the household who is responsible for paying the Council Tax but you have another adult who is living with

you but is not a lodger or a partner then you maybe able to claim this benefit

The benefit is paid on the income of the other person(s) living with you and is not based on your particular income.

Make a Claim.

You can claim for Housing and Council tax benefits if you fit into the following criteria

·        If you pay rent to a social or private landlord or a housing association

·        Respectively pay council tax for the property you live in

·        Your savings are less than £16,000

However, certain rules also apply to some people claiming council tax and or housing benefit these fall into the following categories.

·        Persons from Abroad

·        Students

·        Prisoners

·        Persons aged between 16-17

·        People in residential care or nursing homes

·        People who have to maintain two houses.

What you might Get?

This all depends on how much Council Tax or rent you pay and how much income actually comes into your household. Plus if any member of your household has any savings and the number of people you have living with you in your house.

How to make an application.

If you are on any of the following benefits as Income support or the allowance for jobseekers then you will be asked about claming Housing and Council Tax Benefit when you initially make your telephone claim with the Job Centre.

When all the information they have asked for is collated they will forward the form to the Councils Benefit Department but they may need in some cases further additional information from you as a claimant.

You can get forms for claiming Housing and Council Tax benefit from the Stratford upon Avon District Councils Offices at Elizabeth House you can also download the form from the Stratford District Council Website if you wish.

In all respect of claims for Housing and Council Tax Benefits forms should be returned in person to the offices at Customer Services at Elizabeth House or you could post the application to the head offices which are located at Church Street in Stratford respectively.

Remember when claiming Housing and Council Tax Benefits make your claim as soon as you possibly can even if you think you do not have sufficient information to make a claim.

I most cases you have a whole month from the date you make your claim to provide all the necessary information.

Claims can be backdated but only in certain circumstances you need to have a good reason (ill heath or you were in hospital) or other circumstances that prevented you from claiming at that particular time.

Claims will not be backdated if your reason is that you were unaware that you could claim Housing/council Tax benefit and in addition, claims cannot be backdated more than 6 months the only exception to that rule is if you and your partner are over 60 yrs of age.

Information that you need to provide.

You respectively need to know what information you need to provide to the council so that your claim can be properly assessed and you are paid the correct amount of benefit. You will need to provide the following basic information.

·        National Insurance Number

·        Proof of your Identity

·        Total of all the Income received by your household(eg all capital) including all building society and bank accounts and post office accounts

·        Rental liability

Any information that you provide must be originals copies will not be accepted as before you will be given a whole month to provide all the necessary information.

Other Factors that need to considered when claming Housing/Council Tax Benefit include the following.

·       Anyone over the age of 18 living with you is known a as “Non Dependant” and this will effect the amount of benefit you are paid as a set amount will be deducted from your weekly benefit. The amount that will be deducted will depend on how much income the “Non Dependant” receives. However, there are exceptions if you or your partner receive Attendance allowance, or Living or disability allowance or the "Non Dependant" is under 18.In addition if "Non Dependant" receives pension credit or is a paid carer provided by a voluntary body or charity then no deduction will be made from your benefit entitlement.

·       Savings and capital can have an impact on Housing or Council tax benefits this respectively depends on how much you have. As a rule if you have savings or capital that in total amount to £16,000 then you will not be eligible to claim Housing or council tax benefit. However if you are under 60 years of age and you have savings of £6000 or less your claim will not be affected.

·       If your circumstances change then you must by law inform the council of these changes as soon as possible in writing to the Councils benefit department within one month of the changes occurring. Changes such as to income or earnings or other benefits plus the number of people living with you or changes to tenancy or rental agreements.

·       If you go to Hospital or leave your home temporarily then once again you need to inform the benefits department. Give dates of when you intend to leave and the date of your return. If you are going to hospital for a length of time then benefits can be paid up to 52 weeks as long as you return to the property within that time period.

Payment of Housing Benefit.

Housing benefit is normally paid direct to yourself (the claimant) or to your landlord via cheque or BACS and is paid every four weeks in arrears. In addition, if you think that the amount of benefit that is going to be paid to yourself is incorrect or you do not fully understand how the council came to this decision in respect of your claim for Housing or Council tax benefit then you can do the following.Request from the Council a detailed statement on how the Council arrived at the decision i.e. how much to pay you.Or make a formal appeal or request a review of the decision.

Useful Contacts:

If you need more information on how to make a claim for Housing/Council tax benefit in Stratford upon Avon then contact:

The Stratford upon Avon District Council Benefits Department:

Tel: 01789-260991