Make a Housing Benefit claim

For most people of working age, Universal Credit has replaced Housing Benefit. Find out who is eligible to claim Housing Benefit, and how to make a claim.

Who can claim Housing Benefit

You are eligible to claim Housing Benefit if:

you, and your partner (if you have one) have reached state pension age
you live in supported accommodation (any age)

You cannot claim Housing Benefit if:

you own your home and have a mortgage
you rent your home from a close relative who lives in the same house
you, and your partner (if you have one) have savings or investments of over £16,000 (unless you get Guaranteed Pension Credit)

How to make a claim

Step 1: make a claim

Use our Benefit claim form and calculator to claim online.

Alternatively you can Contact Housing Benefit by phone or visit one of our customer access points, you'll need an appointment for your chosen location.

Step 2: provide documents as evidence to support your claim

When you make your claim, you will be advised what documents we need to see. Provide these documents as soon as possible to avoid delays, and within a month to ensure we can calculate your claim. You can submit your documents in the following ways:

You can email all documents to benefits@durham.gov.uk, quote your claim reference in the subject line if known. This can include photographs of the documents.
At a customer access point - you'll need an appointment for your chosen location
By post addressed to:

Transactional and Customer Services
PO Box 238
Stanley
County Durham
DH8 1FP

Please don't send valuable items. For more information about the documents we accept, see what information you should provide.

Step 3: your claim is processed

Once we have received all supporting documents, we will process your claim. We will write to you to confirm your benefit entitlement, telling you how much you will receive and how we reached that decision. We will then make arrangements to pay your benefit - see How is Housing Benefit paid? for more information.