Housing and Council Tax Reduction are means tested benefits and your income and savings will effect how much benefit you receive.
CAPITAL
If you or your partner have savings of over £16,000, you will not be eligible for either of these benefits unless you are in receipt to guaranteed Pension Credit. Benefits Regulations state how we must treat any capital or savings you have. This includes land and property other than your home as well as stocks, shares, bonds, bank and building society accounts.
If you are of working age the first £6,000 of your capital is disregarded (i.e: not counted in the benefit calculation) but for every part or full £250 above £6,000, we must add £1.00 to your weekly income when we calculate benefit.
For pensioners, the first £10,000 of capital is disregarded but for every part or full £500 above £10,000 we must add £1.00 to your weekly income when we calculate benefit.
The examples below show how any capital above £6,000 (but below the £16,000 limit for Housing and Council Tax Reduction) is converted to a weekly "Tariff Income"
We need to see proof of all capital held by either:
- Yourself
- Your husband/wife/partner
- Your non-dependants
By capital we mean all your money - not just what you would call "savings". Examples of Capital that we must be told about include:
- Bank and Building Society Accounts (including current/cheque accounts) even if overdrawn
- Post Office accounts
- Premium Bonds
- Stocks and Shares
- Land or Property (but not the home you live in)
- Cash
Acceptable forms of evidence or proof include:
- Current Bank or Building Society statements which show credits and debits and the outstanding balance over a period of two months
- Building Society or Post Office books which show credits and debits and the outstanding balance over a period of two months
- Letter from the bank or building society which shows the:
- type of account held
- account numbers
- balance outstanding
- The letter must say whether the details reflect the account for the last two months and provide any information on regular monies deposited into the account.
Original documents showing proof of ownership for example, dividend statements detailing assets for:
- certificates
- bonds
- unit trusts
- stocks and shares etc.
A SLIP FROM A CASH POINT SHOWING THE OUTSTANDING BALANCE OF AN ACCOUNT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE AS EVIDENCE BUT A STATEMENT PRINTED FROM ONLINE BANKING SERVICES IS.
If you can not provide proof for any reason, you should contact the Benefits office immediately who will advise you what to do, or arrange a visit if necessary.
Remember: we need to see the original documents, not photocopies. If you do not provide the documents we need, your Benefit may be delayed.
INCOME
State Benefits
If you are getting Income Support or Income Based Jobseekers Allowance, we may already have proof of this. If not, we are able to get proof directly from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Where you, your husband/wife/partner or your non-dependants are getting any other Social Security benefit, you will need to provide proof.
You can do this in a number of ways, but the best kinds of evidence are:
- Award notification letters that show the current rates of benefit.
Click the link at the top-right of this page for a 'Proof of Benefit' certificate available for you to download and print out.
If you are getting Child Benefit and cannot find your last award notification letter you can ask the Child Benefit Unit in Newcastle for a CH84 Form. This gives us all the information we need. You can contact the Child Benefit Unit on 08701 555540.
If your State Benefits are paid directly into a bank or building society account and the award notification letter is not available, we can also accept current bank statements or passbooks which show the payments of benefit received.
Remember -we need to see the original documents, not photocopies. If you do not provide the documents we need, your Benefit may be delayed.
Earnings
If you are employed we need to see evidence of your earned income and the earnings of your husband/wife/partner or any non-dependants. The evidence you provide must cover either the:
- last 5 weeks (if paid weekly)
- last 3 payments (if paid fortnightly)
- last 2 months (if paid monthly)
The best kinds of evidence are either:
- Wage slips (not handwritten) or
- A certificate of earnings which has been properly completed by the employer (These are provided with the Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction claim form or can be downloaded from the link at the top-right).
Other forms of evidence acceptable under the Verification Framework are:
- A letter from the employer or
- A benefit award notification which states the earnings.
The Verification Framework says that the evidence should show the:
- Name and address of the employer
- Number of hours worked
- Period covered (eg: week, month etc.)
- Gross income in year to date
- Gross income for pay period
- Income Tax deducted
- National Insurance contributions deducted
- Employees pension contributions
- Method of payment eg: Cheque, Cash, Transfer to bank account etc.
Remember -we need to see the original documents, not photocopies. If you do not provide the documents we need, your Benefit may be delayed.
Self Employment
If you, your husband/wife/partner or your non-dependants are Self-Employed, we will need to see either:
- The most recent accounts drawn up for tax purposes, or
- An estimate of your earnings based on your income and expenditure.
It would also be helpful if you could send us your latest tax assessment.
If any person is involved in more than one form of self-employment, we need to see separate evidence for each type of work. If you wish to print out a form to complete to inform us of these details, then please download one from the link at the top-right of this page.
Other Income
You will need to provide proof of all other income received by yourself, your husband/wife/partner or your non-dependants. The kind of proof that you can supply will depend on the kind of income, but as an example, the following are acceptable as evidence of "other" income:
- Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits - all papers for any awards made
- Last payment slips (for example a Works Pension etc.).
- Award notifications (for example Court Orders or Child Support Agency notifications).
- Court Order award notices.
- Letters from absent parents confirming maintenance payments made.
This list does not cover every type of income but whatever you provide, we need to see the original documents, not photocopies. If you are not sure about what proof to send, you should contact the Benefits Office. If you do not provide the documents we need your Benefit may be delayed.
Expenses
There are certain expenses which can be offset against your income for Housing and Council Tax Reduction purposes. These expenses are:
1.Child care expenses. There are certain circumstances in which you can offset up to a maximum of £300.00 per week (dependant upon certain qualifying conditions). You need only give details for this if your child/children are under the age of 15, attend a registered Nursery, out of school scheme or child minder and you (and your partner) are in full time work (over 16 hours per week). If only one member of the couple work and the other is in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance or Incapacity Benefit, you may also qualify for this expense as a deduction - contact the Housing Benefit office for more information.
2.Private Pension. If you pay into a private pension scheme, half of your contributions may be disregarded. You will need to provide original documentation to confirm the amount you pay.
3.Payment towards a student grant.
