Housing Benefit, Local Housing Allowance and extra housing payments (UK 2026)
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Quick answer: Most working-age renters cannot start a new Housing Benefit claim. Help with rent is usually the housing element of Universal Credit, capped for private tenants by Local Housing Allowance. From 1 July 2026, new working-age Housing Benefit is only for specified, supported, sheltered or temporary housing. Pension-age renters can still claim Housing Benefit from the council. If that still leaves a shortfall, England now uses a Crisis and Resilience Fund Housing Payment; Wales and Scotland still run Discretionary Housing Payments.
Rent is the largest line on many Universal Credit awards. The labels confuse people: Housing Benefit, Local Housing Allowance and Discretionary Housing Payment are three different things, and England renamed the extra-help pot in April 2026. Official Housing Benefit: www.gov.uk/housing-benefit
Skip this if: Skip this if you have a mortgage on the home you live in — that is Support for Mortgage Interest, not Housing Benefit. This is not a council or DWP application form.
Last reviewed:
Read the full benefits & tax guide →Quick answer: Can I still claim Housing Benefit? →Primary source: www.gov.uk/housing-benefit
Can I still claim Housing Benefit?
Housing Benefit is paid by your local council and is being replaced by Universal Credit for most working-age people. You can usually only start a new claim if you have reached State Pension age, or you live in supported, sheltered or temporary housing that provides care, support or supervision — for example a refuge, a local-authority hostel or a B&B the council placed you in.
From 1 July 2026, working-age Housing Benefit for general-needs tenancies is closed. If you leave specified or temporary housing for an ordinary tenancy, you claim the Universal Credit housing element instead. You can claim Housing Benefit again if you move back into specified or temporary housing.
Savings over £16,000 usually block Housing Benefit unless you get the Guarantee Credit of Pension Credit. You cannot get Housing Benefit for a mortgage on your own home, or if you live with a close relative as their lodger. Full list: www.gov.uk/housing-benefit
What is the Universal Credit housing element?
If you are working-age and rent from a private landlord, a housing association or a council, your rent help is usually inside Universal Credit. The housing element is paid to you with the rest of the award unless DWP agrees to pay the landlord direct (for example because of arrears or vulnerability).
You can get Universal Credit for living costs and Housing Benefit for rent at the same time if you are in specified or temporary housing — tell the UC claim you are in supported or temporary housing so the housing costs are not duplicated wrongly.
Support for Mortgage Interest is a loan against the home, not rent help. Guide to the wider UC award: Universal Credit explained.
What is Local Housing Allowance?
Local Housing Allowance is the maximum the state will treat as rent for a private tenant in your Broad Rental Market Area. It is set from Valuation Office Agency rent data and published for shared, one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom rates. It is not the same as your actual rent and it is not a separate payment you apply for.
The bedroom rate follows who lives with you, not the property you chose. Single people under 35 are usually limited to the shared-accommodation rate even if they rent a self-contained studio, unless an exemption applies (for example some care leavers, or people who need an extra room for overnight care). Check the bedroom calculator on LHA Direct.
If the rent is above LHA, the shortfall is yours unless the council awards extra housing help. Social tenants are not on LHA; they can still lose money under the spare-room (bedroom tax) rules or the benefit cap.
Extra help if the rent is still too high
England: Discretionary Housing Payments ended on 31 March 2026. From 1 April 2026 extra rent help is a Housing Payment under the Crisis and Resilience Fund. Councils must use that name. You usually need to already get Housing Benefit or the Universal Credit housing element. Search your council site for Housing Payment. The Household Support Fund was folded into the same Crisis and Resilience Fund.
Wales: Discretionary Housing Payments continue under the 2001 regulations. Apply to your council. Official manual: www.gov.uk/government/publications/discretionary-housing-payments-guidance-manual
Scotland: local authorities still run discretionary housing payments for people on Housing Benefit or UC housing costs. Northern Ireland uses its own Discretionary Housing Payment scheme via the Housing Executive.
Awards are short-term and discretionary. Typical uses: LHA shortfall, spare-room reduction, benefit cap, a rent deposit or rent in advance to move somewhere cheaper. They are not a loan. Steps: how to apply for extra housing payment or DHP.
Common questions
I am 40 and rent privately. Can I claim Housing Benefit?
Almost never as a new claim. Claim Universal Credit and the housing element instead, unless you are in specified, supported, sheltered or temporary housing.
Does Local Housing Allowance pay my landlord?
No. LHA is only the cap used to work out Housing Benefit or the UC housing element. The money still comes through those benefits.
Is Discretionary Housing Payment still a thing in England?
The 2001 DHP scheme ended in England on 31 March 2026. Ask your council for a Housing Payment under the Crisis and Resilience Fund. Wales still uses Discretionary Housing Payments.
Can I get help with a rent deposit?
Sometimes, if you already get Housing Benefit or UC housing costs and the council agrees a Housing Payment or DHP for a move that reduces the shortfall. Ask the council — there is no national entitlement.