IS20 - A guide to Income Support

Your Income Support payment

Different housing costs

Mortgage interest
If you have a mortgage or loan taken out to buy your home, Income Support will help you with the interest payments. The Income Support scheme will not help with repayments of capital or with the premiums or any endowment or pension policy that is associated with the loan. [Legislation (77)]

Income Support can only help with the interest on:

• loans for ‘acquiring an interest in a home’
• or loans for financing repairs or improvements that are necessary to maintain the fitness of your home for human habitation
• or loans taken out to repay loans that were used for either of the above

Where a mortgage is taken out partly for another purpose such as buying a car or providing a business loan, the Income Support scheme will only pay interest on the part of the loan associated with the house purchase or repairs.

A replacement mortgage would only be met to the same level as the original mortgage. For example, if the new mortgage or loan is used partly to clear debts or to replace a loan not previously met, this would not be allowed in the cost of the second mortgage. See leaflet IS8 Home owners – help with housing costs for more information.

Interest on loans for essential repairs and improvements
Income Support can help with the interest on loans that were taken out and used for the following repairs and improvements, when the work was necessary to maintain the fitness of your home for human habitation: [Legislation (78)]

• provision of a fixed bath, shower, wash basin, sink or lavatory and necessary associated plumbing, including the provision of hot water not connected to a central heating system
• repairs to existing heating system
• damp proof measures
• provision of ventilation and natural lighting
• provision of drainage facilities
• provision of facilities for preparing and cooking food
• provision of insulation of the dwelling occupied as the home
• provision of electric lighting and sockets
• provision of storage facilities for fuel or refuse
• repairs to unsafe structural defects
• adapting a dwelling for the special needs of a disabled person
• provision of separate sleeping accommodation for children of different sexes aged 10 or over who are part of the same family of the claimant.

Income Support cannot help with any other home loans that are not covered by this list.

There is a limit of £100,000 on the amount of capital that Income Support can help with the interest on. This means that if the outstanding capital on your loan, or loans, is more than £100,000 then only the interest on £100,000 can be met through Income Support help with the mortgage interest payments. [Legislation (79)]

The outstanding capital on a home improvement loan that was taken out and used, in full or part, to adapt your home for the special needs of a disabled person will not count towards this limit. For the purposes of this rule a disabled person is a person living with you who qualifies for a disability premium, a disabled child premium, a pensioner premium for people 75 or over or a higher pensioner premium, or who would qualify for one of these premiums if they were receiving Income Support, or a child tax credit is paid for a member of the customer's family who is disabled or severely disabled for the purposes of s9(6) of Tax Credits Act 2002.

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