IS20 - A guide to Income Support

Your Income Support payment

Housing costs

If you are getting Income Support and are responsible for housing costs, you may get help with these in 2 ways: [Legislation (71)]

• Housing Benefit payments from your local council to help with your rent or towards the cost of living in a hotel, guest house, hostel or somewhere similar
• Housing costs payments as a part of your Income Support payment for most other housing costs.

To get Housing Benefit or a housing costs payment you or a member of your family must be responsible for the payment of that cost in the home you and your family live in, or must be paying that cost as if you were responsible. If you normally live in two properties, in some limited circumstances, both of them can be regarded as your home. Any non-dependants living in your home will be regarded as able to contribute towards some of these costs themselves, so your benefit may be affected by them. You can normally only get these payments for one home, but there are special rules when a family is temporarily separated.

You will continue to get any Income Support housing cost payments for as long as you are treated as responsible for the costs. This will normally be for up to a maximum of 52 weeks.If it is known at the outset or it becomes clear during your stay that your absence is gong to be considerably longer than a year, then your housing costs payment will be stopped immediately.For detailed information on what Housing Benefit you will get while in hospital see guide RR2 A guide to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.

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