If your circumstances are particularly difficult and you are receiving Housing Benefit or the housing costs element of Universal Credit, you may be able to claim Housing Payment towards your rent costs. If you are claiming Council Tax Support, you may be able to claim Exceptional Hardship Payment towards your Council Tax costs.
To make an application for either of these discretionary payments, please see the link at the bottom of the page.
You must make sure that you are seeking additional help to assist with your situation i.e. debt or budgeting advice from the local Citizens' Advice Bureau.
We only have a limited amount of money for discretionary payments and we will look carefully at each application and how much we pay depends on your individual circumstances.
Discretionary payments cannot cover certain things such as
- Charges for water rates
- Parts of your rent not covered by benefit, for example, charges for fuel, hot water, or meals
- Increases in rent due to rent arrears
- Where another benefit you are receiving has been suspended
- Where another benefit you are receiving has been reduced because of an overpayment, or a sanction, has been applied