How to apply for Housing and Council Tax Benefit

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New Claims for Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit

Online Claim Form

If you wish to make a new claim for Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit please use our benefit calculator to see if you may be entitled (please use the link below).

If you may be entitled to claim and want to claim, the benefit calculator will automatically take you to our new online claim form, which you can fill in online and then send to us electronically.

Once you have completed your online claim form, please call us on 020 8547 5001 to make an appointment for an interview with a Benefits Officer. All new customers need to have an interview with a Benefits Officer in order to make or finalise a new claim.

For further information on your interview please see the 'Your Interview Appointment' pages.

When you complete our online claim form, you will be given a list of all the documents you will need to bring with you to your interview. If you bring in everything that we need, we may be able to assess your claim within 3 working days, sometimes on the same day.

Once you have completed the benefit calculator and started the online claim form, you can save the form if you need to and return to it at a later date.

The claim form asks for a lot of information, please take the time to read all the notes provided within the form to ensure it is completed correctly.

If you now wish to make an online claim for benefit, please click on the link below:

Unable to Complete Online?

If you are not able to complete this form online, you can:

• Use one of the self-serve computers in the Information and Advice Centre in Guildhall 2. You do not need an appointment to do this. Once you have completed the benefits calculator and claim form, you can then use one of the self-serve phones to call a Benefit Officer to book an appointment for your New Claim interview.

• If you are not able to use one of our self-serve computers, you can call us on 020 8547 5001 to speak to a Benefits Officer, who will go through the calculator with you over the phone. If you are entitled, we will save your online claim form, book an appointment for you where we can help you finish the claim process, and tell you what you need to bring in with you.

Claiming Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit with other support

Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance

You can claim for Housing or Council Tax Benefit through Jobcentre Plus if you are also claiming for Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance at the same time.

If you need to make a claim please call Jobcentre Plus on 0800 055 6688. The application line is open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm. When you make your claim for these benefits, they will ask you if you want to claim Housing or Council Tax Benefit.  If you say yes, they will take your claim for Housing and Council Tax Benefit at the same time and then send it to us.

Pension Credit

The Pension Service can now help you apply for Housing and Council Tax Benefit at the same time as your application for Pension Credit. Phone the Pension Credit Application Line on 0800 99 1234. The application line is open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm.

If you apply by contacting Jobcentre Plus or the Pension Service, you will not need to complete one of our forms.