How your circumstances affect Housing Benefit

How having a partner affects your benefit

If you have a partner, you must claim together. You cannot both be claiming Housing Benefit at the same time in the same property. You can decide who claims and who is listed as the partner when completing an application form.

Both you and your partner must also be of state pension age to claim Housing Benefit.

By 'partner', we mean:

Someone you are married to
A civil partner
Someone you live with as if you are married
Someone you live with as if you are civil partners

We include all of the income and savings of your partner when we calculate how much Housing Benefit you are entitled to.

You cannot claim Housing Benefit if you (and your partner combined) have more than £16,000 in capital, unless you are receiving Guaranteed Credit. As a result, we may ask for evidence of your and your partner's capital if you have any.

Mixed age couples

If you are looking to apply for Housing Benefit, you must both be of state pension age. If one of you is working-age, you will need to claim Universal Credit.

Are you a mixed age couple already claiming Housing Benefit?

If you are already claiming Housing Benefit and you are a mixed age couple, you can continue to claim Housing Benefit.

However if you have a change in circumstances that means you are no longer entitled to Housing Benefit, your claim will stop. If your circumstances then change again meaning you wish to claim Housing Benefit again, you will need to claim Universal Credit instead.

Tell us if your circumstances change

If your partner moves out, moves in, or their earnings or circumstances change in any way, then you must tell us here immediately so that your claim can be recalculated to avoid you being overpaid benefit (which you would be expected to pay back).

Even if you are unsure whether you need to tell us, tell us anyway.

Report a change in your circumstances

Check who is on your Housing Benefit claim

If you are already claiming Housing Benefit, you can check to see who we have on your claim by registering to view your account online. Checking we have the correct details can avoid creating any over or underpayments of benefit.

You can also view much more information by managing your account online and this ensures your claim is always correct.