Housing Benefit & Universal Credit
Tenants are entitled to Housing Benefit if their income is below the level set by the Department of Work and Pensions. Housing Benefit is currently being phased out, and new claimants now receive Universal Credit unless they are pension age.
if you are already on Housing Benefit, and you need to make a change, you need to contact East Lothian Council. The council also provides a Benefits Calculator to help you calculate the amount of benefit you are entitled to, and a Welfare Rights Team who can give you more advice and help to claim benefits that you may be entitled to.
If you have been told that you need to claim Universal Credit, you will usually do this on-line, and the Job Centre can provide support. Please note that if you are applying for Universal Credit to cover your rent, you will still have to make a claim for Council Tax Benefit from East Lothian Council. Please remember to check the box in your journal to allow us to discuss your claim with the DWP.
Links to organisations which can help you with claiming Housing Benefit or Universal Credit can be found on the Financial Help page under Tenancy Support Services, and East Lothian Council has a lot of information on their Universal Credit webpage. If you need to claim Universal Credit and you do not have access to the internet, there are a number of supported and non-supported PC Online Access Points around East Lothian, e.g. in Libraries and Council offices.
