Housing Benefit & Universal Credit
Tenants can claim help to pay their rent if their income is below the level set by the Department of Work and Pensions. Housing Benefit is currently being phased out, and all new claimants now receive Universal Credit unless they are pension age.
Visit entitled.to to see if you may be eligible
If you are already on Housing Benefit, and you need to make a change, you need to contact East Lothian Council.
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 available. 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.
