Council reveal housing support fund
THE local council have released details of their discretionary housing fund, to help those struggling to pay their housing costs.
Emergency payments have been set up by the council to help people across Rochdale with their rent or other housing costs.
The discretionary housing fund is not a permanent solution as it is only awarded for a short period of time.
To be eligible you must get either Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit.
Applicants must also meet one of the following criteria: Your Housing Benefit payment doesn’t cover all your rent;
Your Universal Credit payment doesn’t cover all your housing costs; You need help with removal costs; You need help with a rent deposit.
The maximum amount received is full rent minus the amount of Housing Benefit or housing element of Universal Credit received.
The payment can be used to pay for rent, deposit or bond for moving house or rent arrears.
If affected by the Benefit Cap, more may be allowed depending on each individual’s circumstances.
The council will look at each individual’s personal circumstances when deciding who gets access to the additional funds and aim to ensure the help goes to those who need it most.
For example, the council may award payment if: someone is unable to move to somewhere smaller because a family member has serious health problems, the home has been specially adapted, or the current property is dangerous or unacceptable and they do not have the money to move elsewhere.
But the council won’t usually award a payment if the money can be found via other means such as claiming other benefits, negotiating any debt repayments or cutting down on unnecessary and avoidable expenses.
If receiving Housing Benefit the discretionary payment will be paid at the same time as the next housing benefit payment.
Whereas if receiving Universal Credit, the discretionary payment will be paid directly to the applicant’s bank account as a separate payment.
More information including how to apply is available at the council’s website.