If you need help towards paying your Rent and Council Tax, Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit can be claimed from the Council by completing one of our claim forms. These are available from the Runnymede Civic Centre in Addlestone.

The form will ask you to provide details of your household, income, savings, rent and accommodation.

Completed forms must be returned to us as soon as possible because in most cases benefit is granted from the Monday following the date the claim form is received in the Council Offices even when it is received on a Monday. To ensure that your claim is dealt with quickly, you will need to ensure that the form is completed in full and that you provide original supporting evidence/documents.

The evidence needed include two forms of identification for each of you and your partner, one of which must include your national insurance number, proof of all income, all savings, tenancy agreement or licence to occupy.

THE DOCUMENTS MUST BE ORIGINALS, NOT PHOTOCOPIES.

THINKING ABOUT RENTING PRIVATELY ?

Please read "Pre-tenancy determinations". Please note that before signing a tenancy agreement, we will NOT be able to confirm that the rent charged is acceptable or that any benefit will be paid.

When applying for benefit as a Private Tenant you need to know that:

Your rental details will be sent to the independent Rent Officer Service, who will inform us of the rent that we can use in the calculation of your benefit. This may be less than the rent being charged.

We cannot pay 'over expensive rents'. For example, the rent demanded is higher because it is in an expensive area.

Size of your dwelling/accommodation is also very important. When assessing the rent to be used for benefit purposes, the Rent Officer has strict criteria for the number of rooms in a property compared to the number of people living there. For example, one bedroom and one living room is needed for a couple living together. If there are children, the number of bedrooms are determined by the ages and sex of the children. Children under the age of 10 are expected to share a bedroom even if they are not of the same sex.

Where children visit estranged parents, there is no requirement for another bedroom. Benefit may be restricted where it has been determined that the property is too large for your needs.

UNDER 25 YEARS OLD

If you are single with no dependants and aged under 25 then you will only be entitled to a "single room rent" and if you occupy a flat or house, the amount of benefit you receive will be based upon the "single room rent" and not necessarily what you are being charged UNLESS you occupy a property which is owned by a Housing Association or Charity.

REASONABLE RENT GUIDE

The following gives a guide to the amounts of rent that are regarded by the Rent Officer as reasonable in Runnymede:

SERVICES AND OTHER CHARGES:

Benefit cannot be paid for parts of the rent that are attributable to:

Water

Heating

Lighting

Food

Laundry

Cleaning

Supported Housing Costs.

PAYMENT OF BENEFIT

Benefit can be paid either to you or direct to your landlord. If it is paid to you it will be paid by cheque 2 weekly in arrears. If it is paid to your landlord it will be paid by cheque 4 weekly in arrears. Your landlord will also be sent details of your benefit entitlement, but this will not include personal information e.g. your income.

If you fall into arrears of rent by 8 weeks or more then your landlord can request us to pay your rent direct to him or her, without your consent.

APPEALING AGAINST THE LEVEL OF RENT

You may appeal against the Rent Officer's decision, which must be done within one month of the date on your benefit entitlement letter. It should be in writing stating clearly why you think the level of rent is incorrect and should be sent to the Benefit Service. It will then be sent to the Rent Officer with a request for a review. You should hear something within four weeks.

If you think the benefit calculation is incorrect then you may appeal. Please refer to Appeals on this website.

Want to know more? Please contact the Benefit Section.