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Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP)

If your Housing Benefit or Housing Element of Universal Credit does not cover your rent you can apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) to help pay your rent.

A DHP can help with housing costs for those affected by:

  • The benefit cap
  • Removal of the spare rooms subsidy in the social rented sector
  • Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates
  • Costs associated with taking up a new tenancy for example, removal costs.

The amount you receive and the length of time you receive it depends on your personal circumstances. If your circumstances change, you must tell us as soon as possible. You might be committing benefit fraud if you choose not to report a change in circumstances.

We decide whether a DHP is suitable to help your situation or circumstance. We may offer other more sustainable options for you if it is appropriate.

DHPs are not suitable for long term use.

You can't apply for a DHP to pay for:

  • The cost of things which neither Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit cover e.g. fuel, water meals or personal care
  • Any extra payments you have to make because you are behind with your rent.

For more information about please read our DHP policy.

Before you start

To assess your DHP application we will need you to upload the following evidence in Section 3 of the form.

  • If you receive Universal Credit, a full breakdown of your UC award
  • Proof of your rent i.e your tenancy agreement or rent statement

If you do not have this evidence available to upload at the time of completing the application you can send it later at our evidence upload page.

After you have submitted your form, you may need you to provide further information e.g., bank statements to support your application. We will contact you to ask for this if we need to.

How to apply

To apply for a discretionary housing payment please complete our application form.

Apply for Discretionary Housing Payments

If you are having problems applying online contact our benefit team.

What happens next?

In some instances when we look at your application we may find we need to contact you and ask for additional supporting information.

If we request any additional evidence this can be uploaded at our evidence upload page.

A written decision notice will be sent to every DHP applicant, including applications that are not successful.

This decision notice will include the amount of the award, purpose of the award, the period of time the award will be paid, your appeal rights and other sources of advice and assistance available to you.

If you disagree with our decision

You can write and ask us to look at your case again within one calendar month of the date of our decision. We will write to you with our response. As these payments are at our discretion there is no further right of appeal.