This content applies to Scotland only.

Housing laws vary between Scotland and England. Get advice relating to England

Once your claim for housing or council tax benefit has been processed, you will receive a decision letter. This page tells you how to work out what the letter says and what you can do if you disagree with it.

Understanding the letter

The decision letter will tell you if you are entitled to any benefit and if so how much. The letter should include all of the things described below.

Your eligible or maximum rent

This is usually the actual amount of rent charged by your landlord minus any service charges that housing benefit will not pay. You will need to pay these service charges yourself. Check to see if it says your maximum rent is paid weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

Housing benefit/rent allowance

This is the amount of benefit that you will receive, or that will be paid directly to your landlord. If this amount is the same as your eligible rent then you will receive full housing benefit. (If there are any service charges that housing benefit will not pay, you will have to pay them yourself.)

If the amount here is less than the eligible rent, then there is a shortfall between your benefit and your rent charge. You will have to make up this shortfall yourself.

The date benefit is to be paid from

The letter should state the date that you will be paid benefit from. This should be from the date or the Monday after the date that you notified the housing benefit department that you wanted to make a claim, or from the day you moved in, if you pay rent on a daily basis (for example, if you live in a hostel or boarding house) or are staying in temporary accommodation provided by the council because you are homeless.

If you get a letter which contains information about your housing benefit but not your council tax benefit and you have applied for both, contact the council to check that both parts of your claim have been processed.

I'm still not sure what it all means

If there is anything in the letter that you are not sure about, you can ask the housing/council tax benefit department for an explanation. You can phone or ask in writing. You can always get advice from Citizens Advice or other local advice centre. Use the Advice Services Directory to find agencies in your area.

You can ask the housing benefit department to provide an explanation in writing. This is called a statement of reasons. You can download a sample letter requesting a statement of reasons here.

I don't agree with the letter - can I do anything?

If there is something in the letter that you disagree with or you think that there has been a mistake, you can ask the council to have another look at their decision. An adviser from Shelter, Citizens Advice or another agency may be able to check the decision to see if it is correct. They will also be able to help you challenge the housing/council tax benefit department if it is not. Use the Advice Services Directory to find help near you.