This content applies to Scotland only.

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

Housing benefit is paid by the council to help people pay their rent. The rules about how much housing benefit you may get are complicated, but this page may be able to help.

Housing benefit is calculated by looking at how much you can afford to pay towards your rent. The amount of housing benefit you will get will be the maximum rent that can be paid for your home minus the amount that you can afford to pay.

How much can you afford to pay

There are specific rules that the council have to look at when they are deciding how much you should be able to pay towards your rent.

They should first look at how much money your household needs to live on each week, taking into account:

• the number of people in your house
• the ages of the people in your house
• if anyone in the house is sick or disabled
• if anyone is a full-time carer.

Income

They will then look at how much money there is coming in. This can include:

• wages
• benefits and tax credits
• pensions
• maintenance payments
• grants, bursaries and student loans.

Savings and investments

If you have any savings or investments, these can be counted as income too. This includes redundancy payments. The Direct.gov website has further information on whether your savings will affect the amount of housing benefit you could get.

The maximum rent that can be paid for your home

The housing benefit department will decide what the maximum rent that can be paid for your home is. This may be less than the rent that you are charged.

Remember that the maximum rent that can be paid minus the amount you can afford to pay towards your rent equals the amount of housing benefit you should get.

If your maximum rent is less than your actual rent charge, you will have to pay something towards your rent.

Size of the house

If your home is larger than your household needs, the housing benefit department may not be willing to use the rent charge as the maximum rent. It depends on the number of rooms there are in the property and the number of people who live there. One bedroom is allowed for:

• a couple
• a person over 16
• two children under 16 of the same sex
• two children under 10
• one child if they are an only child.

Additional rooms suitable for living in (for example, a lounge or dining room) are allowed on the following basis:

• one for less than four people
• two for four to six people
• three for seven or more people.

If your home is considered too large for your needs, the housing benefit department will decide what the maximum rent they could pay for accommodation of the appropriate size for your household is.

The rent charged

The rent officer will decide if the rent you are charged can be used as your maximum rent. If the rent officer decides that the rent you are charged is too high, then your maximum rent will be set on the basis of other rents in your area for similar accommodation.

If you are under 25

If you are under 25, not part of a couple or responsible for any children, your maximum rent will be for a single room, rather than for your own flat or house. There are some exceptions, which you can find out about on our page on housing benefit for young people.

Service charges that cannot be paid by housing benefit

There are some service charges that may be included in your rent charge that cannot be paid by housing benefit. Service charges that cannot be paid by housing benefit can include:

• provision of meals
• personal laundry service
• personal alarm system
• personal support and care.

Non-dependant deductions

Your housing benefit may be reduced if you have someone living in your house who is:

• not your husband, wife, civil partner or partner (including same-sex partners)
• someone you do not claim child benefit for
• over the age of 18.

It is assumed that these people can pay something towards your rent, whether they actually do or not.

The amount your housing benefit will be reduced by depends on the other person's income. If they are not willing to give their income details to you, ask them to contact the housing benefit department directly.

No deduction will be made if:

• you are registered blind, or
• you receive attendance allowance or disability living allowance (care component), or
• the person living with you is a full-time student (unless they have full-time work during the holidays), or
• the person living with you is under 25 and receiving jobseeker's allowance, income support
• the person living with you is receiving pension credit.

Non-dependent deductions were increased from April 2011, the new weekly rates are:

• Aged 25 and over and claiming Income Support or Job Seeker’s Allowance, or main phase Educational Support Allowance - £9.40

• Aged 18 and over and earning gross earnings of:

  • Less than £120 per week - £9.40

  • Between £122 and £179.99 per week - £21.55

  • Between £180 and £239.99 per week - £29.60

  • Between £234 and £309.99 per week - £48.45

  • Between £310 and £386.99 per week - £55.20

  • Above £387 per week - £60.60

If you have non-dependents living in your home then you will be affected by these changes immediately after 1 April 2011.

Help and advice

If you do not know how much housing benefit you will get, or you are already claiming housing benefit and are not sure if you are getting the right amount, it would be a good idea to contact an adviser who may be able to tell you how much you should get or how much you should be getting.

You can get advice from a Shelter advice centre or Citizens Advice, your local council or other local advice centre. Use the Advice Services Directory to find agencies in your area.