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This content applies to Scotland only.
Housing laws vary between Scotland and England. This page applies to Scotland only. Get advice relating to England
Contents
- A-E
- F-Z
Appeal
If you are not happy with a decision made by the housing/council tax benefit department then you can appeal. The matter will be looked at again by a tribunal, who will be independent from the housing/council tax benefit department. This is called an appeal hearing. You can find out more about appeals here.
Applicable amount
The government works out how much money they think that you need to live on each week. This is called your applicable amount. Your applicable amount is calculated taking the following things into account:
- the number of people who live with you as part of your family
- your age and their ages
- if someone has a long-term illness or disability
- if you have been recently bereaved
- if you care for someone for more than 35 hours a week.
Capital
Capital can be:
- spare cash
- money in banks or building society accounts
- unit trusts
- stocks and shares
- income or capital bonds
- premium bonds
- lump sum redundancy payments.
The amount of capital you have will be taken into account as income, when calculating how much benefit you may be entitled to.
Carer
To meet the definition of a carer, you should be looking after someone for an average of 35 hours per week. The person you look after should be getting attendance allowance or disability living allowance (high or middle rate of the care component). You should have received carer's allowance or have been told that you would be entitled to carer's allowance if it were not for your income. Find out more on the DWP website.
Eligible rent
Your eligible rent is the rent that your landlord charges you minus any service charges that housing benefit cannot pay for, such as cooking or personal laundry.
The housing benefit department will work out how much you can afford to pay towards the eligible rent before deciding how much housing benefit you should be entitled to.