Calculation overview

The maximum housing benefit a claimant is entitled to is calculated by completing the following stages:

• the claimant's applicable amount is calculated by adding together the relevant 'personal allowances' and 'premiums' set by the Department for Work and Pensions.[1] The purpose of this stage is to establish the basic financial needs of the claimant and any partner and dependent children, in order to compare them with the income available to meet them

• income is assessed according to the rules (see the page). This includes any income deemed to be received from the claimant's capital (if s/he has capital). If the claimant lives with a partner, the income and capital of both will be assessed together for housing benefit purposes page). This includes any income deemed to be received from the claimant's capital (if s/he has capital). If the claimant lives with a partner, the income and capital of both will be assessed together for housing benefit purposes

• the eligible rent (see the section on Eligible rent and rent restrictions) or local housing allowance rate (see the page How LHA is calculated) is established

• any non-dependants in the household are taken into account (see the Non-dependant deductions page).

For information about the figures used to calculate housing benefit, see the Benefit rates section relevant to the year of calculation.

Once the above amount of housing benefit is calculated:[2]

• if the claimant is on income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance or pension credit (guarantee credit), the claimant is awarded 'maximum housing benefit'. This means her/his full eligible rent minus any non-dependant deductions

• if the claimant is not on one of those benefits and her/his income is lower than her/his applicable amount (or exactly equals it), the claimant is awarded maximum housing benefit (as above)

• if the claimant is not on one of those benefits and her/his income is greater than her/his applicable amount, the claimant is awarded maximum housing benefit (as above) minus 65 per cent of the difference between the income figure and the applicable amount figure.

There is a maximum amount of benefit that a claimant of working age and her/his household can receive.[3] The 'benefit cap' applies to a claimant's or household's combined income from benefits, including housing benefit. Where those benefits total more than the cap amount, housing benefit is reduced accordingly. For details see Benefit cap.

After the local authority has made a decision regarding a claimant's entitlement to housing benefit it can be revised or superseded.[4] A revision or supersession could either increase or decrease the amount of a claimant's entitlement.

Revision

A decision is revised when it was wrong from the start. The new decision replaces the original decision and takes effect from the date of the original decision.

Supersession

A decision is superseded when the claimant's circumstances change. The new decision will normally take effect from the Monday after the change occurred. For more information on when a change in circumstance might affect a claimant's entitlement to housing benefit see the page Changes of circumstances.