Discretionary Housing Payments

What are Discretionary Payments?

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are for help with your rent.

DHP can be awarded if:

• you receive Housing Benefit or Universal Credit Housing Element, and
• the benefit doesn’t cover your rent in full (e.g. there is an under-occupancy deduction, LHA shortfall, etc.), or there are certain deductions from your Universal Credit award (e.g. Benefit Cap deductions), and
• you currently have special circumstances which mean that you need extra money to make up this shortfall.

DHP cannot be awarded:

• if you aren’t receiving Housing Benefit or Universal Credit Housing Element
• to cover services that are included in your rent that do not fall within the housing benefit or Universal Credit scheme (e.g. water, heating, etc.)
• to cover certain deductions from your Housing Benefit or Universal Credit that are for advance payments, overpayment of recovery, etc.

The Discretionary Council Tax Relief (DCTR) scheme is for help with your Council Tax.

DCTR can be awarded if:

• you are experiencing extreme financial difficulty and you’re struggling to pay your Council Tax bill.

DCTR might not be awarded if:

• you have a high household income and/or you have unnecessarily high expenditure.

You don’t have to be in receipt of the Council Tax Assistance to claim DCTR. However, you should still claim Council Tax Assistance or any other applicable discounts or disregards that you may be entitled to.

Please remember:

• Awards are discretionary and each application is assessed.
• We may ask other council officers, such as Community Connectors or Debt and Welfare advisors, to help or advise you in this process.
• Discretionary awards are generally short-term and will depend on how long it reasonably takes for you to reduce your rent commitment or solve your difficulty in another way.
• Discretionary awards may be refused if you have had previous awards and/or you haven’t acted on advice given to help you to improve your situation.
• If you are awarded Discretionary Payments, you must notify us of changes to your household income or circumstances. Your discretionary award may change or end as a result of any changes.

Discretionary Payments Application

Please complete the form in full, giving as much information as possible.

Please also provide the following proof at the end of your application:

• 3 full consecutive months bank statements for all accounts held, even if they have no money in them.
• Proof of your current rent charges and any arrears you may have.
• Evidence of any current action from your landlord.
• Proof of your latest Universal Credit award showing your full breakdown.
• Proof of any debt you hold, plus any repayment arrangements.
• Evidence in support of any medical circumstance declared.

Please be aware, we may ask for further information if necessary.

Failure to provide enough information or not supply relevant proofs may delay your claim or result in your claim being refused.

Privacy Notices

About Us

South Norfolk and Broadland District Councils take your privacy very seriously. Under data protection legislation we lawfully process your personal information as a public authority.

What we do with your data

The purpose of collecting your personal data and that of other people named on this form is processing claims for DHP, DCTR, Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Assistance. We may check some of the information with other sources as allowed by the law.

We will retain this data for 7 years from the date your claim is closed.

Data sharing

We do not pass your details on to third parties unless the Councils are lawfully able to do so for the prevention and detection of crime and fraud, or for the collection of taxes. Examples are the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and internal departments such as Council Tax and Early Help.

We may share the details with other organisations that handle public funds and assist in the processing of other benefits.

Your rights

Under data protection law, you have the right to request access to, rectification, restriction or objection to the processing of your personal data, as detailed in our Privacy Policy (Privacy Policy Broadland and South Norfolk).

You can contact our Data Protection Officer at data.protection@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Contact Us

If you need help completing this form, please contact us using the below options:

South Norfolk Benefits Team

Email: benefits.snc@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk
Phone: 01508 533633

Broadland Benefits Team

Email: benefits.bdc@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk
Phone: 01603 430602