Find out if you can claim and how much you might get

You can apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) to help you pay for housing costs. We can't award DHP to help you pay your Council Tax.

You can apply if you get Housing Benefit, or the housing cost element of Universal Credit, and:

your rent costs are more than the Housing Benefit you get
your amount of the housing cost element of Universal Credit is not enough to pay your rent
you can’t afford to pay a one-off housing cost (such for removals or a deposit)

We can award Discretionary Housing Payment for a past period if you meet the criteria for that time.

Using your Discretionary Housing Payment

You can only use your Discretionary Housing Payment to pay for:

your rent (but not personal charges for utilities or support)
removal costs and deposits
rent in advance, if:
- your landlord is not a registered provider of social housing, and
- you can't secure a guarantor for your tenancy which would result in you not being able to take on an affordable tenancy

How much Discretionary Housing Payment you might get depends on: