Extra help with housing costs for working families

200,000 working families will gain about £1,000 a year, thanks to new rules around Housing and Council Tax Benefits that came into force yesterday.

The Department of Work and Pensions has stated that the changes, announced in the Budget 2008, will make eligible families an average of £20 a week better off.

From Monday 2nd November, income from Child Benefit will no longer be taken into account when calculating entitlement to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. This will mean more money for families already getting these benefits and other low income families becoming eligible for the first time.

Secretary of State Yvette Cooper said:

“We want to do more to help families who are working hard to get by during the recession. Already tax credits make sure families are better off in work, but this extra cash is a practical way to make sure the benefits from working are even stronger. And it will help cut child poverty too.”

Both Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit can be claimed by customers who are working and this change will be an extra incentive to getting back to work. Currently, the average Housing Benefit award is £80 a week and the average Council Tax Benefit award is £15 per week.

The Child Benefit disregard for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit is one of a series of measures taken since the Budget 2007 that will see around a further 500,000 children lifted out of poverty – part of the Government’s commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020.

Families in receipt of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit do not have to do anything to access this new help. The disregard will be calculated and added to the benefit automatically. However, families on a low income who aren’t in receipt of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit who think they might be newly entitled to these benefits should contact their local council for more details.