How long it takes us to pay Housing Benefit?

Currently, in order to make a decision on your claim, it takes us:

However, if you make an appointment at our customer service centre and bring all your documents with you along with your claim form we can assess your claim more quickly.

Once Housing Benefit is awarded:

• the first payment is made within one week
• subsequent payment is usually made every fortnight or every 4-weeks, depending upon the type of claim

We aim to process all application forms within 7 days of receiving them. However, we often have to contact you or other organisations to ask for more information or evidence.

Until all the information and evidence is received, the benefit cannot be calculated. If you delay your response, your application and benefit also gets delayed. If we receive all the information and evidence with the application form, we can process it in about 7 days.

If you find it difficult to get all the information and documents we need, please contact us for advice.

The law says we must pay you within 14 days of having all the information we need. If you have provided all the information we asked for but are still waiting after 14 days then contact us.

Page last reviewed 18 Sep 2008