Discretionary Housing Payments

What is a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP)?

Discretionary Housing Payments assist people who need help with their rent when their Housing Benefit or the Housing Element of Universal Credit does not meet the full value of their rent.

If you are suffering severe financial hardship as a result, or your tenancy is at risk you may be able to get a Discretionary Housing Payment.

What a DHP can cover

DHP funding in England and Wales can help people with housing costs, including those affected by:

the benefit cap
removal of the spare room subsidy in the social rented sector
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates

You may get a DHP to cover housing costs for:

a rent shortfall
rent deposits
rent in advance if you need to move home

The Government has set restrictions on how much money can be paid out in any financial year to fund DHP. The payments are made from a limited fund and are made as a short term measure for those experiencing difficult circumstances.

What we don't cover

Anyone who is not in receipt of Housing Benefit OR Housing Element of Universal Credit at the time of applying will not qualify for help.
Those moving into area (Please apply to the area you are residing in that you are moving from).
Arrears due to not passing on Housing Element payments to your landlord.
Where the rent is too high to justify an award.
Those refusing to look at more suitable properties in terms of size and rent amount.
Those with excessive expenditure.

If we can’t make a payment, we will tell you the reasons why. If you do not agree with our decision you can submit an appeal and ask us to look at the decision again.

Before starting your application, please read 'Information you need to provide' below.

You will be prompted to upload the relevant files during the application process. You can upload images or scanned documents from your computer, tablet or mobile device. Alternatively, you can provide the information at one of the Council's Customer Service Centres or you can send them via email to [email protected]

If you do not submit the documents at the time of application and we need to request them at a later date, this may delay your application.

Information you need to provide

Your last two months bank statements.
Proof of rent paid to date.
Tenancy agreement.

If requiring help with Rent In Advance you will need to provide proof of your exceptional circumstances, this could be a Section 21, police report, Environmental health report, medical report, support worker documents.

You will also need to provide a tenancy agreement or letter from the new landlord confirming amounts required to move into the property.