Change of Circumstances for Housing Benefit

How do I let you know of a change of circumstance?

You can use the form below to tell us about any change in your circumstances. The form will also give you a list of any additional documents you need to give us, to support your change in circumstances.

You must tell us immediately of any changes to your circumstances so we can make sure you get the correct amount of benefit.

Examples of the type of things you should tell us about:

• changes to your or your partner’s income, such as earnings or pensions

• changes to any savings, investments etc you or your partner have (you're not entitled if you have savings of £16,000)

• if you move home

• if you or your partner start working (you may be entitled to an extended payment if you have been unemployed for a long time)

• if you or your partner stop working

• if someone comes to live with you or someone living with you moves out

• your rent has changed

• you or partner are going to be away from home for more than four weeks.

If you are not sure what you must tell us about, please tell us anyway and we will let you know if it affects your claim.

If your benefit is overpaid because you didn’t tell us of a change, you will have to pay the money back. See How We Deal with Overpayments  and our Overpayment Policy [PDF, 0.3MB] for more information.

We use electronic scanners to check and verify identity documents from all customers applying to access council services. We will scan documents with a product called Trust ID. 

Remember – it is a criminal offence not to tell us about a change that affects your benefit claim!