Home » Council Tax and Benefits » Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reductions » Housing Benefit » Housing Benefit Payment

Housing Benefit Payments

  • Most people of working age have to apply for Universal Credit housing costs if they need help with their rent. See our Universal Credit page for more information.

If you qualify for Housing Benefit

Housing Benefit payments are made either to the claimant or to the landlord.

  • Payments to council tenant rent accounts follow a weekly cycle
  • Payments to claimants who are private tenants follow a two-weekly cycle
  • Payments to landlords follow a four-weekly cycle

Payment Status / Delays

There are currently no delays in issuing Housing Benefit Payments.

Payment direct to your bank (BACS)

Payments to your bank account are processed every Monday and Thursday. The BACS system takes 3 working days so:

  • payments processed on Monday show in your account on Wednesday
  • payments processed on Thursday show in your account on Monday (or Tuesday when Monday is a public holiday)

Post Office card accounts

We cannot issue payments of Housing Benefit to a Post Office card account.

Setting up payments to your bank account

If you want Housing Benefit paid to your bank account or have changed the bank account we are making payments to please complete our Payment Enquiry eform.

Setting up a bank account

You can get information and advice on setting up a basic bank account from:

Payment by cheque

We no longer issue payments of Housing Benefit by cheque.

Back to top

Page last updated:

5 September 2019

Give us feedback about this page

Please note if you have a service issue you need help with then please visit our contact pages.

Overall, how easy was it to get the help you wanted today?

* = response required

Please note this form is not for general service requests or issues. It's quicker for you if those comments are sent directly to Customer Services.

How easy was it to get the help you wanted

Would you like to provide any further comments about your visit today?

Additional comment?

Do you wish to report a problem with a council service?

Service comment

It's quicker if you report any service issues using our online self-service pages (opens in new window).

Tell us about your experience of using the website below:

Please note this form is not for general service requests or reporting issues with a service. It's quicker for you if those comments are sent directly to Customer Services.