Housing Payments
Discretionary Housing Payments have been replaced by Housing Payments within the Crisis and Resilience Fund.
You may be awarded a Housing Payment if you meet both of these criteria:
- you're entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit with an element for housing costs, including Shared Ownership properties with a rental liability
- evidence shows you're in financial hardship and your tenancy or housing situation will be at risk if further support is not provided.
Available support
Housing costs can include:
- rental liability (ongoing rent)
- rent in advance
- tenancy deposit
- removal or relocation costs
- other lump-sum payments essential for securing or preventing homelessness.
We cannot give you Housing Payments that are greater than what you pay for your weekly rent.
Housing Payments are also not long-term payments. They are awarded on a short-term basis while you take action to improve your circumstances. You can get support with this through our Financial Welfare Team.
We will usually make payments to you, but we may pay your landlord in certain circumstances.
Before you apply
Use our online form to apply. You'll need to tell us:
- what help you need
- why you think you should get extra payment towards your rent
- what your circumstances are
- any action you have taken to help yourself
- the money you have coming in to your household (income) and the money you pay out each week or month (expenditure).
Supporting evidence
You also need to upload:
- recent bank statements for all accounts held by you and your partner (if applicable)
- an up-to-date rent statement from your landlord showing any arrears outstanding and payments you have made.
If you're unable to upload your supporting evidence using our online form, you can send it to us separately by:
- email to benefits@medway.gov.uk
- post to Benefits and Financial Welfare Service, Business Support Department, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TR
- using our evidence request form.
Remember to include your name and address on any paperwork you send us.
Apply
Apply for a Crisis and Resilience Fund Housing Payment
How we make a decision
When you have completed your claim form, we will consider all aspects of your circumstances before we decide if we can award you a Housing Payment.
We may contact you to ask for further information and discuss your application.
Housing Payments cannot be awarded for:
- ineligible service charges
- sanctions and reductions in benefit under regulations 100 to 114 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 or due to a breach of a community service order
- shortfalls caused by Housing Benefit or Universal Credit overpayment recovery
- periods of Housing Benefit suspensions where there is a doubt in entitlement or because it has not been possible to assess entitlement as sufficient information has not been provided for the housing benefit claim.
If you are awarded a Housing Payment and we later find out you should not have been entitled to it, we will ask you to return the money.
Request a review of our decision
You can ask for us to look at our decision again if your application is turned down and there is something you feel we have not considered.
You must email benefits@medway.gov.uk or write to us using the address above within one month of the date that your claim is turned down.