Help with Housing Costs: Volume 1

This volume covers the rules across the UK for help with personal housing costs available through the universal credit, mortgage interest loans, council tax rebate schemes in Great Britain and rate rebate scheme in Northern Ireland. This guide is designed to run side by side with volume 2 which covers housing benefit. Together, they provide a comprehensive guide covering all the main schemes for help with housing costs in the UK. Written in a plain English style it is designed for easy use by tenants, homeowners, local councils, social landlords, welfare rights advisers, tribunal members and housing professionals. This edition explains all the new rules for help with housing costs available to social housing tenants, private tenants and homeowners starting from April 2022, including the annual uprating. It sets out the basic qualifying conditions for entitlement to universal credit and provides a more detailed explanation of the rules that relate to the housing costs element for renters, as well as the rules for homeowners to qualify for a mortgage interest loan. It describes fully: - The basic qualifying conditions for universal credit (UC) and how to make a claim for it - How and when claimants on legacy benefits (including housing benefit) can be transferred onto UC, and if they are whether they qualify for transitional protection - Eligible rent and service charges in UC for private renters and social housing tenants - The benefit cap and size criteria rules, including exemptions - How UC is calculated, including the detailed rules about the housing costs element, housing cost contributions for non-dependants, and how the two-child limit works for the child element - How and when UC payments are made including when the housing costs element can be paid directly to the landlord with variations in Scotland and Northern Ireland - DWP support for mortgage interest for out-of-work homeowners - An overview of liability for council tax (in Northern Ireland, domestic rates) including exemptions, discounts and disability reductions including variations in Scotland and Wales - The basic qualifying conditions for council tax rebates in England, Scotland and Wales, and for rate rebates in Northern Ireland - How council tax and rate rebates are calculated, including how local councils in England and Wales can vary these rules - How to appeal a decision about universal credit, council tax rebate or rate rebate - The detailed rules for migrants and recent arrivals for universal credit, council tax rebate and housing benefit including the new rules for EEA nationals arising from the UK's exit from the EU and for Afghan evacuees.