If your benefit is not enough and you have special circumstances, you can ask for extra help with your housing costs.

What are Discretionary Housing Payments?
If you are entitled to Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit and you still cannot manage to pay your rent or Council Tax, you may be able to apply for extra help.

Discretionary Housing Payments are not payments of benefit (they are worked out separately), but you must already be entitled to Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit for us to consider your case. If you are already getting your full Council Tax charge or your full rent paid (except service charges), we cannot give you any more help.

If you have special circumstances, we may be able to give you some extra help with your rent or Council Tax. There are no set rules about the amount of Discretionary Housing Payments we can give you - we look at each case individually.

Each year, the Government will limit the total amount we can award. Once we have reached that amount, we will not be able to make any more Discretionary Housing Payments for the rest of the year, whatever your circumstances.

You can get more information about Discretionary Housing Payments from the Benefits Office at:

Revenue & Benefits Services
Bournemouth Borough Council
Town Hall
St Stephen’s Road
Bournemouth
BH2 6EB
Tel: 01202 451592

To download a Discretionary Housing Payment pdf leaflet (Adobe Acrobat Format) please click here.

How to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment
If you want to apply for Discretionary Housing Payments, you should contact the Benefits Office and ask for an Application Form for Discretionary Housing Payments or please see the Download Application Forms page to download & print a pdf copy. You should fill in the form, explaining what your special circumstances are. Then return the form to the Benefits Office.

If will help us to deal with your application if you explain why you or a member of your family might suffer hardship if you do not receive this extra help. Here are some examples of the things we will look at when considering your application.

• Whether your Housing Benefit has been reduced by a Rent Officer Service Valuation
• Whether your home has been adapted for a member of the family who is disabled or suffering from health problems
• Whether you are behind with your rent and, if so, whether your landlord is taking action to force you to move out of your home
• Whether you could move to a cheaper property or move in with relatives
• Whether you could let out a room
• Whether there is anybody else (for example, a relative) who could help you out financially
• When you fill in the form, please include all of your special circumstances and provide a detailed breakdown of your income and outgoings. We will also use information on your application for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit to help us decide your case.

We may want to interview you to find out more details.