Appeal a Housing Benefit decision

Housing Benefit overview
Apply for Housing Benefit
Report changes that affect your Housing Benefit
How we pay Housing Benefit
Appeal a Housing Benefit decision

Check your letters and bills

First you should check all of your Housing Benefit letters and Council Tax bills carefully to make sure they are correct. If you think they are wrong you must inform us straight away.

If you would like to have a calculation explained in more detail then contact the benefits team with your claim reference number and describe which decision needs looking at.

Review of the decision

After receiving your explanation, if you still think that the amount awarded is incorrect, you can ask us to reconsider the decision.

Your request needs to be in writing, marked clearly as a reconsideration request and state which decision you are disputing.

We will check our decision and write to you within two months of receiving your request.

If we change the decision you will receive a new bill or housing benefit notification
If we do not change the decision we will send you a letter to explain the reasons why and tell you your appeal rights

Appeal our decision

If you are still unhappy about our decision after receiving a reconsideration you can appeal.

Housing Benefit appeals must be made direct to our benefit team within one month of the date on the reconsideration decision letter. Valid appeals will be sent to the tribunal service. Find out more on GOV.UK – HM courts and tribunals service .

The Coronavirus guidance for the Tribunal Service can be found on the Courts and Judiciary Tribunals website.

You can only appeal to the Council about your Housing Benefit claim.

To make an appeal complete Appeal a Housing Benefit decision .

If you are not able to do this online then you can print and return the Housing Benefit and Council Tax support appeals form (PDF, 180KB)

Make sure you explain clearly the reason you are appealing, because the tribunal service will not consider anything you do not mention in your appeal.

Late appeals

We may not be able to accept your appeal if we receive it more than one month after the date on the reconsideration decision letter.

Late appeals can only be accepted if there are special circumstances that caused a delay to the appeal, such as a death or serious illness.

In your appeal, you need to explain the reasons for it being late. A legally qualified tribunal judge will look at these reasons and decide if they can accept your late appeal.