Backdating Housing Benefit

Posted on the 26th April 2016

In the Summer Budget 2015 the government announced that the time limit for backdating Housing Benefit for working age claimants was to be reduced from 6 months to 1 month from 1st April 2016

This change only applies to claimants of working age, and Housing Benefit will continue to be backdated 3 months for claimants of Pension Credit age (or whose partner is Pension Credit age).

It is estimated that this will save the government £10 million for the 2016/17 tax year.

If someone fails to request the backdate when they make their new claim for Housing Benefit, and this isn’t spotted for a month or more then, even if they had good cause for why they did not claim earlier, they will not be able to get their claim for Housing Benefit backdated at all.