Discretionary housing payments and discretionary council tax discounts

Discretionary housing payments (DHP) and discretionary council tax discounts (DCTD) are not payments of housing benefitcouncil tax reduction or universal credit.

DHPs are separate payments made at the council's discretion in cases where it considers that extra help with housing costs are needed.

You must be entitled to housing benefit/universal credit (housing costs element) to receive a DHP. A DHP cannot be used to:

  • Pay ineligible service charges
  • Minimise the effect of Job Seeker Plus sanctions
  • Make payment when housing benefit is suspended
  • Help with council tax - there is a separate discretionary council tax discount to help with council tax liability.

A DCTD is a discount that is applied to your council tax account and reduces your council tax liability; this is made at the council's discretion in cases where it considers that extra help with council tax liability is needed.   

  • You may be eligible for a DCTD even if you are not in receipt of council tax reduction but you are experiencing financial hardship.
  • A DCTD cannot be used to help with housing costs.

Before you start

To help process your application in a quicker time please provide the following documents in support of your application:

  • Bank statements -Two months most recent consecutive statements for all building society and bank accounts, regardless of balance, held by you and or partner if you have one. These must be full statements showing all transactions and name of holder.
  • Capital/savings held by you and your partner (e.g. shares, ISAs etc)
  • Rent arrears - If you are applying for help with rent arrears we need to see rent statements from your landlord from when you went into arrears to date.
  • Universal Credit – If you receive Universal Credit we need to see your last three award notices in full showing all deductions. (Download or print this from your Universal Credit Journal.)
  • Debts and other relevant information – proof of debts (utilities, loans etc)
  • Removal costs – If you are applying for help with removal costs please provide two quotes.
  • Moving into a new home – Please provide your tenancy agreement or letter from landlord confirming details of a proposed tenancy (rent, rent deposit, address of property).
  • Any other relevant information to support your application (medical evidence, eviction notices etc).
  • Identity and income - if you do not receive housing benefit or council tax reduction, you must provide proof of identity and income and your national insurance number.

Your files need to be clearly readable. If we cannot read your evidence it will take longer to process your application.

Evidence to support your DHP claim can be uploaded to the online form, sent by email or posted. The sooner you send the evidence the quicker we can help you.

Online

We may ask you to upload some documents.   

  • Accepted file types: Word (docx), Acrobat (pdf), Excel (xlsx), Plain text (txt). 
  • Zip files cannot be uploaded. 
  • We also accept clear photos taken on phones and tablets and the following image file types - jpeg, gif, png. 
  • There is a maximum individual file size per document of 10MB.  

Email

You can send scanned documents or digital photos by attaching them by email to HBScanning@ealing.gov.uk.

In the email 'subject' box please enter the text 'DHP application', followed by your council tax reduction or housing benefit reference number. If you do not have this, please insert your national insurance number. Your uploaded files need to be clearly readable. If we cannot read your documents it will take longer to process your application.

Post

If you are unable to upload evidence online you can post it to: Ealing Council, PO box 32251, London W5 5XA

What happens next

You must report all change of circumstances once you have made a claim as soon as possible otherwise you may need to repay any overpayments.

Apply

If you are liable to pay rent towards your accommodation, you can apply for discretionary housing payment and/or discretionary council tax discount:

Apply if you pay rent

If you are a home owner and wish to apply for discretionary council tax discount:

Apply if you are a home owner