Martin Lewis is urging a quarter of a million people of State Pension age who are paying rent to check if they qualify for Housing Benefit from their local council. A new report from the think-tank, Policy in Practice, estimates that £929 million is going unclaimed in Housing Benefit each year by pensioner households.
This amounts to around £5,000 per household on average. The consumer champion told listeners on his BBC Radio 5 Live Podcast this week: “There are 250,000 people of State Pension age who are missing out on Housing Benefit. If you get Universal Credit, which is a working age benefit, then Housing Benefit, if you’re renting, is automatically part of that.”
But he warned: “If you’re getting Pension Credit, which is the top-up to income for those of State Pension age - if you’re on a low income - then you have to apply separately for Housing Benefit through your local council. It’s important that people of State Pension age, who are renting, understand if you’re getting Pension Credit, you’re probably entitled to Housing Benefit.”
