Discretionary Housing Payments

If you are a resident of the Borough and you are in receipt of either the housing element of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit and the amount of benefit you receive towards you housing costs is less than your full rent charge, you can apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP).

A DHP is a short-term measure designed to support your tenancy whilst you look at making changes to your expenditure and income or look at suitable cheaper accommodation. Payments are made from a cash-limited fund that is given to local authorities each year and are only awarded in cases of financial hardship. You can request either a short-term regular payment or a lump sum payment.

The scheme is not part of the benefits legislation. All awards are made at the Council’s discretion.

Awards are normally for a period of 2 to 6 months and cannot be relied upon to solve long term shortfalls in benefit.

Various circumstances dictate if a DHP can or cannot be considered. You will find more information on these circumstances in the ‘Discretionary Housing Payments Guide’ below. It is possible to consider a DHP for such things as:

• Low income
  
• Non-dependant deductions
  
• Spare room deductions
  
• Help with rent in advance
  
• Removal costs (at least two formal quotes must be provided for consideration)

Applying for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP)

You can only be considered for a DHP if you are currently in receipt of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit.

Please click the link below and fill out the application form with as much information as you can about your financial circumstances. You will need to select whether you are in receipt of Housing Benefit, Universal Credit or, in certain circumstances, Housing Benefit and Universal Credit.

Ensure that you read and complete the form correctly

“are you currently claiming….” question. If you get help with your rent and the Council pay it, select Housing Benefit. If you get housing costs with your Universal Credit claim, select Universal Credit. If you live in temporary or specified accommodation, select Housing Benefit and Universal Credit. Don’t forget to include all your expenses. If you do not fill the form out correctly, this may delay a decision on your application, and you may be asked to complete another one.

You must provide a recent bank statement and a current rent statement, which you can upload during the application process, or you can provide it after you have submitted your application, quoting your DHP reference number to: dhp@basingstoke.gov.uk

This form is compatible with a mobile and tablet devices. Should you have any problems in accessing the form, please contact the Benefits Team on the details below.

How to access a saved DHP Application

If you have already started your application and saved it to complete at a later date, you must make a note of the application reference and password, you can then access it again by clicking the 'Apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment' button below. You will then need to select 'Continue with a saved form' and 'Load saved application'. You can only access a saved application once.

Please note that if you have reached the section asking for your email and contact details, you will receive notification of your reference and password by email. Please follow the same access instructions as above.

Apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment (opens in new window)

Discretionary Housing Payment guide 2019(PDF) [390 kb]