HOUSING BENEFIT UPDATE
Housing Benefit is being replaced by Universal Credit. You can only make a new claim for Housing Benefit if:
- you have reached State Pension age
- you are living in supported, sheltered or temporary housing
If you are getting Housing Benefit, you will receive a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The letter is called a ‘migration notice’. The notice will give you a deadline to apply for Universal Credit. If you don’t apply in time, you might receive less Universal Credit.
To find out more about moving to Universal Credit, visit Citizens Advice.
Backdating Housing Benefit
You may be able to ask for your Housing Benefit to be backdated for a short period.
Rules for backdating of Housing Benefit
The rules about backdating of Housing Benefit are strict and depend on your circumstances:
Working age claimants
If you are of working age, your Housing Benefit can be backdated for a maximum of one month.
If you made your request before 1 April 2016 your Housing Benefit could be backdated for up to six months.
Your claim will only be backdated if you have a good reason (see below) for claiming late.
Pension age claimants
If you are of pension age, your Housing Benefit can be backdated for up to three months.
You do NOT have to show that you have a good reason for not having claimed earlier.
The rules about pension age are not as straightforward as they once were – the age you can claim varies according to when you were born.
You can calculate your state pension age here.
Good reasons for claiming late
If you are of working age, you must show a good reason for claiming late. The council looks at all your circumstances during the time you delayed making a claim to decide if the delay was reasonable.
You may have a good reason for claiming late if:
- You have been unwell and unable to manage your personal affairs
- You have experienced a personal trauma or bereavement
- You have difficulty communicating in English and were not able to ask someone to help you
- You have difficulty reading or writing and were not able to ask someone to help you
- You were given information that was incorrect from someone who should know about benefits.
These are just examples of things that could have prevented you from claiming earlier. You might have other reasons. It is usually not enough to say you did not realise that you would have been entitled to benefit, unless there was a good reason why you could not have investigated this yourself.
How to request backdated Housing Benefit
If you want to ask for your benefit to be backdated, you will need to say this when you fill in your Housing Benefit claim form. Often there will be a question on the claim form asking if you want the benefit to be backdated and from what date. Remember that if you are of working age you can only have the benefit backdated for a maximum of one month.
Include with the claim form a letter or statement explaining why you did not claim earlier. You can adapt our sample letter to do this.
Enclose any evidence you have to back up your request. It is best if you can provide a letter from someone to support your reasons for not claiming earlier. This could be from your:
- doctor
- health visitor
- social worker
- housing officer, or
- support worker.
Keep copies of your letter and evidence. Deliver the letter yourself if possible and get a receipt. Or use recorded delivery or get a certificate of posting.
I have handed in my backdate request – what next?
You will receive a letter notifying you of the Housing Benefit department’s decision. If you are not happy with the decision, you might be able to ask the Housing Benefit department to look at it again. You usually have one month to do this. You can get help about this from a welfare benefits specialist or get help from Shelter Cymru.
If you do not hear anything, you could phone or visit the Housing Benefit department. Ask if they have received your request and if they have all the information they require. Take a note of the name of the person you speak to, what they say and the date. Keep this note somewhere safe.
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This page was last updated: August 26, 2026
The information contained on this site is updated and maintained by Shelter Cymru and only gives general guidance on the law in Wales. It should not be regarded or relied upon as a complete or authoritative statement of the law.
