Extended Payment of Housing Benefit / Rate Relief

Extended payments of Housing Benefit / Rate relief are an extra four weeks of Housing Benefit/Rate Relief to help pay your rates when certain other benefits stop because you’re going back to work, working more hours or earning more money.

Who is eligible?

You don't have to claim an Extended Payment of Housing Benefit/Rate Relief if you or your partner or civil partner (and they remain a partner throughout the claim) have stopped getting one of the benefits mentioned below because one of you is expected to do one of the following for five weeks or more:

return to work full-time
work more hours
earn more money

and you’ve been getting one of the following

Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support or income-related Employment and Support Allowance or a combination of these benefits continuously for at least 26 weeks
Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance or contributory Employment and Support Allowance continuously for 26 weeks

If you are a tenant, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive will decide if you can get an Extended Payment of Housing Benefit/Rate Relief after checking how long you have been getting the benefits mentioned above.

If you are an owner/occupier, Land and Property Services will decide if you can get an Extended Payment of Housing Benefit/Rate Relief after checking how long you have been getting the benefits mentioned above."

How much do you get?

Normally you'll get the same amount of Housing Benefit/Rate Relief as you did before

Housing Benefit/Rate Relief

How it's paid

It is paid in the same way as your Housing Benefit/Rate Relief

What else you need to know

If you going back to work and are a tenant, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive will also decide if you can get in-work Housing Benefit/Rate Relief.

If you are going back to work and are an owner/occupier, Land and Property Services will also decide if you can get in-work Housing Benefit/Rate Relief.

Once your extended payment period has ended, you can move onto in-work Housing Benefit/Rate Relief (provided you are entitled to it) without having to make a new claim

How to appeal

If you are refused Housing Benefit/RateRelief, the Extended Payment or in-work Housing Benefit/Rate Relief you can ask the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (if you are a tenant) or Land and Property Services (if you are an owner/occupier) to look again at the decision.

If you’re still unhappy with the outcome, you can appeal to an independent Appeal Tribunal.