We’re contacting residents who might be struggling to pay their rent

From Friday 12 January we’re contacting our residents on low incomes who might be struggling to pay their rent.

We’re encouraging our residents whose Housing Benefit doesn’t cover their full rent to make an application for a Discretionary Housing Payment. 

We know that the cost of living has impacted our residents and we want to let people know that help is available. 

Hackney residents that are in receipt of Housing Benefit and find themselves in rent arrears can make an application for a Discretionary Housing Payment. 

We’re contacting Hackney residents who we think are eligible for this discretionary support but aren’t aware that they can ask for it.

Discretionary Housing Payments are separate to housing benefits.

They are a type of payment that we can use to help people with their housing costs.

These payments are made entirely at our discretion. No one is automatically entitled to a payment. There are rules about who qualifies for this support and we aren’t able to help everyone in all circumstances. 

If we have contacted you this is because we think you are likely to qualify. However there is no guarantee that if you apply for a discretionary housing payment that your application will be successful.

If you’ve had a text from us and would like to make a claim for discretionary housing payment you can do so quickly online.

If you’ve received a text from us then you can use our shortened online application - Short application form.  Please note this short form is only suitable for the residents that we have contacted. If we haven’t connected you directly you should not complete this short application form and should instead use the form below.

If we haven’t contacted you directly you can apply by making an application to the Hackney Money Hub. The Hackney Money Hub supports residents in a range of ways including through the use of discretionary housing payments - see Get help through Hackney Money Hub

Once you have completed the form we will review the application. 

If we need any further information we will contact you by phone or email. It can sometimes speed up your application if you provide us with evidence of any rent arrears that you have. If you’d like to provide us with a rent statement or other evidence of your rent balance you can upload that to us online - see Evidence to support your claim. 

You will be notified of the outcome of your application in writing once a decision has been made.