Help on Low Income? What is available and how you can access it.
In the UK being on Low Income means earning £16,000 outside of London and £20,000 in London. This still means that you can access services that can help with living costs, rent, council tax, free prescriptions or school meals. You can also access emergency expenses with a one off payment from the Social Fund or welfare assistance scheme.
Housing Benefit
If you are on Low income you might be able to get Housing Benefits to help pay your rent, this is paid by your local council. If you own your own home you can check if you can get help with your mortgage interest too. To qualify for housing benefit you usually have to be:
- at least 16 years old
- Either have less than £16,000 in savings or be getting the guaranteed part of pension Credit.
You will also live on main land UK and if you live with a partner, only one of you needs to claim Housing Benefit. You will need to put both your income on the form and the council will see how much Housing Benefit you will get.
Working and Child tax Credits
If you are on low income you might be able to claim for working and child tax credits. For working tax credits you will need to work at least 30 hours a week. It is worked out on your income and other factors such as if you have children. You can use the tax credits calculator to find out if you are eligible. If your income is slightly too high when you make a claim, if it goes down later in the year, your tax credit claim can be back dated to when you first made it.
You can make a claim by phone HMRC tax credits helpline. It can take up to 6 weeks so the sooner you are able to call the better. Telephone: 0345 300 3900. Make a note of when you called, what time and who you spoke too. You may need these for your application. Before you apply you should have ready your pays lips, P60 or P45 and other income’s like pension, savings or property.
HMRC will use this to work out your tax credits and might ask you to send copies of these documents.
Living Costs
If you don’t have enough to live on, you might be able to get help from your local council or an interest-free loan from the government. If you are struggling to pay for food find out how to get help from a food bank , they will be able to provide the basic essentials. If you claiming certain support you might also be entitled to food vouchers, hot meals, second hand furniture and household appliances. This is known as welfare assistance and each council has their own scheme.
Council Tax reduction
If you are on Low income, you maybe entitled to help from your council towards paying your council tax as part of the Council Tax reduction scheme. This is discount worked out as a percentage of your bill, or an amount set out by the scheme. It also depends on where you live. To apply for a reduction:
- You must live the the property where you are applying for the reduction
- You must be responsible for paying council tax
- You must be under the schemes income amount, under £16,000
You can apply for Council Tax reduction here and it will redirect you to your locals councils website, which will tell you about the next steps. You will need you National Insurance number to apply.
If you need any form of help, support or recourses you can go to our recourses page  to see information about learning, employment, welfare, housing, health and legal matters.
