If you receive Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support you will need to let us know when there is a change to your household or personal circumstances.
The change must be reported by you unless you are unable to do so. Someone else may apply on your behalf via your MyHarrow Account if they have power of attorney for you, or they are over 18 years of age and are acting as your appointee. Evidence of this will be required.
If the change is reported by someone acting on your behalf, it could result in a delay to it being processed. Find out more about attorneys, deputies and appointees
Before you start
- You will need to log in to your MyHarrow Account
- You Claim reference must be linked to your MyHarrow Account. If you need help, follow the steps on MyHarrow Account support.
- Please have your supporting documents ready to upload.
When to tell us about a change
You will need to tell us about a change within one month of the date of the change. If you report the change later than this, you will only receive the increase in your entitlement the Monday after you have reported the change.
Providing documents
Please make sure you have your supporting documents ready when you report the change as you will be able to upload them via your MyHarrow account. This will help us to assess your change in circumstance as quickly as possible. If you do not have all the documents available at the time you are reporting the change, you will be able to submit them at a later date via the evidence upload page.
When we have received your application form we will email you. We will tell you if you need to provide further documents to support your application. For information on the type of documents which are acceptable see our guidance for providing evidence for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support.
If you cannot provide the evidence required on time, please contact us using the Benefits General Enquiry form
If the documents you have already submitted need to be provided in a different format we will to let you know.
Circumstances where you will need to move on to Universal Credit
Housing Benefit is being replaced by Universal Credit. Some changes to your personal circumstances or household will mean you will no longer receive Housing Benefit and you will have to apply for Universal Credit instead. Find out what changes will require that you transfer to Universal Credit.
Universal Credit does not cover the costs for Council Tax. If you are transferred to Universal Credit and need financial support to help you to pay your Council Tax, you will need to apply for Council Tax Support. Find out more about Universal Credit.
Private tenants
The amount of Housing Benefit you are entitled to when you are private tenant is determined by a Local Housing Allowance (LHA). The LHA rate for your household will be the maximum amount of benefit you will be entitled to.
Find out if your LHA rate will change due to your change in circumstances.
How we will share your information
We will use the information you provide when you apply for Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support or Emergency Relief to process your application. We will also use the information you provide for other purposes. For further detail please download our privacy notice.