Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Help if you are in work or starting work

You can claim help if you or your partner are on a low income, if you are working full time or part time or are self-employed. The benefits you get depend on your circumstances, your earnings, and other money you have coming in.

The main benefits available to those who work are Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and Working Tax Credit.

Try the on-line Benefits Advisor to get benefit advice, estimates of the benefit you may get and how changes such as, starting work or increasing your hours affects your benefit.

You may be able to get some help with the costs of starting work. Further information can be found on the Directgov website.

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
If you pay rent or Council Tax you may get help if you have less than £16,000 in savings or capital.

If you rent your home from a private landlord we may not work out your benefit on the full rent charged but on the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate.

Working out your earnings
When we work out your earnings we will not include;

• tax
• National Insurance, or
• half of any pension contributions.

We will also disregard £5 a week for a single claimant, and £10 for a couple claiming. A higher amount may be disregarded in specific cases.

Extra help for parents

Child Benefit and maintenance payments received.
Any Child Benefit or child maintenance that you get will not affect the amount of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit you get. We discount them when working out the income to use in the calculation.

Childminding costs
If you pay childminding costs we may be able to disregard income of up to £175 a week for one child or £300 a week for two or more children. We may disregard these amounts if;

• you are a lone parent working 16 hours or more a week or a couple where both partners are working for 16 hours or more a week (unless one is considered disabled), and
• your child or children are looked after by a registered childminder, nursery or after-school club, and
• your child or children are under 16 years of age, 17 years if disabled.

Already on Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit and thinking of starting work or increasing your hours?

Check out the Web Benefit Calculator, this will give you an estimate of the amount of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit you may get. If you would like an estimate of other benefits available to you use the Benefits Advisor.

In and out of work process
To make it easier to move into work when on benefits the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has simplified the process. The DWP will advise you on the benefits available to you and obtain any information needed by themselves or by us to work out these benefits.

Extended payments
When you start a new job or increase your hours you may continue to get Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit paid at the same rate for the first 4 weeks. This is called an Extended Payment.

To qualify you must have been on an out of work benefit such as, Income Support, income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, for at least 26 weeks before starting work or increasing your hours. You can also get an extended payment if your out of work benefits have stopped because your partner has got a new job or increased their hours.

After the first 4 weeks your benefit will be worked out on your earnings and any other money coming in.

You must tell us straight away if you start work or increase your hours, and your out of work benefit ends.

Web Links

Stockton Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.

• HM Revenue and Customs - Tax Credits
• Directgov - Employed or looking for work