Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP)

If you need help to pay your housing costs, you be able to get a discretionary housing payment (DHP).

On this page:

What a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) is

A Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) is money to help if:

you're temporarily struggling to pay your rent
you do not have enough money to pay for a rental deposit, rent in advance or removal costs.

You do not have to pay a Discretionary Housing Payment back.

You cannot use a Discretionary Housing Payment:

towards your Council Tax
to pay for service charges not included in your rent
if you do not have enough for rent because you're paying back an overpayment of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing costs.

Who can get it

You can only apply for Discretionary Housing Payment if you:

rent your home
get Housing Benefit or the Housing Costs element of Universal Credit.These payments are not a type of housing benefit or Universal Credit housing cost.

They are extra payments made to help with housing costs like some or all of a rent shortfall over a few weeks or a new tenancy rent deposit.

If you get Housing Benefit or Universal Credit but it does not cover all your rent

If your Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing costs are not enough to pay your rent temporarily, you could apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment.

You could get a top-up for some or all of your housing benefit for a short-term period.

If you have a non-dependant adult living with you

You may have a reduction in your Housing Benefit if someone who lives with you:

is over 18
is not in full time education
is working
claims benefits.

This is called a non-dependant deduction.

If this means you temporarily cannot pay all of your rent, you could apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment. It could top-up some or all of your housing benefit for a short-term period.

If you need help with a deposit, rent advance or removal

You could get a Discretionary Housing Payment to help you move into a new home, if you can't pay one-off costs like a deposit, rent in advance or removal costs.

If you're affected by the benefit cap

If the benefit cap means you cannot cover your rent or housing costs, you could be eligible for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) to cover the reduction in your income.

There is a separate process for applying for the Benefit Cap related Discretionary Housing Payment.

If you're affected by Social Sector Size Criteria (Bedroom Tax)

If you already get Housing Benefit and you want a Discretionary Housing Payment due to the Social Sector Size Criteria, known as the 'Bedroom tax', you'll get this automatically and you do not need to apply for it.

Another reason not listed above

If the reason you're applying for a Discretionary Housing Payment does not fit into any of the above categories, then you can apply for 'Any other reason'.

You must tell us about the reason you need financial help to meet the gap between your Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing costs and your rent.

Before you start an application

Information you need to tell us on your application

You'll need to tell us:

if you're a private, housing association or Renfrewshire Council tenant
how much rent you pay and how often you pay it
if you're behind in your rent
if you get Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing costs
if you need an extra room for an overnight carer, a foster child or a severely disabled child who cannot share a room
the reason you're applying for a Discretionary Housing Payment
about your circumstances and your household
your name, date of birth, National Insurance (NI) number, address and contact details
anything else you have done to help your financial situation
what you pay out every week (your weekly outgoings).

Weekly outgoings

We need to know the weekly outgoings for yourself, your partner, if you have one, and any children.

If you're not sure how much you pay for them every week, you can enter daily, fortnightly, or monthly figures on the form to calculate how much something is weekly.

Outgoings can include:

rent, council tax, gas, electricity, life, or home insurance
TV licence, entertainment subscriptions, internet, home, or mobile phone
childcare, school meals, school trips, family outings or kids' clubs
medical or caring expenses
food, clothing, cigarettes, or alcohol
travel costs, petrol, car insurance or road tax
loans, goods hired or bought on a payment plan, store credit cards, other outstanding debts
any other weekly outgoings not listed above.

Enter 0 (zero) for anything you do not pay.

Savings and income

You'll need to tell us the amount of money or savings you and your partner, if you have one, have in your bank, building society or other accounts.

We'll also need to know the weekly income of your household, including the total amount of earned income in your household, and any other benefits or payments you get.

If you're not sure how much household income you have each week, you can enter daily, fortnightly, or monthly figures on the form to calculate how much something is weekly.

With your consent, we can also check your entitlement to others benefits or grants.

How to apply

If you haven't created an online account with us before, you'll need to register for MyAccount through mygov.scot. You only need an email address to sign up.

If you've already registered for MyAccount, you don't need to do it again.

Apply online for a discretionary housing payment (DHP)

You can tell us if you want to be contacted about your application by phone, email or letter.

If you need help to apply

If you need help to fill in the DHP application form, our Advice Works team can help you. Contact them at adviceworks@renfrewshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 1238.

Our Customer Service team can also give you help or information about filling out the DHP application form. You can email them at customerservices.contact@renfrewshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 0300 from:

Monday to Thursday from 8:45am to 4:45pm
Friday from 8:45am to 3:55pm.

After you've applied

How we make a decision

The budget for Discretionary Housing Payments is limited, so we cannot guarantee you'll get it.

We will consider the following when we make a decision:

your household income
if you have any savings
if you or your family are ill or disabled
if anyone else is living in the property who could help
if there's any way of you rearranging your finances to improve your situation
if you have any debts
if the household could budget to afford some or all of the shortfall
any other relevant information.

We'll let you know by phone, email or letter if you'll get a Discretionary Housing Payment or if we need more information before we make a decision.

How we pay Discretionary Housing Payment

If we give you a Discretionary Housing Payment, you can ask for it to be paid to either yourself or your landlord.

If we're paying it to you, we'll need the details of the bank or building society account including the:

account holder's name
name and address of the bank or building society
sort code
account number

Ask us to review a decision

If we do not grant you a Discretionary Housing Payment, there is no right of appeal, but you can ask for the decision to be looked at again by a different Senior Assessor if you disagree with it.

If you want to do this, write to the Benefits Service within two weeks of the date on the decision letter, stating why you think the decision is wrong. The postal address is:

Renfrewshire Council
Benefits Service
Renfrewshire House
Cotton Street
Paisley
PA1 1AD.

Other benefits or financial help you could get

Discretionary Housing Payments are only a short-term solution to financial difficulties.

If you think you'll have ongoing difficulties paying your rent, you should

speak to your landlord if you're a private tenant
contact your Housing Association officer if you live in a Housing Association
contact your local Neighbourhood services if you're a Council tenant.

If you get Housing Benefit or Universal Credit Housing Costs, you can also apply for a Council Tax reduction

You may also be entitled to other benefits

Depending on your circumstances and needs, you could apply for a crisis grant or a community care grant from the Scottish Welfare Fund.

If you need longer term financial help, our Advice Works team Advice or Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau can help.