Benefits

Maximising your income

Housing and Council Tax Benefit

If you’re on a low income it’s possible that you may be entitled to Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit.

Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit are administered by the Council. Council Tax Benefit reduces your Council Tax bill. Housing Benefit is a payment that may be made by the Council to people who are finding difficulty in paying their rent. These benefits are based on your household income and personal financial circumstances.

If you think you might be eligible for Council Tax or Housing Benefit, you can use our online benefits calulator.  The calculator allows you to enter your personal details and gives an indicator whether or not you might be eligible for benefits. Please note, however, that entering your details and getting a positive response on the calculator doesn’t mean that you will automically get the benefit … you will still have to formally apply for the benefit in the usual way. Information about this is available in the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit pages of the Council’s website.

Alternatively, you can contact us directly for advice the contact details are in the Benefits Contact List. But for a full evaluation, you need to fill in an application form and supply proof of any income and savings.

Council Tax
you may be paying more than you should

Whether or not you qualify for Council Tax Benefit, there are still a number of ways that you might be able to reduce your bill.

The full Council Tax bill assumes that there are two adults living in the property. If only one person lives in a property they will be entitled to a 25% single person's discount. For a property which is no one's main home, a 10% unoccupied discount will apply.

In addition to the above discounts, certain people are disregarded when counting the number of people in the property for Council Tax purposes. Full details of these are provided on the Council Tax Discounts page of the Swindon Borough Council Website.

If you are finding it difficult to pay your Council Tax bill, it is important that you contact the Council as soon as possible to find out if you are eligible for Council Tax Benefit or any of the discounts or exemptions available. Details of how to contact us are in the Benefits Contact List.

Other state benefits and support

Based on your individual circumstances you may, of course, be eligible for other benefits and support that are available from agencies other than the Council. To assess this for yourself you can use the DirectGov online benefits adviser. The Benefits Adviser is an online questionnaire to help you find out which benefits and tax credits you and your family may be entitled to, and if you are entitled to the State Pension.

Business Rate relief

Local businesses may be able to apply for Business Rate Relief in certain circumstances or even to appeal against their current business rate amount. Full details of how businesses can appeal or apply for rate relief are provided in the business rate pages in the Swindon Borough Council website. Alternatively, contact the Swindon Business Rates Team on 01793 464344.