Accepted evidence for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction

We can only accept certain types of evidence for your Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction claim. Find out what they are here.

Sending in the wrong types of evidence will cause delays in assessing your claim. Please make sure you only provide the types of evidence listed below.

Identity

We can only accept:

  • passports
  • driving licences
  • photo ID cards
  • birth certificates
  • National Insurance cards

Rent

We can only accept:

  • a letter or email from your landlord
  • a tenancy agreement

These must show:

  • the name of the person liable for the rent
  • the amount of rent and how often it must be paid
  • any services included in the rent
  • the date of the agreement or rent increase

Income and earnings

Employment

We cannot accept bank statements as evidence of pay. We need to see payslips.

If you are employed, you must give us:

  • the most recent two months' pay slips if you're paid monthly
  • the most recent five weeks' pay slips if you're paid weekly

We average out your weekly earnings from these. You do not need to send us payslips every week or month if your pay hasn't changed much.

You should send us new payslips if you have a significant change in earnings or the hours you work.

Councillors

You must tell us about income from roles such as being a councillor or mayor.

Private pensions

We cannot accept P60's as proof of private pension income.

You must send an award letter from your pension provider, or bank statements showing your regular pension income.

Capital - accounts, savings, investments and property

Accounts

We must see evidence of all bank, building society and Post Office accounts for yourself and your partner if you have one. This includes savings accounts and accounts for specific uses like funeral funds.

You must send us:

  • bank statements and passbooks that show sort codes, account numbers, all transactions and balances - do not black anything out
  • screenshots of online banking that show sort codes, account numbers, all transactions and balances - do not black anything out

Other types of capital

We need to know about all capital and savings you have.

Evidence of other types of capital include:

  • crypto asset wallets that show asset numbers and values
  • share certificates showing the name of the company and the number of shares held
  • Premium Bonds
  • details of any property you own other than your own home