Carer's Allowance and housing costs: what carers need to know

If you are a carer receiving Carer's Allowance, you may be eligible for help with your housing costs through Housing Benefit or Universal Credit. Here is how Carer's Allowance interacts with housing support and what extra help may be available.

What is Carer's Allowance?

Carer's Allowance is a benefit for people who provide a significant amount of care, usually 35 hours or more per week, for someone who is receiving a qualifying disability benefit (such as Disability Living Allowance at the middle or higher rate care component, or Personal Independence Payment at either rate).

It is a relatively low-value benefit and overlaps with several others, which means receiving Carer's Allowance can have complex knock-on effects on your overall benefit entitlement.

Does Carer's Allowance affect Housing Benefit?

Carer's Allowance is a qualifying benefit that may affect Housing Benefit in several ways:

Carer premium: If you are claiming Housing Benefit (not Universal Credit), receiving Carer's Allowance entitles you to a carer premium added to your applicable amount, the figure used to calculate your benefit. This increases the amount of housing costs the benefit system will support.

Earnings disregard: Carer's Allowance is not earnings. It is treated as income for Housing Benefit calculations, but carers also benefit from a disregard that reduces the amount of other income counted against them.

Underlying entitlement: In some cases, you may have "underlying entitlement" to Carer's Allowance even if you do not receive it, for example, because another benefit would be reduced pound-for-pound. This can still trigger the carer premium even if no Carer's Allowance is paid.

Does Carer's Allowance affect Universal Credit?

If you receive Universal Credit rather than Housing Benefit, the equivalent of the carer premium is the carer element of Universal Credit. Carers who receive Carer's Allowance (or have underlying entitlement) are entitled to the carer element, which is added to their Universal Credit award.

The housing costs element within Universal Credit covers housing support. Having the carer element does not reduce your housing element.

What about the benefit cap?

Carers who receive Carer's Allowance or the carer element of Universal Credit are exempt from the benefit cap. This is a significant exemption, if your household's total benefits would otherwise exceed the cap, receiving Carer's Allowance (or the carer element) removes that limit entirely.

What if I live with the person I care for?

In some cases, carers live with the disabled person they care for. This raises specific questions:

• If you are a joint tenant with the person you care for, the tenancy structure affects how housing costs are calculated
• If you are a non-dependant in the cared-for person's household, non-dependant deductions apply to their Housing Benefit, though these are waived if you receive Carer's Allowance

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

We handle housing disrepair claims. If your home or the home of the person you care for is in disrepair, call us, the obligations apply in the same way.

Call us on 0800 030 4669. No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Sources

• Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (Carer's Allowance) (legislation.gov.uk)
• Carer's Allowance (GOV.UK)