Shelter Publications Help with Housing Costs 2026-27: Advising on universal credit, housing benefit and pension credit

This guide explains the help you can get towards rent, service charges, mortgage interest and council tax. It is used by tenants, owners, shared owners, landlords, benefit advisers, council departments, tribunal members and other housing professionals. The guide covers universal credit, housing benefit, state pension credit, support for mortgage interest and council tax rebates. It applies throughout Great Britain and gives the rules from April 2026, including: Help for social housing tenants, private tenants, owners and shared owners; Who can get benefit towards rent and service charges; How much you can get for rent and service charges - limits and protections; How the bedroom tax and local housing allowance affect you; Up-to-date rules about supported and temporary housing; How to calculate benefits and how the benefit cap works; The new rules about who gets the work capability (health) elements; How the rules work after the abolition of the two-child limit; Financial help if you transferred from old benefits to universal credit; How much income and capital you can have and still get benefit; Who can get benefit during an absence from home or on two homes; Support for mortgage interest for owners and share owners; Council tax exemptions, discounts, disability reductions and rebates; Discretionary housing payments; How to claim and how you can document your identity; When and how often you will be paid benefit; Payments to landlords and mortgage lenders; Repaying overpayments of benefit; Reconsiderations and appeals including recent case law about these; Which migrants and recent UK arrivals can get benefit.