Mixed age couples, pensioner couples and single pensioners: help with housing costs since 15 May 2019

A ‘mixed age’ couple is a couple where one member is pension age and the other is working age.

If you are part of a mixed age couple and you don’t already get either Housing Benefit or Pension Credit, and you need help with your housing costs, you must claim Universal Credit . When you make your Universal Credit claim, you should also state that you want to claim Council Tax Support to help with council tax. More about claiming Council Tax Support
If you are part of a mixed age couple and you already get Pension Credit, and you need help with your housing costs, you must use our online form to make a new claim for Housing Benefit. We will work out if you are entitled to help with your council tax at the same time. (Please note: the rules also say that if you are part of a mixed-age couple that already gets Housing Benefit, you can make a new claim for Pension Credit instead of claiming Universal Credit).
If you are a single pensioner or part of a couple who are both pension-age, the rules haven’t changed. Universal Credit is not open to you. You can continue to claim Pension Credit through the Pension Service, and if you need help with housing costs claim Housing Benefit separately from us. We will work out if you are entitled to help with your council tax at the same time.

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