Capital and Savings

What are capital and savings?

For Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit purposes, capital means any savings and investments held by you or your partner (if you have one).

This means everything held in all types of current account, any other back accounts, supermarket saving accounts, internet bank accounts, building society accounts, Post Office Accounts, ISA's, TESSA's or PEPS, National Saving Certificates, Premium Bonds, stocks and shares, redundancy pay and tax refunds. It can also include value of any land or property owned, or partly owned, by yourself or your partner.

Why do you need to know about my capital and savings?

Your capital and savings can affect any Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit you may get. A person who has more than £16,000 of capital will not usually qualify for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit, except those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee. (There is no capital limit for people in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee.)

Any capital under £6,000 is ignored completely when we are working out the amount of benefit you will get, but we still need to know about it.

What if I have capital between £6,000 and £16,000?

Anyone aged under 60 who has capital between £6,000 and £16,000 may be entitled to Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit. When working out your benefit entitlement, we will add £1 per week to your income for every £250 (or part of), that you have over £6,000. This is called tariff income.

Anyone aged 60 or over who has capital between £6,000 and £16,000 may be entitled to Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit. When working out your benefit entitlement, we will add £1 per week to your income for every £500 (or part of) that you have over £6,000.

What if I get Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based)?

If you get Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based), the Department for Work and Pensions will already have taken any capital you or your partner have into account, therefore if you receive either of those Benefits, any capital you have will not be taken into account.

Is there any capital that you do not take into account?

There are items of capital that are not taken into account when we work out your entitlement to Benefit. For example:

• The home you own and live in
• A self-employed person's business assets
• Arrears of certain state benefits
• Certain compensation payments
• A life insurance policy which has not been cashed in

Other capital may also be disregarded for limited periods of time e.g. money from the sale of your former home that is intended to be used to buy another home. Please ask for more information about this and other disregards.

What proof do I need to send to the Benefit Service?

When you apply for Housing Benefit and / or Council Tax Benefit, you will need to send proof of all the capital and savings held by you and your partner (if you have one).  Listed below is the proof you will need to provide before we can work out how much benefit you may get.  (It is important that all the documents you provide are originals.  Copies will not be accepted).  Please note that these are only examples and do not cover all types of capital and savings, for further help or guidance, contact the Benefits Service. 

If you have any bank accounts (including current accounts), building society accounts, Post Office accounts, or any other sort of savings account you will need to provide statements covering the last 2 months, showing all debits, credits and a balance.  If you cannot provide your statements, you will need to provide a letter from the organisation your account is held with, showing the type of account, account number the balance and deposits for the last 2 months

If you have any savings bonds, unit trusts, stocks and shares, National Savings Certificates or Premium Bonds, you will need to provide your statement or certificate

If you or your partner own or partly own any land or property (other than the home you live in), you will need to provide full details of the address, the area it is located in, what it is used for and an approximate valuation (we will send a form for you to complete with regard to this)

Please note that if you receive Pension Credit, you will not have to send us any proof of your capital or savings, as you will already have provided this information to the Pension Service.