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From the archive · Press release
Housing Benefit for Pensioners
The 2002 change that let pensioners claim Housing Benefit once every five years instead of every year.
Originally published 20 February 2002
From the archive. Between 1998 and 2003 this domain carried the constituency website of the Member of Parliament for East Ham. This page keeps one of its items as a historical record, with the original date restored. East Ham Ledger, which publishes the site today, is an independent magazine and has no link to any MP, party or Parliament; contact details and the names of private individuals have been removed, and lost pictures have been replaced with credited photographs of the places concerned.
Pictured today: Photo: Kleon3 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Stephen Timms, Member of Parliament for East Ham, today welcomed new Government proposals to simplify Housing Benefit for pensioners. From next year pensioners will get Housing Benefit awarded for up to five years. That means they need to fill in their claim form only once every five years, unless there's been a major change in their circumstances, instead of every year as at present.
At the moment, pensioners have to claim Housing Benefit at least every year. All the pensioners nationally who claim Housing Benefit have to fill in a new form and provide evidence of all their savings and other income each year, even if their circumstances haven't changed. From April next year, the rules for pensioners' Housing benefit claims will be changed to bring them into line with the proposed new Pension Credit. Pensioners will no longer have to report every change as it happens. Awards will be made for up to five years, depending on the information that people provide at the start of their claim.
Stephen Timms said: "This change makes a lot of sense, and I know it will be welcomed by many pensioners in East Ham. Filling in a new Housing Benefit claim form every year creates unnecessary anxiety and difficulties for many pensioners and it just isn't necessary if their circumstances haven't changed. I want to see pensioners in East Ham treated with consideration and respect - if they need help with their housing costs they should get it quickly, and without fuss."
For today’s rules on help with rent and bills in later life, see Pension Credit explained and Council Tax Reduction in Newham.
