Surrey Welfare Rights Unit

Social landlord

If your child is renting from a social landlord, then an under-occupancy charge will reduce the rent support they get if the property has more bedrooms than the government have decided a person in their situation needs.  They will need to make up the shortfall.  Local authorities have discretionary funds available, called Discretionary Housing Payments, that can “top up” payments to help with rent when they are getting rent support through Universal Credit or Housing Benefit.  These funds tend to be short term and, due to their discretionary nature, cannot not be relied on.