Possible to claim Council Tax Support or Housing Benefit without being on other benefits?

SpikeyKitten

As per the thread title really. I'm in the utterly confusing situation of being a self-employed person on relatively low income who has recently migrated from claiming Working Tax Credits with a small amount of Council Tax Support and Housing Benefit over to Universal Credit. 

I can't see Universal Credit working out for me, especially when the Assumed Minimum Income floor kicks in after a year. I earn just enough anyway that I don't really need a Universal Credit payment. And obviously, I'm hoping to earn more going forward.

But I still need help with my 'huge' rent and Council Tax at the moment. I recently applied for Council Tax Support from my local council. I noticed that on the online form they asked whether I wanted to apply for just Council Tax Support, or Housing Benefit as well. So I applied for both.

They then wrote back to say I I'm not eligible for Housing Benefit because I get a Housing Element with my UC. Fair enough. But it made me think. Could I just claim CTS and HB from my council without being on UC, purely through having a low income?

I've yet to hear back on my CTS claim, but from my earnings it won't be much. But every little helps.

Thanks

EDIT: I've just been reading up on it and it seems Housing Benefit is one of the legacy benefits being replaced by UC. So that answers my question there. It must e just a quirk of the council's website that you can still apply for it, or it hasn't fully transitioned yet. So I'm guessing that whilst it may still be possible to get help with Council Tax direct from your council without having to be on other benefits, you can't get help with your rent without being on Universal Credit. Is that right?

Rubyroobs

No if you are under state pension age you would need to claim Universal credit for help with rent costs.

SpikeyKitten

So how does applying for Council Tax Support work when on UC? Do you have to put a claim in every month as your earnings fluctuate? I can't see how this would work as it normally takes them many months to process a claim. Or would they take the Assumed Minimum Income as their working figure, and thus say I'm not eligible. But I have year's start up period free of the Assumed Minimum Income. Some months I earn (most), others I don't.

KxMx

The claim would need to be recalculated, not reapplied for.
All local councils run a different scheme, so we can't advise on individual cases from here.

You would need to ask them.

For an idea my local council have income bands for those on Universal Credit. That allows for some changes in earnings to not require a recalculation. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Housing Benefit is presumably still on the council website to apply for because pensioners can still apply for it (unless they have a working-age partner) and working-age people in certain types of accommodation that UC housing element doesn't cover, can still claim it.  But as you've found out, the vast majority of working-age people, living in regular accommodation, can't.