Apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment

Complete as much of the Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) online form as you can and upload the relevant documents. This is to ensure that we can deal with your DHP application efficiently. If you have difficulties completing the form online you can download a paper DHP form or contact a local advice centre for further support.

Before you start - information on uploading evidence to support your DHP application

Please ensure you have the correct evidence to hand before starting your DHP application.

You will need:

• Proof of Universal Credit (UC)

Your most recent Universal Credit statement showing breakdown of claim including: Standard allowance, housing element, child element (if applicable) and any deductions from UC (benefit cap/bedroom tax).

Follow these simple steps to get your Universal Credit statement from your account.

• Proof of Rent

For private tenants: A copy of your tenancy agreement which can be a screenshot or a clear photo.
For Housing Association tenants: A copy of your most recent rent statement.

Make an application

Apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment

If you would prefer to print off a form, please use the following form and send to dhpenquiries@oxford.gov.uk

Download the Discretionary Housing Payment Application Form

What happens when we receive your application

1. We will contact you

We normally contact you to discuss your application. Where possible, we will make a decision based on the information you have given us. We will then phone or write to you to do one of the following things:

• ask for more information to help us to make a decision
• update you if there is a delay in looking at your application
• invite you to a meeting to discuss what you can do to improve your situation and the support we can offer to help you to do this
• advise you that your application has been unsuccessful 

2. Appointments 

We may invite you to a meeting to discuss what you can do to improve your situation and the support we can offer to help you to do this. We would normally arrange to invite you to an online meeting. If this is inconvenient please make us aware and we can look to make an alternative arrangement that meets your needs. Please note that we cannot guarantee that we will be able to give you a DHP even if we meet you for an appointment.

3. Keeping in touch

We will confirm your award in writing and will keep in contact with you while we continue to pay your DHP.

You must tell us about all relevant changes to your circumstances immediately. If you are overpaid a DHP you must let us know straight away as you will need to pay this back.

How to get your Universal Credit payment statement

To get a copy of your Universal Credit payment statement you'll need to:

• log into your Universal Credit account and select Payments from the home screen
• if it's your first payment the most recent payment should already be on display but if you've had multiple payments please select the most recent
• if using a laptop or computer save a statement by selecting 'print statement' and changing the printer selection to 'Save as PDF' but if using a mobile device or tablet you may need to take multiple screenshots