Housing benefit overpayments
An overpayment is an amount of housing benefit that has been paid, but for which there was no entitlement under the regulations.
Universal Credit this year
Every five to six years, the calendar makes it so we have 53 Mondays instead of the usual 52. This coming financial year, 2024 / 2025, is one of those special years.
If you get Universal Credit, the Department for Work and Pensions will only pay for 52 weeks of your rent in a year. In a 53 week financial year, this means there will be one week of rent that will not be covered by Universal Credit.
Find out what we're doing to help and what to do if you're affected and already struggling with the cost of living.
Get financial help and advice
Find out what organisations can help you if you are struggling with debt.
Repaying a housing benefit overpayment
Find out about how to repay housing benefit over-payment.
If you don't repay
If you don’t repay a housing benefit overpayment, we can take action against you to recover the money you owe us.
How we recover overpayments
Find out how we recover housing benefit overpayments from tenants and landlords.
Further information
Other things you may want to know about housing benefit overpayments.