Service standards for housing benefit
Due to maintenance being carried out from Saturday 12 September 2026 at 6am to Monday 14 September 2026 9am, you may not be able to access our online service. We apologise for any inconvenience
It also summarises our recent service performance figures.
Housing benefit service standards
-
We process new benefit claims and make decisions in respect of backdating within ten working days of receiving all necessary information.
-
We process notified changes in circumstances within five working days of receiving all necessary information.
-
We respond to complaints within 10 working days.
-
We process appeals within 28 working days.
Your feedback is important and helps us to make improvements to our services. You can give us your feedback in a number of ways:-
-
use our online form for comments, complaints and compliments
-
write to us at Your Feedback, Lewisham Council, Laurence House, London SE6 4RU. This is a FREEPOST address.
Service performance figures for 2019/20
-
Average time to process a new claim is 9.64 days
-
Average time to process a change to an existing claim is 3.69 days
-
Target time to process new claims and changes is 7 days.
-
Average time to process new claims and changes is 4.06 days.
Percentage of complaints processed within ten working days
-
Target 2010–20: 90%
- Achieved: 96%