If you have an ongoing claim for Housing Benefit, you must notify the Housing Benefit Service of any changes in your circumstances that could affect your entitlement in any way.
Examples of changes in circumstances that you need to inform us about.
- Change of address.
- Changes to the people you live with – people moving in or out of the household or a change in their circumstances.
- Changes the income received by you, your partner, or any non-dependants.
- Changes to the capital of savings for you and your partner.
- Changes to certain expenses(e.g. childcare costs) for you and your partner.
- Changes to your rent, your landlord or how you want housing benefit paid.
- Changes to your contact details.
This is not an exhaustive list. If you are not sure is something will alter your entitlement, it is best to tell us anyway, as you will have to repay any Housing Benefit that you are not entitled to, if you fail to notify us of a change in your circumstances.
Change in Circumstance FAQs
You can notify us of a change in your circumstance at all of the following Council offices:
Sefton One Stop Shop Offices (open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm)
- Bootle One Stop Shop, 324 - 342 Stanley Road, Bootle, L20 3ET
- Southport One Stop Shop, The Atkinson, Lord Street, Southport, PR8 1DB - Southport One Stop Shop is appointment only, to make an appointment please call 0345 140 0845
You can now submit evidence to support your claim to the following libraries:
- Crosby Library, Crosby Road North, Waterloo L22 0LQ
- Formby Library, Duke Street, Formby, L37 4AN
- Meadows (Maghull) Library, Hall Lane, Maghull, L31 7BB
- Netherton Library, Glovers Lane, Netherton, L30 3TL
- Southport Library, Lord Street, Southport, PR8 1DJ
You must provide evidence of any changes in your rent in the form of a letter from your landlord, a new tenancy agreement and / or a rent statement from your landlord.
If you have a change in any state benefits or Tax Credits, you must provide evidence of this. This is usually your notification/award letter from the Department for Work and Pensions or HMRC (depending on which benefit / Tax Credit you receive).
If you are working and have a change of income, please confirm the date of the change and provide 5 consecutive weekly payslips, 3 consecutive fortnightly payslips or 2 consecutive monthly payslips. Alternatively, please have your employer complete a Certificate of Earnings form.
If you have a change in your self-employed income, you must provide details of your business income and expenditure.
You can scan or take a picture of your evidence and email it to benefits@sefton.gov.uk please include your reference number in the title. You can also upload your evidence via our online portal.
Change in Circumstance documents
| HB Certificate Of Earnings |  (pdf 156KB) |
| Hb Self Employed | (pdf 273KB) |