Guidance updated and Discretionary Housing Payments information removed

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) updated its "Help with managing your rent payments" factsheet on 1 April 2026, removing information about Discretionary Housing Payments and adding information about getting help from a local council¹. The factsheet, first published on 7 January 2014, is aimed at claimants of Housing Benefit and offers advice on managing money, dealing with debts and keeping rent payments up to date¹.

The DWP's update note states:

The factsheet itself remains published in HTML under the same title, "Help with managing your rent payments, Housing Benefit Claimant Factsheet"¹. According to the page, it contains practical advice on managing money, dealing with debts and keeping rent payments up to date, and emphasises dealing with rent arrears as a priority to avoid the risk of eviction¹. It also lists links and contact details for other organisations that can help and advise¹.

The update does not say which specific Discretionary Housing Payments content was removed, nor what the added local council information contains. No replacement Discretionary Housing Payments guidance has been reported on the page, and no reason for the removal has been given¹. The DWP has not said whether the removed material will appear elsewhere.

Why it matters for households

The factsheet is written for people claiming Housing Benefit, so the change affects that group directly. Anyone who used the factsheet to find out about Discretionary Housing Payments will no longer find that information there as of 1 April 2026¹. Discretionary Housing Payments are separate top-up payments made by councils, and the factsheet now directs readers to their local council for help instead¹.

For households already receiving Housing Benefit, the practical effect is that the published route to information about rent top-ups has changed. The factsheet still covers managing money, debts and rent arrears, and still stresses that arrears should be treated as a priority to avoid eviction¹. General information on help with rent and on benefits remains available.

The removal of out of date fact sheets means some documents previously linked from the page are no longer there¹. It has not been reported which fact sheets were removed or what they covered.

What happens next

The page was last updated on 1 April 2026 and no further update date has been given¹. No date has been announced for any replacement guidance on Discretionary Housing Payments, and no statement has been published on whether the removed information will be reinstated or moved¹.