Accommodation Supplement

You may get an Accommodation Supplement if you:

• have accommodation costs where you're living (e.g. you’re paying  rent, board or home ownership costs)
• are either:
  • 18 or older
  • 16 or 17 and either:
    
    • working full-time, or
    • have had an Independent Circumstances Allowance approved before, or
    • getting a benefit
• are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident
• normally live in New Zealand and intend to stay here
• are not paying rent to live in a social housing property

It also depends on:

• how much income you and your partner get
• any payments you get from your boarder and renters
• any money or assets you and your partner have.

Minimum accommodation costs

You also need to be paying a minimum amount of accommodation costs. How much you need to pay depends on your situation.

If you are:	You need to be paying more than:
	Rent	Home ownership costs (eg, mortgage, rates)
Single, 16+ years	$90	$108
Partner, no children	$154	$184
Partner, 1+ children	$198	$238
Sole parent	$163	$195

Paying board

If you pay board, your minimum accommodation cost is not based on your whole board cost. This is because board includes other costs, for example food and power.

We calculate 62% of your board to be your accommodation cost. For example, if your total board payment is $200 a week, we’ll calculate 62% of it, which will be $124 a week.

If you are:	62% of your total board payment needs to be more than:
Single, 16+ years	$90
Partner, no children	$154
Partner, 1+ children	$198
Sole parent	$163

How much Accommodation Supplement you can get depends on:

• your income
• your assets
• your accommodation costs
• your family circumstances
• any board or rent payments you get
• where you live.

Depending on your situation and where you live, the most you can get is:

If you are:	and you live in:
	Area 1 limit	Area 2 limit	Area 3 limit	Area 4 limit
Single, 16+ years	$165	$105	$80	$70
Partner, no children	$235	$155	$105	$80
Partner, 1+ children	$305	$220	$160	$120
Sole parent, 1 child	$235	$155	$105	$80
Sole parent, 2+ children	$305	$220	$160	$120

You may be granted the Accommodation Supplement from the date you first contact us. You have 20 working days from the date you first contact us to complete the application process.

How you apply depends on if you're a first time student or a returning student.

First time student

You can apply online by following the steps on the 'Apply online for first time students' page.

If you can't apply online, you can complete the Extra Help application form.

Returning student

You can apply online using MyStudyLink.

You need to:

• login to MyStudyLink
• select 'apply for financial assistance'
• complete a new eligibility test, and
• submit an application.

If you can't apply online, you can complete the Extra Help application form.

If you're already getting Accommodation Supplement and your costs change, you need to let us know. If you don't let us know, you may get a debt.

If you get an Accommodation Supplement, we must review your circumstances at least once every 52 weeks (one year). This is to make sure you are getting the correct assistance and amount.

As part of this, we might ask you to fill out a Confirming your Circumstances form. It's important to fill out the form and return it promptly.

If you don't respond to the form before the due date, Accommodation Supplement payments will stop.

Confirming your circumstances