single parent benefits

nicky6
nicky6 Posts: 1 Newbie
in Benefits & tax credits
Hi, I am a recently single mum, i have 2 children aged 2 and 4 and i am looking for a flat to rent. I work 22 hours per week and earn £850 a month but i pay £600 per month on childcare,I have no savings of any kind, i do not know how i will afford my rent or if i will get any help.Where do i go from here??

Comments

  • cw18
    cw18 Posts: 8,619 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Photogenic
    do you get tax credits? as a single parents you should qualify for WTC as well as CTC as you work more then 16 hours -- and you should get help with childcare costs (up to 80% of up to £300 as you have two children).
    Cheryl
  • flowerscotland
    flowerscotland Posts: 16,846 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    hiya nicky

    I am a new single mum too, I get more tax credit now, it depends on how many hours you work and how much you get paid, try www.entitledto.com you put all your details in and it tells you how much you should get.

    Also is there any chance of cutting your working hours down ? As you dont want to be working just to pay childcare, even a few hours a day or something ?
    Little Miss Sparkles :A

    Team Reem - August '11 :cool:
  • BeenieCat
    BeenieCat Posts: 6,567 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    nicky6 wrote: »
    Hi, I am a recently single mum, i have 2 children aged 2 and 4 and i am looking for a flat to rent. I work 22 hours per week and earn £850 a month but i pay £600 per month on childcare,I have no savings of any kind, i do not know how i will afford my rent or if i will get any help.Where do i go from here??

    Your 4 year old should be getting 2.5hrs a day paid for, as long as it's a LEA maintained nursery/daycare, so make sure you're getting that, and when your youngest is 3 they should get the same.

    As a single parent with one child, i have to say i found myself better off doing 16 hours a week but only because it made me entitled to some housing benefit too. Working anymore than that affected this entitlement, but gave me no extra tax credits (and the wages were too low to make it better).

    £600 a month for childcare seems a lot, and you will certainly be entitled for some of this to be paid via tax credits.

    You will now get the single parent and childcare elements of tax credits which should be a substantial amount IMO.

    With regards to the housing benefit, i was on minimum wage 16 hours a week, and got about 80% of the rent paid. I'm in a council property though, you have to be careful of renting privately as the council may decide the rent is too expensive for the type of property and limit the amount they include while calculating your entitlement.

    You can ask them to assess the property before you sign a tenancy agreement though, i can't remember the name of this though.
  • cw18
    cw18 Posts: 8,619 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Photogenic
    BeenieCat wrote: »
    £600 a month for childcare seems a lot, and you will certainly be entitled for some of this to be paid via tax credits.
    That actually doesn't sound much to me, so I assumed the elder one is probably at school :confused:

    A full-time child-minder around us costs £125 (though I have seen a couple quoting £110) -- and that's for one child for one week. For before and after school they charge £3/hour.

    Tax credits will help towards £300 a week if you have two or more children (and qualify for the help).
    Cheryl
  • sam_onespace
    sam_onespace Posts: 1 Newbie
    We have an article on the benefit changes that will affect single parents and I thought it might be relevant to the users here..
  • Jowo_2
    Jowo_2 Posts: 8,308 Forumite
    Some local councils operate a deposit guarantee scheme for tenants on low income that can be used to fund the deposit on a new property.

    Have a look at the Local Housing Allowance direct website which will tell you the size of property (number of bedrooms) and LHA rates for the area you want to rent in. Have a look at the Entitled To website which will give you some idea of the potential LHA you'd be eligible for, plus any other benefits, too.

    The local council website will tell you how to apply for LHA which you can do once you've found a landlord that will offer you a tenancy. The Shelter website also has good info about how LHA works, too.

    Is your ex contributing to the household budget? If not, why not?
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.1K Life & Family
  • 247.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards