Can a 16yr old (still at school) but having left home get ANY benefits?

chrisjohnbarnes

Any advice on this would be appreciated please...

My 16 yr old niece (who is still at school until June 2006) is moving into a privately rented bedsit on Friday.

The rent including bills is £60 per week.

She has a part-time job that will cover this but has no money at all for food etc.

There is a shortage of privately rented accomodation where she lives and she was lucky to get this bedsit BUT the landlord (like many others) will NOT accept people on Housing Benefit...so she CANNOT put an application for this in (although it is doubtful whether she would be able to claim it anyway).

She CANNOT claim Child Benefit (as someone looking after a child at their address has to claim this)...

She CANNOT claim child maintenance from her estranged father (as this is dependent on child benefit anyway)...

She PROBABLY CANNOT claim income support (as her part-time job which just pays for the rent will probably take her over the limit)...

She wanted to work full time to support herself but this is against the law until she leaves school...

It seems to me she needs a helping hand until then but all the council want to do is put her in a homeless hostel 25 miles away. The Social Services don't want to know as she is 16.

By the way...she was kicked out of her home by her alcoholic mother and has been living at my house for the last 6 months but we already have 2 kids with a third due soon so she has to move out.

rammy007

Have you got a local YMCA near you they tend to take kids between ages of 16 and 25 and usually have supported housing,the job will probably be a problem cos income support only let people earn a small amount,i wonder if she cold claim Ema which could give her another £30 but takes a while to come through,if there is a ymca i would seriously consider it because they have support workers keeping an eye on them and if she did get one(which they do give in emergencies)she would be better off doing a few hours having the rent paid and hopefully getting ema,you would have to write her a letter saying she is homeless
(I have sent you a pm)

CIS

Please read this page about Housing Benefit:

http://www.fylde.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/advice-benefits-and-emergencies/benefits/housing-benefit-for-landlords/

The money would be paid direct to your neice for her to forward on to the landlord and he has no legal right to know that this is how she is funding her rent.

She shouldn't loose out just because the landlord doesn't like people to claim it and live in his property.

Savvy_Sue

Of if there is a local Foyer (there's one in Bristol for example) they can be a support and help to youngsters.

Also Connexions - she should in theory have a Connexions worker already through school.

Is the school aware of her situation? They may be able to direct her to sources of help.

chrisjohnbarnes

Thanks for the replies...in reponse:

No, there is no YMCA for 20 miles I am afraid...

The EMA is not an option either as you need to be at college to claim it (she is at school doing GCSE's).

The housing benefit is not an option as the council told us the property would need to be inspected to see if it was a fair rent or not.

(I think the landlords are more bothered about having to pay tax on the income they receive from tenants rather than being bothered about people on housing benefit!)

We did try Connexions a few weeks ago but to be honest they weren't very helpful and could only refer us to the council and DSS.

Same for her school, they can barely sort out her school work let alone anything else! (she is only taking 4 GCSE's as they have not put her in for more due to the recent school change when she started living with us)).

Hopefully someone can come up with some other ideas?! I do appreciate it.

CIS

Surely, if housing benefit can be paid without the landlord knowing, then the council can arrange an inspection to visit with your neice without the landlord knowing, otherwise whats the point of paying without the landlords knowledge ?.

It would be a shame for her to miss out on it when she could get it paid.

Even if you go no further, why not give the council housing benefit a ring and tell them the situation and they'll advise you and may be able to give alternative lines of help to follow.

Karnam

this is a situation for CAB. go along and ask them since they are supposedly independent.

Savvy_Sue

Was she 16 when her mother threw her out? Did the family have a social worker prior to that? I am not sure social services can just wash their hands of her because she is 16: she is a young woman at risk of all sorts of things I won't spell out here.

Shelter - this page is about rights for young people - would be good people to talk to. Also if you have any local housing associations, most won't normally consider people before they are 18 but there are exceptions, and eg in Bristol there is Priority Youth Housing for 16-25 year olds.

mandym

If she's estranged from her parents and still in full time non advanced education she can claim Income Support. They would, however, take her part-time wages into account and she couldn't work 16 hours or more, may not be worth her while working at the moment? I would urge her to to make a claim as soon as she can. She can't go on as she is.

Even though she's at school, she can still claim EMA, it's not just for students at college, school students are eligible too. It may depend on when she turned 16 though.

If she gets Income Support she will definitely qualify for housing benefit. Also if she was having problems with the landlord, at 16 she surely would be a priority housing case for the council.

Whatever she does, I wish her the best, she sounds as if she's coped wonderfully so far, but someone should be helping her. A trip to the CAB would be worthwhile I'm sure.

chrisjohnbarnes

Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions...

Have phoned the council again and they can do a rent assessment without the landlord knowing (as of Data Protection Act implications)...however, they need a copy of the tenancy agreement and proof of what rent she has paid.

I can understand this but in my niece's case the landlord is not interested in giving her any documentation or agreement. Yes she is entitled to it but he is not that type of landlord, he is very easy going and just wants the rent paid, not wanting to have the hassle of agreements etc. I know if she pressed him he would just tell her to go elsewhere if that is what she wants.

So.. the upshot is there is no way she can claim housing benefit while she is living there...the only alternative is to look for a nearby landlord who will take on a girl still at school and give her the necessary documentation...!

On the income support side, since she earns £60 a week (just enough for the rent) she is earning too much to apply for it...I do not think it would be beneficial to give up the part-time job and apply...she wouldn't get as much anyway.

Have not been able to ask CAB for advice yet as they just do not answer the phone in my area so it means a day off work...from my experience they are hit and miss though - depends on if you get to see someone who knows the crack.

I am sure she can only claim EMA if she was doing A levels etc at school. She hasn't taken her GCSE's yet so I am sure she can't claim that!

In response to Savvy_Sue, she was 15 when her 'Mother' threw her out but that was in Wales, she is in England now.There was a social worker but they really do not want to know. The council and the social workers seem to think it is perfectly acceptable for her to go in a homeless hostel ! (out of town too - by the way, our town "does not have a homeless problem" according to council reports!!!! Sure - they just pass it on to other towns!

Haven't tried the housing associations yet but there was an article in the paper last week about a woman with a baby who can't get a property so I can't see my niece having much luck!

One good thing - phoned to cancel the child benefit and they said they could not cancel it as it can't end before the Sept in the year she finishes school...so at least she can have £12 or so a week!

Unfortunately the CSA use the rule that she needs to be living with an adult in order to claim it so no luck there...

Bossyboots

Something is going wrong here. The local social services should have a 16+ team to look after this girl. We get involved in this in my line of work and this is exactly one of the situations they are there for. In our area, they do have the hostels but they prefer to encourage independent living and help with rent deposits and such like and check that they are not being taken advantage of. Perhaps contacting social services and asking for the 16+ team would help.

I have grave concerns about this landlord who does not want to do things by the book.