Can my daughter claim H/B to help with rent?

serendipity101

Please can anyone offer some advise to my daughter regarding Housing Benefit.
She is wanting to move out of the family home into a rented flat but knows she will struggle to pay the rent plus all her other living costs.
Will she be entitled to claim any help towards the rent, such as Housing Benefit? She works full time. Any help would be appreciated.
thanks.

London05

The answer to that is I think no they won't give her anything.If she is a Key Worker or earns about the same she can get on a waiting list with the local Housing Association.

My daughter is a Nurse (Key Worker) but prefers to rent privately although it costs more as the Key Worker flats are usually very small (they are in Feltham, Middx - kitchen on wall of living room who thought that was a good idea).

Don't know which area you are but studios go for £550 plus here and £650 + for 1 bedroom.

Cheapest option is she rents a room in a house.

serendipity101

Thanks London05,
We live in Poole Dorset. She works as a Care Worker and has taken on agency work to raise some extra cash to save for the deposit.
Its hard to know whats best, the cheaper shared house option or the privacy of a more expensive flat, I suppose it will all come down to what she can afford in the end.
Where is a good place to hunt for available flats etc..as when she has called a few that have been in the local paper they have already gone!

ecgirl07

http://entitledto.co.uk/

run her proposed circs (ie guestimate rent and council tax) through that website and you will get a definite answer to what she is entitled to.

For a first time move out a room in a flat is a good choice as you have some company for cheap nights in, etc. Cheaper rent means more money to save too.

London05

Yes you have to be really quick for the flats, what I suggest is go to the local letting agencies and tell them what you want and how much you are prepared to pay, mostly the ones in the papers are already gone.We had a very wierd viewing with a private landlord he thought we wanted the flat for both of us??? and it was frankly horrible. Make sure you go with her don't let her go on her own.

The flat my daughter is in now we were the first to view in front of two others before her night shift and she sat on the agents front door first thing in the morning with her deposit cheque, and was signing up when one of the other viewers rang up.This was after the Key Worker scheme told her she wasn't at the top of the list but there were twenty people in front of her, this turned out to be untrue and she was offered a key worker rented flat a week after she signed her contract. Though the flat offered was half the size of the one she has now and not exactly half the price.

The worst thing with the flats around here is the economy 7 heating (or should I say electricity eating monster), and the damp in a flat that can't be 10 years old. In her studio she had gas heating which was fine - only issue being it was an extension above the owners garage and you could hear their teenage kids through the wall, but having said that it had a proper seperate kitchen and shower room and was only £550 per month ( I say only as a lot of studios round here are £600 - £650)

fluffymovie

Hi there

As long as your daughter is eligible (which it sounds like she is), she would be able to claim HB.

Best advice is to contact your local council and ask what the Local Housing Allowance rates are. Then you can work out, with your daughter, whether she can afford it or not.

If she is under 25, she would only be eligble for the shared room rate but if over 25, she is entitled to the 1 bed rate.

Good luck!