Am I entitled to help with rent? How do I claim it?

Apolonation

I lost my job about 2 months ago, on and off for the past year because things have been so bad I have lived with friends or family. This can not go on indefinately and I have been reading here about LHA and am wondering if it applies to me.

I'm 27 and have never rented from a council property before the last property I rented was a room in a house for about a year, - about a year ago.

I went to a website that I saw from an earlier post on these boards here:
https://lha-direct.therentservice.gov.uk/Secure/Default.aspx

I have a couple of questions if someone could help answers them please.

(i'm currently claiming contribution based JSA and living either with friends or at my parents - also in case it affects anything, I have no savings, own no property... and have no assets, actually... i'm about to go bankrupt)

Q1.Can I claim LHA? If so as I'm single and over 25, how much am I entitled to? I see that the amounts vary according to the district you chose - is there any rule which says you must apply at one council over another?

Q2. There are two rates listed for single people >25 one is for shared facilities and one is for a single bed self containted property. Does the one you claim just depend on what property you rent? Or are you restricted to renting either one type of property of the other? The reason I ask is the self contained amount is about double the shared facilities amount.

Q3. Will they need proof of where I'm currently living and if so what will count as proof? I have no paperwork from last year when I was renting, and as I say for the last approx 10 months - I have been with friends or family while in financial difficulty so have not been paying any money to council or landlords etc.

Q4. Do you have to have a place in mind before you attempt to claim, or can you get the 'ok' before you search for a place, and waste your time?

Q5. any other advice you can give greatly appreciated this is all very new to me first time I've ever claimed anything from the govmt. was when I claimed JSA 2 months ago.

thanks for your help

cw18

1. You would have to apply to the council who cover the area where the property is.

2. If you have a choice of properties, then the amount you would be entitled to depends purely on which property type it is you rent.

3 & 4. You can't claim LHA until you actually have a property as it depends on the property.

5. As to whether you'd actually qualify or not, that's hard to say. Contributions based JSA isn't means tested, but LHA is. Normally you need to be in receipt of something like Income Support before you can ge LHA -- but I'm sure someone else will be along with a more specific answer to this.

Eager_Elephant

Can I point out that cw18 is wrong with her answer to Point 5.

Anyone can apply for LHA no matter what their income, whether they would receive any is another matter.

If the OP receives only £60.50 per week JSA (c) then she will get full LHA based on whichever room rate they fit in to.

EE

cw18

I did leave myself open to be corrected on that one......

Apolonation

Just so I've understood this right, I need to be living somewhere and paying rent before I can apply for LHA? If that's the case I'm not sure this will be much use to me.

Is there anything that helps people that can't currently afford the initial deposit/first months rent?

Thanks again for the advice

cw18

yep, as best I understand the system you have to have a rent book before applying -- mainly 'cos they need your actual rent payment before they can process your claim. The figures the system gives to show what they pay is a maximum -- so if your rent is lower they will only pay up to your actual rent.

not sure whether you could get a crisis loan to cover the deposit etc.

suelees1

Crisis Loans can cover rent in advance.

Some LAs administer a rent deposit scheme. I've attached a link to Shelter's website but the first point of contact would be the LA where you'd be renting a property.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits/bond_schemes

Alleycat

You can put in a claim for LHA before you move in, but you would have to have signed up to a tenancy to do so. The LHA won't become payable until the tenancy starts and you move in.

So, you find a property that is below the max LHA for the area it is in and bedroom size (i.e. shared flat, studio, one bedroom flat). Sign the tenancy agreement to start in 3 weeks time. Straight away submit a claim for LHA with proof of your liability to pay rent (i.e. the tenancy agreement) and other proofs. Move in on the start date of the tenancy and hopefully your claim will have been processed by this time and you can pay your landlord.

Just to note that LHA is usually paid in arrears, so you would need to have the deposit and first month's rent handy to pay in advance.

I was under the impression that Crisis Loans were not payable for rent in advance. You could apply for a budgetting loan but would need to specify that it is for moving costs rather than actual rent in advance or a deposit. Not lying but not being too specific.

suelees1

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/paying_for_a_home/grants_and_loans/crisis_loans

You can apply for budgeting loan as well but CLs are usually quicker to process but in this case Apolonation wouldn't be entitled to a BL as they would have to have been in receipt of JSA(IB) or IS for 26 weeks