Housing allowance granted..but less than my rent..what next?!!?

dmg24

sadken,

You have been given good advice here, you do need to adjust your lifestyle to fit your new income. For many people, this does mean moving house or moving back to your parents.

The situation of the person who has never worked is irrelevant, even if their benefits were taken away, this would not help you at all.

My advice would be to focus on finding ways to get back to work (and good luck with that), and stop shooting the messenger? People are trying to help.

Auzelia

sadly times are hard for the job market atm.
Though I am sure there are jobs out there, the question is "Do you want to do it?"
If you are that desperate to stay where you are and dont want to move to "Student land" then it seems that you may well just have to take any job that comes along.
Other than that you will just have to bite the bullet and move!

Harsh but realistic!

McKneff

your 8 years or so redundancy pay must give you some sort of leeway in the short term hopefully you will find a job before it runs out.

tsstss7

OP I know it seems unfair but there is no way you can increase this maximum award as that is what has been decided by your Local Authority to be the appropriate amount for a single person over 25. The three things I think you can do are

1. make a claim for discretionary payment (as outlined above) I think this is called something like a "hardship" payment ask your housing benefit officer about this as this is the kind of situation it is there for. There is no guarentee you will get anything though but it is worth trying.

2. Put in an application for council accomodation based on the unsuitablity of your current accomodation (due to the price) you may not get a place but again this is worth trying.

3. Do what you suggested and negotiate a reduction of rent with your landlord - best option in my book as your landlord gets to keep a good tenant and you get to save the hassle of moving but will he/she go for it? If you are a super negotiator and can get themdown BELOW LHA levels then you get to keep up to £15.00 per week of the difference so there is a good reason to try this option for that too!

Bear in mind also that should you get a job that is for example low waged or part time the LHA levels are still used to calculate any help due so if you find yourself unable to find a suitable position for a while it may be better to find cheaper accomodation now while you are still in a position financially to move - once you have spent your savings moving is even more hassle...if not impossible.

sadken

tsstss7 wrote: »

OP I know it seems unfair but there is no way you can increase this maximum award as that is what has been decided by your Local Authority to be the appropriate amount for a single person over 25. The three things I think you can do are

1. make a claim for discretionary payment (as outlined above) I think this is called something like a "hardship" payment ask your housing benefit officer about this as this is the kind of situation it is there for. There is no guarentee you will get anything though but it is worth trying.

2. Put in an application for council accomodation based on the unsuitablity of your current accomodation (due to the price) you may not get a place but again this is worth trying.

3. Do what you suggested and negotiate a reduction of rent with your landlord - best option in my book as your landlord gets to keep a good tenant and you get to save the hassle of moving but will he/she go for it? If you are a super negotiator and can get themdown BELOW LHA levels then you get to keep up to £15.00 per week of the difference so there is a good reason to try this option for that too!

Bear in mind also that should you get a job that is for example low waged or part time the LHA levels are still used to calculate any help due so if you find yourself unable to find a suitable position for a while it may be better to find cheaper accomodation now while you are still in a position financially to move - once you have spent your savings moving is even more hassle...if not impossible.

If this had been the 1st reply, the thread would have ended there.
Thanks a lot, I will try what you have suggested.

dmg24

Is your landlord aware that you are claiming LHA? If not, he may not be insured to have you as a tenant. I would try to clarify this before approaching him, or you may end up with an eviction notice.

(You will also note that most of the options given by tsstss7 have been given by others.)

cw18

dmg24 wrote: »

Is your landlord aware that you are claiming LHA? If not, he may not be insured to have you as a tenant.

I'm aware a lot of landlords won't accept tentants on HB or LHA, but I've never heard insurance used as a reason before

Surely a tenant is a tenant -- regardless of whether or not the tentant is paying the rent from salary/capital or benefits?

Oldernotwiser

cw18 wrote: »

I'm aware a lot of landlords won't accept tentants on HB or LHA, but I've never heard insurance used as a reason before

Surely a tenant is a tenant -- regardless of whether or not the tentant is paying the rent from salary/capital or benefits?

The insurance available for landlords often has a clause that forbids letting to someone on benefits.

healy

anniehanlon wrote: »

your 8 years or so redundancy pay must give you some sort of leeway in the short term hopefully you will find a job before it runs out.

I dont mean to kick someone when they are down but generally dont people think that it may be a good idea to save some money whilst working for these sort of situations? I understand some people may not be able to save but I am sure many could.

cw18

The "problem" with saving is that it then counts against you, and you don't qualify for means tested benefits until you've spent enough (at fairly restrictive rates) until you've eaten into a fair chunk of it......

Personally I think saving should be encouraged (and I'm one who's been guilty of not doing, but am now turning myself around and trying to help my DD do the same), but I can understand people who think "why bother". It must be depressing to see people enjoying a better lifestyle while the money is coming in, only to find you both have the same amount to spend each week when the chips are down -- with yours coming from your savings, and theirs coming from the state.

(Apologies for going OT -- not intending to start a debate on the rights and wrongs of the benefits system)