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

Oldernotwiser

sadken wrote: »

Yeah, right..just move house..i'll tell you what i'll do it tomorrow after brekkers!
It's hardly cost cutting, having to move house..it is a major upheaval and really difficult to get somewhere that isn't in a high crime area for a measly £85 a week rent that accepts people on benefits.
.

I'm sorry you don't like my advice and hope that you find a job soon and don't have to move. However, it's not that difficult for a single person, who's only lived away from the family home for a couple of years and who can drive, to find and move into somewhere smaller/cheaper/shared or whatever it takes to come within budget. Unless you get a job soon or get some money from selling something, then that's what you'll have to do, like everyone else in your circumstances.

KimYeovil

Ignore the grumps. There's no need to move. It's only £45 off £262.

You're actually in a better position than many - contrary to what the grumps are saying, lots of people are forced out of cheaper shared accommodation into more expensive solo flats when they are temporarily out of work. Once I rented two rooms for £280 when I had a job and shared the council tax with five others. When I was between jobs I was refused housing for the two rooms so had to move into a one bedroom flat that cost £400. So instead of paying £280 plus one-sixth council/water the tax payer ended up paying £400 plus six-sixths council/water - £234 per month extra!

dmg24

KimYeovil wrote: »

Ignore the grumps. There's no need to move. It's only £45 off £262.

You're actually in a better position than many - contrary to what the grumps are saying, lots of people are forced out of cheaper shared accommodation into more expensive solo flats when they are temporarily out of work. Once I rented two rooms for £280 when I had a job and shared the council tax with five others. When I was between jobs I was refused housing for the two rooms so had to move into a one bedroom flat that cost £400. So instead of paying £280 plus one-sixth council/water the tax payer ended up paying £400 plus six-sixths council/water - £234 per month extra!

I find your post the most grumpy of the whole thread!

real1314

OP:

Contact the council and ask them why they have not allowed you the 13 weeks HB / LHA that you can have at full rent as you have been paying your rent in full yourself without claiming HB / LHA in the past 52 weeks.

It's often overlooked, and will at least help you for the first 3 months. It was in the LHA regs from April 08 and was in the old HB regs.

Point 18 here:- http://www.dwp.gov.uk/housingbenefit/claims-processing/lha/products/LHA-national-landlord-QA.pdf

You could even print the linked page out and give the council a copy.

fizzel81

ive not read all replys but thats how it is

i moved in to private rent earlier this year after spliiting from my husband and haveing 28 days via courts to leave an army house

my rent is £725 a month and lha only covers £676 a month we have a 3 bed house and there is 4 of us (myself and 3 children) we have to pay the shortfull of £49 every month not a huge amount but it has to be paid, the lady before me living here left the house as she couldnt pay the £49 out of her benifits (my landlady lets the house via the council so take hb etc)

awful but its the way it is iykwim

LizzieS_2

Unfortunately unemployment benefits are not intended to cover unexpected claimants from those who paid tax/NI - it seems more based on helping those who know how to play the system for years, without adding any long-term extras from certain categories who didn't expect to become unemployed.

Afraid your best bet in the current climate is to move back in with your parents.

silvercar

sadken wrote: »

Hi there fellow moneysavers and thanks for taking the time to read this thread.
I was recently made redundant from my job of 8 years.
I have been living in my privately rented flat for 18 months and have been paying £415 PCM for rent.
I went through the hassle of applying for housing allowance/housing benefit and got a letter today saying they are giving me £85 a week which is the maximum allowance here in Swansea.
Surely they don't expect me to make up the £95 a month shortfall out of my £242 a month jobseekers allowance?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated and apologies in advance if this post is in the wrong place.

Sorry you've lost your job. Hopefully you will find another one soon and will be able to pay the rent. Did you receive a redundancy payment? You could put this aside to make up the rent shortfall.

If you do fall behind with your rent the first thing to do is contact your landlord and explain the situation. Unless you have the money to pay the rent until the housing benefit claim is sorted, you will need to warn your landlord that the rent may be late next month.

I hope you have an understanding landlord. In case you don't the legal position is that if you are in the fixed term of an AST, he cannot evict you until you are 2 months in arrears. (This actually means that if you are one month in arrears and don't pay something of the next month's rent on the day it is due you would be 2 months in arrears on that day.) If he moves to evict for rent arrears, a court will only grant eviction if you are 2 months in arrears on the day he serves notice and the day it goes to court.

So if you sort out the HB claim and are short on the top-ips it could be 8 months before the arrears are large enough for the court to grant eviction.

If your tenancy is periodic ie the fixed period has passed and the tenancy has rolled-on, rather than a new fixed term being issued, the landlord can give you 2 months notice to end at the end of a rent period without a reason.

For this reason it is important to keep the landlord informed.

Fran

sadken wrote: »

...paying £415 PCM for rent.
...they are giving me £85 a week... £95 a month shortfall out of my £242 a month jobseekers allowance?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated and apologies in advance if this post is in the wrong place.

Hi sadken,

The good news is your maths is wrong and you are not in as bad a position as you thought.

£85 per week x 52 (to get yearly amount) divided by 12 (to get monthly amount) is £368.33.

£415.00 - £368.33 = £46.67 shortfall per calendar month.

£46.67 x 12 and divided by 52 gives a £10.77 shortfall per week..

Good luck with the Discretionary Housing Payment, that would help too, I think it's limited time only though up to six months (check when you apply).

You should also look at any Council Tax Benefit you have applied for as there might be a shortfall there too.

I really hope you don't have to move. People moving all over the place all the time is bound to cause instability in communites apart from the cost!

KimYeovil

Fran. You missed post #3?

And both of you missed out day 365. Which is an extra reduction to the shortfall of 85/7/12 or £1.01 per month.

astonsmummy

cifpower wrote: »

Do Discretionary Housing Payments still exist? If so you could appy for a top up but don't expect to get more than £5 or £10 a week

But are they not only for tennants of partial HB?
Thats what I was told.