LHA question

We_Are_The_Mods

Thanks in advance for any help.

It's looking likely that I will have to give up my house and rent privately. I see that LHA is based on how many bedrooms you need, most flats around here are two bed but being single with no dependants I obviously only need the one. Will I still qualify for LHA if I can only find a two bed flat? Also, will bankruptcy effect a LHA claim in anyway?

My brief situation is as follows;

Signed off on incapacity benefit for 12 months (12/08)
Currently get short term higher IB and council tax benefit
Waiting on a result for a DLA claim
no assets or savings

:beer:

socrates

We_Are_The_Mods wrote: »

Thanks in advance for any help.

It's looking likely that I will have to give up my house and rent privately. I see that LHA is based on how many bedrooms you need, most flats around here are two bed but being single with no dependants I obviously only need the one. Will I still qualify for LHA if I can only find a two bed flat? Also, will bankruptcy effect a LHA claim in anyway?

My brief situation is as follows;

Signed off on incapacity benefit for 12 months (12/08)
Currently get short term higher IB and council tax benefit
Waiting on a result for a DLA claim
no assets or savings

:beer:

You get given a weekly amount - if the LL is prepared to rent to you for that amount then you can live in whatever size property you want - any extra you pay for.

real1314

We_Are_The_Mods wrote: »

Thanks in advance for any help.

It's looking likely that I will have to give up my house and rent privately. I see that LHA is based on how many bedrooms you need, most flats around here are two bed but being single with no dependants I obviously only need the one. Will I still qualify for LHA if I can only find a two bed flat? Also, will bankruptcy effect a LHA claim in anyway?

My brief situation is as follows;

Signed off on incapacity benefit for 12 months (12/08)
Currently get short term higher IB and council tax benefit
Waiting on a result for a DLA claim
no assets or savings

:beer:

You'll get the LHA rate for a 1 bedroomed plaace (assuming you're over 25), if your rent is higher than that rate, you'd have to find the extra money, or negotiate your rent down.

Perr

If you ring your LHA tell them the postcode of the area you would like to live in,where flats are available,they will then tell you how much the H/B will be.

We_Are_The_Mods

thanks.

I was already aware that I would only qualify for a 1 bed allowance (which is £84 p/w here) but I was worried that the condition was you could only rent a 1 bed place to qualify, I have no problem paying towards any extra rent just worried that I wouldn't be able to find a suitable place to qualify for LHA.

Thanks for putting my mind at rest regards to that.

Another question, can anyone receiving LHA or has experience of it advise as to how long it takes for the benefit to come through after a claim? and also are they prompt with the weekly/monthly payments? I'd hate to fall behind with any rent and upset the LL or jeopardise the roof over my head.

thanks again.

CIS

you can check local LHA rates online - http://lha-direct.therentservice.gov.uk/ (it appear to be off-line for maintenance at the moment)

Another question, can anyone receiving LHA or has experience of it advise as to how long it takes for the benefit to come through after a claim? and also are they prompt with the weekly/monthly payments? I'd hate to fall behind with any rent and upset the LL or jeopardise the roof over my head.

It depends on the local authority, providing they have all the relevant info then they should calculate entitlement within 14 days but each LA has their own processing times.

socrates

We_Are_The_Mods wrote: »

thanks.

I was already aware that I would only qualify for a 1 bed allowance (which is £84 p/w here) but I was worried that the condition was you could only rent a 1 bed place to qualify, I have no problem paying towards any extra rent just worried that I wouldn't be able to find a suitable place to qualify for LHA.

Thanks for putting my mind at rest regards to that.

Another question, can anyone receiving LHA or has experience of it advise as to how long it takes for the benefit to come through after a claim? and also are they prompt with the weekly/monthly payments? I'd hate to fall behind with any rent and upset the LL or jeopardise the roof over my head.

thanks again.

I think one of the main things you will have to worry about is finding LL's that accept people on LHA - as the money now goes directly to the tenant (in 90% of cases) a lot of LL's are very wary.

Your Local Auth will probably have a list of properties that will accept LHA claimants.

Alternatively (if you can) - get together a months deposit and a months rent in advance - as LL myself any LHA claimant coming along to me with both of those would be immediately acceptable.

Another way is your Local Authority will probably run a Rent Deposit Scheme - they will provide the LL with a months deposit (in the form of a certificate) and a months rent in advance. They will arrange appointments for you to view available properties.

hippy-chicy

We_Are_The_Mods wrote: »

thanks.

I was already aware that I would only qualify for a 1 bed allowance (which is £84 p/w here) but I was worried that the condition was you could only rent a 1 bed place to qualify, I have no problem paying towards any extra rent just worried that I wouldn't be able to find a suitable place to qualify for LHA.

Thanks for putting my mind at rest regards to that.

Another question, can anyone receiving LHA or has experience of it advise as to how long it takes for the benefit to come through after a claim? and also are they prompt with the weekly/monthly payments? I'd hate to fall behind with any rent and upset the LL or jeopardise the roof over my head.

thanks again.

The ideal processing time a new claim is within 28 days (for us) although each LA is different. We are in a backlog situation at the moment so its taking at least 6 weeks. The only bit of advise i can give you is when you make you claim make sure all the info/ evidence is there with the claim. That was when the assessor looks at the claim they will be able to assess it then rather than writing / contacting you via phone to get further info which means more delays.

Payments made to the customer are two weekly in arrears, when made to landlords they are 4 weekly in arrears.

Hope that helps.

We_Are_The_Mods

socrates wrote: »

Alternatively (if you can) - get together a months deposit and a months rent in advance - as LL myself any LHA claimant coming along to me with both of those would be immediately acceptable.

That's good to hear, I should be able to put aside enough for a deposit and 3 months rent to allow for any delay in the LHA claim, hopefully that should stand me in good stead. I've also had a mortgage for the past 5 years without any problems, hopefully that will also back me up slightly.

It's a shame that the problems of a lot of HB claimants tar us all with the same brush and puts LL's off renting to any of us.

Is a clean credit history a must also? I have no CCJs or anything but obviously have debts that I've defaulted on which I'm paying with token payments.

netgear11

socrates wrote: »

I think one of the main things you will have to worry about is finding LL's that accept people on LHA - as the money now goes directly to the tenant (in 90% of cases) a lot of LL's are very wary.

Your Local Auth will probably have a list of properties that will accept LHA claimants.

Alternatively (if you can) - get together a months deposit and a months rent in advance - as LL myself any LHA claimant coming along to me with both of those would be immediately acceptable.

Another way is your Local Authority will probably run a Rent Deposit Scheme - they will provide the LL with a months deposit (in the form of a certificate) and a months rent in advance. They will arrange appointments for you to view available properties.

This is the problem you see. I have enough for the first and last months rent and still, I face problems with regards to salary information, pay slips etc. I have excellent credit rating etc, just keep tripping up on LL's/LA's requesting salary and pay slip info..

socrates

netgear11 wrote: »

This is the problem you see. I have enough for the first and last months rent and still, I face problems with regards to salary information, pay slips etc. I have excellent credit rating etc, just keep tripping up on LL's/LA's requesting salary and pay slip info..

I think you need to expand on this a bit - too vague....