Would I be entitled to anything?

HurdyGurdy

It has always been my intention, for various reasons that I don't think I need to go into here, to leave my husband once my youngest child turned 18. That happened this month. He is at college now, and will be going to university later in the year. My eldest child has left home and the middle one is working, but living at home.

However, I lost my job at the end of November and (so far) have not found anything else.

Until I lost my job, I was looking around for a flat/studio to rent and making other plans.

Obviously I can't do anything about renting as I am only getting £64-odd JSA - and that will only be for a limited time.

My friends have a large house, with a "granny annexe" which they are happy for me to move into, either long or short term, so I do still have somewhere to go.

However, I couldn't expect them to support me. They live in a fairly isolated location, with no public transport, so even just to continue signing on or going for interviews, I would need money to at least use taxis, if not to keep my own car on the road.

So, under the circumstances, as a married woman, if I did leave, would I be entitled to claim any benefits until I find another job? Would the fact that I move in with friends, albeit in a self contained part of their home, mean I would not be eligible for any help with housing/living costs?

Or will I be expected to ride it out here, as my husband has a healthy income (but lots of debt) and can support me.

I am not leaving him due to any form of violence or abuse. He's not a bad bloke - I just don't want to be with him any more (as I said, for various reasons, which I don't think I need to go into here).

GlasweJen

You can only get housing allowance on commercial tenancies, you would need to provide a tenancy agreement from your friend and they would need to treat you like any other renter (i.e. take market rate rent off of you). If they went down this route they would have to make sure that their mortgage provider knew they were renting out because if they didn't this could invalidate the insurance.

Your JSA is there to cover the costs associated with job seeking and so you wont get any more help regardless of where you live, you will be able to move onto income based job seeker when you get to 6 months though if your husband is no longer supporting you though you may be asked to prove that you are separated.

Oldernotwiser

GlasweJen wrote: »

You can only get housing allowance on commercial tenancies, you would need to provide a tenancy agreement from your friend and they would need to treat you like any other renter (i.e. take market rate rent off of you). If they went down this route they would have to make sure that their mortgage provider knew they were renting out because if they didn't this could invalidate the insurance.
.

And they're likely to have to pay tax on any rent you pay, unless it comes under the "Rent a Room" scheme, which looks unlikely.