Housing benefit full payment

fluffymovie

LHA applies to all news claims that are made after 7 April 2008 or changes of address but if your parents have been living in the accomodation and have remained on benefit prior to this, they will be on the old scheme of Housing benefit. If they have been there for years and years, they would come under the even older scheme of registered rents.

Under the old scheme, the Rent Service who are now part of the valuation office will give the LA a Claim Related Rent which is the rent that is average for that property in that area.

If the rent is more than the claim related rent, they will not get full HB.

In some cases, it is beneficial to withdraw your claim for 1 week, take a hit in the benefit that isn't paid for that week and then claim LHA as the amounts can be higher.

As they are on pension credit, they could apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment as outlined earlier.

Could it be that their rent includes an amount for a service that Hb doesn' cover such as water rates?

If they are struggling, might help to put them in touch with Age Concern or CAB

brunettegirl

UnemployedAndLovingIt wrote: »

How on earth do they get such a riidiculously cheap rent?? :O

They live in yorkshire :T - although I don''t think they think its cheap. I think for what they rent they have a good deal too, the garden is huge, I love it. But they just don't have the funds for it.

brunettegirl

fluffymovie wrote: »

LHA applies to all news claims that are made after 7 April 2008 or changes of address but if your parents have been living in the accomodation and have remained on benefit prior to this, they will be on the old scheme of Housing benefit. If they have been there for years and years, they would come under the even older scheme of registered rents.

Their local council does not yet use LHA it is still on the old style HB, they have lived there 3 years, they had a rent evaluation from North yorkshire Council and were told they should be getting more, but that the borough they are under only have to use the evaluation as a suggestion if you like - they put up benefit by 20p a month - i think my parents were insulted really.

Under the old scheme, the Rent Service who are now part of the valuation office will give the LA a Claim Related Rent which is the rent that is average for that property in that area.

If the rent is more than the claim related rent, they will not get full HB.
£400 is cheap for the area they live in really.

In some cases, it is beneficial to withdraw your claim for 1 week, take a hit in the benefit that isn't paid for that week and then claim LHA as the amounts can be higher.

As they are on pension credit, they could apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment as outlined earlier.

thanks will look into this

Could it be that their rent includes an amount for a service that Hb doesn' cover such as water rates?

rent is just for rent no other services included

If they are struggling, might help to put them in touch with Age Concern or CAB

Problem is getting dad to go - he is a stubborn and a bit of an ostrich!

brunettegirl

As they are on pension credit, they could apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment as outlined earlier. - this has to be paid back.

fluffymovie

Hi Brunettegirl

Just to confirm that LHA is nationwide since 07.04.08 - Councils don't have a choice in this so if they aren't on LHA themselves, others will be.

Having done a search on Google, it looks like there are a few district councils which cover North Yorkshire but for example, Craven, I found these pages on LHA.

http://www.cravendc.gov.uk/Craven/Residents/Benefits/Local+Housing+Allowance/

Although £400 may be cheap, the rent officer may say that for a 1 bedroom proerty (which is what your parents require for HB purposes) it is too high and so it has been restrcited.

From my very quick look at a website in the area, the 1 bedroom rate for the East Lancs area is £82.85 per week which works out as £359.02 per month. As the rent officer gets the amounts from the same sources, this would explain why the amount may not be full HB

Also, I administer DHP's and the money does not have to be paid back. It is paid to those experiencing exceptional hardship and would be unfair to ask for this money back.

brunettegirl

Thanks Fluffymovie - my parents said they looked into the discrentionary payment and where told it had to be paid back.... im assuming that this wouldn't be given if they wanted to use it as a bond to find a cheaper house?

karenx

No thats not what it is there for, its to help in financial hardship for paying for something like rent. For a deposit some councils offer a rent deposit scheme where they will pay your deposit and you pay them back weekly from your benefit, usually £10 per week. But they will still need a months rent up front in addition to this. So really they will be in the same position they are in now if they got a deposit scheme as they will be having to pay £40 a month out their benefits compared to the £50 it is now.

silvercar

Have you allowed for rent being paid monthly and HB 4 weekly? That can make a difference to your calculations.

It is a shame that your parents risk losing the home they love for £30 a month. Is there any way you or they could get some extra income? I'm thinking of car booting or ebaying, surveys, market research etc.

brunettegirl

silvercar wrote: »

Have you allowed for rent being paid monthly and HB 4 weekly? That can make a difference to your calculations.

It is a shame that your parents risk losing the home they love for £30 a month. Is there any way you or they could get some extra income? I'm thinking of car booting or ebaying, surveys, market research etc.

Unfortunately it is not that simple dad has debts of 20k he is dealing with, so there income is not great - i was just hoping that the housing issue could be solved to help out with them struggling.

Im not in a position to help, I've just started maternity leave, my first child on the way and a mortgage to pay, plus my own debts that im paying off. Aside from which Dad doesn't know that mum has told me anything and he would be mortified.