Firt time leaving home and on incapacity benefits! need help and advice

darren2010_2

Ok thanks firefox. One more questions when ringing too claim LHA do i ring my local coucil housing office ?

Fire_Fox

No idea, never claimed it! Surely it says on the council website?

darren2010_2

oh right lol. I will look further the website sucks

PasturesNew

You will need a few grand up front, to pay (potentially):
- agent referencing checks (say £100-200)
- deposit (up to 2 months' rent, so say £600)
- first month's rent up front (say £350)
- at least two more months' rent, until LHA paperwork is done and paying out (say £700)
- few quid for stuff you need/didn't think about

P.S. It's also a good idea to save these amounts again, ready for when you next want to move

lynzpower

Darren

If you dont mind my asking what is your incapacity? Is it an illness that needs care provided for example.

Given your circumstances you may well get your deposit or bond paid by the local authority or charity -indeed many landlords now dont take deposits or bonds on the lower cost accomodation.

Due to your disability maybe there will be extra support for you?

cashbackproblems

lynzpower wrote: »

Darren

If you dont mind my asking what is your incapacity? Is it an illness that needs care provided for example.

Given your circumstances you may well get your deposit or bond paid by the local authority or charity -indeed many landlords now dont take deposits or bonds on the lower cost accomodation.

Due to your disability maybe there will be extra support for you?

Is laziness now considered a medical condition??

Fly_Baby

darren2010 wrote: »

Thanks firefox. How much is council tax ? Is that payed monthly too or yearly. I looked at LHA rates and it is £80 for durham area per week and £90 per week for sunderland area

You are 27 and you don't know how much roughly is council tax in your area and how it is paid? Are you sure you are ready to live on your own?

Jowo_2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I would advise against getting your own flat on benefits, trust me it is very difficult to make ends meet without anyone to share the costs of council tax and winter fuel bills with.

I second Fire Fox. There are a couple of threads on the Discussion forum debating whether its possible for someone to live on a budget of £65 per week, the equivalent of JSA.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2405221

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2400449

The consensus is that it's virtually impossible for someone who is single who lives in their own self-contained property to manage this because there is no one to split essential bills with. It is considered totally impossible unless they have very advanced budgeting/household skills and can make do and mend, cook cheap fresh meals, not use public transport and so forth. Overall, the consensus is that it offers low quality of life and a sudden expense or change of circumstance can throw a person off their feet who has no savings to cope with it.

Read those threads and then produce your own budget based on realistic estimated expenses and income to understand that you may think you are on the road to independence but it could well be a financial struggle that can demoralise you and lead to debts.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning

Also, you have to think forward to when you are in employment to ensure you don't end up in a benefit trap where in the short-term, it feels like it isn't worth taking up employment because of the sudden withdrawal of benefits but in the long-term, worklessness does more damage. The majority of people claiming ESA have their claims rejected and are put onto JSA.

It's easy, I think, for someone to get used to having their rent paid by the state and then resent having to pay for it through earned income when they switch into employment. At the stage of benefits, the person has locked themselves into a property with relatively high rent which then becomes a burden when it has to be paid for through employment.

My nephew was !!!!-a-hoop at getting a council flat but often ends up scrounging from his relatives just to pay the electricity meter and when the goodwill ran out, can be found sitting in a dark, cold flat between benefit payments.

lynzpower

cashbackproblems wrote: »

Is laziness now considered a medical condition??

reported to abuse.

there are many disabilities that do not need specific adaptations.

There is no need for this attitude, please be nice to all money-savers.

pyueck

Set up a meeting with your local housing officer. You probably also need to go to the job centre and try and get housing allowance and see if there is a job suitable to your incapacities. Life is hard if you are planning a life on benefits.