To start claiming LHA or to pay mortgage

tobegood

I cannot decide and needs some urgent advice. My situation is as such

Couple with 5 kids
Bought a house 25% shared ownership with Housing Association 2 years ago
Currently paying £400 monthly rent and also mortgage £320
Only one adult works part time with a monthly salary of around £1100
Tried claiming Housing Benefit 2 years ago but as they calculated our income, and the outgoings, the applicable amount was higher and 65% out of it was not enough to offset the weekly rent amount, THerefore Housing benefit award was zero.

Now my two older kids are 17 and 16 to be, I tried to calculate how many bedrooms we may be entitled under the LHA, and saw that we are eligible for 5 bedrooms LHA. However as we are paying social housing and low rent, we cannot hope to enjoy this LHA.

Therefore I am now contemplating selling our share and move to private housing and start claiming the 5 bedrooms LHA which is a good amount of £200+

BUT I AM WORRIED ABOUT:

As both elder kids will be going to university in 2-3 years, will we still be eligible for a 5 bedroom LHA then.

Also is there any other complications involved if I follow my plan of selling the 25% share and start renting private.

IS this advisable? Is it a good idea? Will I get the LHA easily?

[Deleted User]

I see at least one flaw in your plan to fleece the taxpayer,the cash you get for sellong your share will probably mean you have too much capital to claim lha
well hopefully anyway.

dmg24

How are you going to explain to your children having to move house every six months due to not having the security of your own property?

Indie_Kid

How would 5 kids give you 5 rooms? Aren't single-sex children expected to share rooms?

Jowo_2

sh1305 wrote: »

How would 5 kids give you 5 rooms? Aren't single-sex children expected to share rooms?

Out of curiosity, I put in random off the cuff selection of different ages and sexes of the children in the LHA direct website, sure enough, it gave a 5 bedroom entitlement....

tobegood

Woodbine: My plan is not to "fleece the taxpayer" but we are really struggling every month to pay rent and mortgage without any help

And as property price has dropped, we are not expecting to make any profit yet.

As I have 16+ kids of different sexes, therefore bedroom entitlement is higher

Thanks

karenx

But when they leave home you will no longer be entitled to 5 bedroom rate and you could find it drops down to 3 or even 2 and then your LHA rate will drop and you will have to make up the shortfall
Also with renting you have the upfront cost of a deposit and first months rent. And quite possibly the second months rent if the LHA hasnt gone through yet.

tobegood

Can anybody let me know up to what age can kids stay home and counted as number of children in the family for the purpose of LHA.

Macro_3

tobegood wrote: »

Can anybody let me know up to what age can kids stay home and counted as number of children in the family for the purpose of LHA.

Generally, they will be counted as children (ie dependents) for as long as you receive child benefit for them. After this they are non-dependents. They are entitled to their own room as non-dependents so you would retain the 5-bedroom rate for as long as they remain at home. However, there would no longer be an allowance for them in your applicable amount, and a deduction may well be taken for them depending on what their circumstances/income is - that could be anything up to £47.75/week per non-dependent for LHA and £6.95 for council tax.

[Deleted User]

tobegood wrote: »

Woodbine: My plan is not to "fleece the taxpayer" but we are really struggling every month to pay rent and mortgage without any help

And as property price has dropped, we are not expecting to make any profit yet.

As I have 16+ kids of different sexes, therefore bedroom entitlement is higher

Thanks

You have more than 16 children? WOW
anyway its a fact that many people are really struggling