lha reduced by £10 a week advice please

[Deleted User]

hello there
i moved into my private rent house in feb this year.
it is £800 a month and 10 miles from my job
as i have a low income and no guarantor , my only option was to take out a loan and pay 6 months rent in advance.
i took a gamble and worked out that i could pay most of it in the first 6 months using my lha payments until the first rent is due
however now my council have written to me saying they used the wrong bedroom rate to work out my lha and are now reducing it by £10 a week !!!!
i don't understand how they can do this ?

my problem is i am now in a position where i can't afford to get to my job every day.
financially i am screwed and was so much better off on income support

i know benefits are not a lifestyle choice but i am just so fed up that i work so hard effectively for nothing

sorry i don't know what advice anyone can give me really , i moved here to be near the college for my son and to get a better primary school for the little ones ,and it has backfired

karenx

You could appeal the desicion but I dont know how far it will get you?
It could be worse, its only £40 a month which isnt alot.

bestpud

I'd have thought, assuming it was their error, that you could request a discretionary payments until your current tenancy is up for renewal...

I would certainly try anyway.

Amistoso_2

sorry OP I might be missing something, but won't you need to keep working in order to pay off your loan?

Indie_Kid

karenx wrote: »

You could appeal the desicion but I dont know how far it will get you?
It could be worse, its only £40 a month which isnt alot.

It's £520 a year. For some people, that IS a lot.

karenx

So what would the OP of done if was told that amount in the first place? Said she couldnt afford it?

zzzLazyDaisy

Get an application form for discretionary payments from your local council. Fill it in and explain what has happened and the effect it is having on you and your children.

The council has a discretion to make extra payments up to £50 a week. Hopefully, given your circumstances, they will agree to make the top-up, at least until the first six months is up and you can consider moving again to somewhere cheaper.

bestpud

karenx wrote: »

So what would the OP of done if was told that amount in the first place? Said she couldnt afford it?

My understanding is she took the house in the knowledge she could afford it with the LHA payments so, yes, she'd have made a different decision if she'd known otherwise...