Housing Benefit and Council tax benefit question

layanna_jade

Hi all,

I'm currently on Cont based JSA (about to start claim for ESA due to my ME). My partner is starting work on Monday on a full time temp contract earning £6.75 per hour. Between us we have approx £15k in savings.

We live in a house with two other people (joint tenancy with all four names on the contract).

My questions are:

a, am I entitled to claim housing benefit and council tax benefit?
b, how does this work when in a joint tenancy with two unrelated people? Tried to complete a form online but confused.

Thanks for the help

GlasweJen

LHA is assessed on income and savings, as you have savings over £6,000 but less than £16,000 you will lose a fair whack of your entitlement. Coupled with an income from your partner and the fact that you're in a flat share situation it may be more difficulty than it's worth to claim LHA at this point.

Jowo_2

You can find out the LHA rate for your age and area on the LHA direct website.

Then you can put you and your partner's details into the Entitled to website which will calculate any benefits.

As per the previous poster, your partner's income and savings will be taken into account.

fluffymovie

Just to say that as a joint tenant, you would only get the lHA rate for shared accommodation which combined with your income and savings, means that it is highly unlikely that you would qualify