short of rent

biscuit_girl

hello. any helpfull suggestions would be welcome
2 years ago i took on a 3 year tenancy, ive 2 children 17 and 12. its a 3 bed house and i got a deal at the time with my rent as i spent 2k doing it up for the landlord<well myself as it was a dump> i moved here when my husband left and i had to sell the house.12 months ago my eldest became sick.and has scince been diagnosed with pychosis. she has spent 10 months in a mental hospital, with all the stress i had a breakdown, im still recovering,with the help of my new partner who gave up his own home to look after me and keep myself out of hospital , my daughter has been offered a place in a sheltered flat, as i cannot cope with her illness and its effecting my youngest also.ive managed to change my work contract as i was not there for 3 months with my breakdown and now work less hours, but still recieve the same amount of working tax, however 2 years ago i of course could not have forseen this happening and expected my daughter to either be in work, or at college, which of course would have not effected where i live. however with the way things are now with my daughter moving out im 80 a month short on the rent as my working tax has been lowered, and no child ben ect.my partner is from suffolk and gave his home up to look after me during my breakdown, he had a council house as he has a son, but his son was not working and obviously could not afford the rent, so his son moved in with his nan<as son wont get a job>so we are now in a right old pickle,im £80.00 a month short on rent. have 18months of contract left. however with a pause break in september,i have no family. so no guarantor for a future property. i haveo ne down at the moment, which was my ex husband, but he ran off over a year ago and i hardly think they will recover the diff from him.as i was a homeowner i have no reference available neither for a upcoming landlord, i called my local council who said we can contact either essex council or suffolk as he was a resident there for 10years,and they sent me a load of agents who except housing benefit, however its either a guarentor or reference, and once im paying less rent im sure my landlord wont give me a reference!.so im in a mess, with one child stuck at nans in suffolk.<whos now gone and got a job> typical!>one going into sheltered, and ina pickle., any advice?

Fire_Fox

Have you applied for LHA to help pay your rent? You should not be £80 a month short on the rent, that implies you are prioritising other bills over your rent!! According to all the debt charities priority bills are rent/ mortgage, council tax and food: if you are evicted for non-payment of rent then the council have no duty to house you. Any non-essential outgoings will need to be trimmed, any creditors (debts) should be offered £1 a month token payments: there are template letters on the Debt-free Wannabe board. If you complete a Statement of Affairs and post on that board they will advise where you should be making cutbacks:
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

biscuit_girl

i already receive LHA, for a 3 bedroom house. but as my daughter is going into sheltered im only allowed a 2bedroom house. sorry i left such a long message , without explaining that. hence this is my problem. i do pay all my bills and never been in debt, and break down my bills weekly to manage my money

pingu2209

Put a SOA on the site so others can see where you can trim things to find the £80/month.

biscuit_girl

pingu2209 wrote: »

Put a SOA on the site so others can see where you can trim things to find the £80/month.

trust me ive trimmed, i will be leaving myself very little . is that something i can take to the council and show them?

Fire_Fox

biscuit_girl wrote: »

i already receive LHA, for a 3 bedroom house. but as my daughter is going into sheltered im only allowed a 2bedroom house. sorry i left such a long message , without explaining that. hence this is my problem. i do pay all my bills and never been in debt, and break down my bills weekly to manage my money

I am sorry to read about your family troubles but I am approaching this from a purely practical point of view. As stated your rent is a priority bill, so either you will need to find the £80 a month from your remaining income or you should look to downsize ASAP. If you live in a smaller house some of your bills will reduce- heating and council tax for example.

I would be thinking about how you can legitimately increase your income - matched betting (see the Gambling Loopholes board), take in a lodger if your landlord will allow, surveys and focus groups, a part time job, comping and freebies. Obviously be careful that you declare any income to the DWP and IR: I believe the proceeds of betting and competition prizes are not classed as taxable income, and some surveys or focus groups the money is a thank you NOT a payment. PLEASE check this out before going ahead tho.

Secondly look to reduce your outgoings - Weezl74 has a thread about how to feed a family of four healthily on £100 a month, this means cutting out a lot of meat and snack foods. Also there is the 'Live on £4K for a year' thread: this is for an entire family after rent and council tax are paid. I have never seen a Statement of Affairs that the DFW board has not been able to trim.

Good luck!

biscuit_girl

i currently already work. so will not be able to increase my income,unless i can earn more than 500pw to get over the tax credit line.<no not possible for me>if i downsize now i will be breaking my contract,<pause break is not untill september and i have to give 2 months notice.i have no guarentor. or reference. and obviously i want the practical view not the personal. i just had to explain everything to save me from being beaten around the head with my own post

sp1987

If I was you I'd post a SOA on the debt free wannabe board. There are hundreds of them on there that can shave a few pounds off your outgoings. Doesn't hurt to give it a go.

Have you contacted the council to see if there is any run on of the 3 bedroom payment/discretionary payments you can get as obviously you could afford your rent prior to your daughter needing to move and you are locked into an agreement? Even if they only agreed to it for a few months it all helps.

If you have any debts make sure you sort out paying £1 a month/token payments to each to preserve the money you have for essential living costs.

biscuit_girl

sp1987 wrote: »

If I was you I'd post a SOA on the debt free wannabe board. There are hundreds of them on there that can shave a few pounds off your outgoings. Doesn't hurt to give it a go.

Have you contacted the council to see if there is any run on of the 3 bedroom payment/discretionary payments you can get as obviously you could afford your rent prior to your daughter needing to move and you are locked into an agreement? Even if they only agreed to it for a few months it all helps.

If you have any debts make sure you sort out paying £1 a month/token payments to each to preserve the money you have for essential living costs.

they said about they could help for a short period of time, but obviously im also trying to look at the long term .thanks x

sp1987

biscuit_girl wrote: »

they said about they could help for a short period of time, but obviously im also trying to look at the long term .thanks x

Oh certainly...but to be able to have a few months to look at and consider options is good news.

Have you applied to be put on your local council/housing associations waiting lists? I appreciate in some areas the lists are stupidly long, but some aren't quite as long. You seem to need cheaper housing or to boost your income...is your partner able to work too? If he isn't, is he claiming anything that he is entitled to?

Best of luck

biscuit_girl

no he gave up his job to come and look after me, we are claiming working tax and im the main applicant. we are claiming all we are intitled too. he is not claiming. it worked out no different than claiming working tax as they just take off one thing for the other.we are on the suffolk list, and no way will we get housed as its only for homeless people. ive also reg with my local council, but its the same.im scared to death of what im going to do.