Housing benefit rise inline with rent rise?

exil

Person_one wrote: »

It is actually beneficial for children to have their own room, most of us like our own space and privacy. I think a 15 year old should only be sharing with an 11 year old if its an absolute necessity, a 15 year old will want to be able to get changed in peace, will be dealing with periods, will want to, er, explore her own body etc.

Hmmm. There's always the bathroom for that!

It is better if kids of that age have their own room. Especially when they can't stand each other! But what we're talking about is a minimum standard for accommodation that is wholly or partly paid for by the taxpayer.

Breast_Cancer_Survivor

relhuk wrote: »

Hi All,
Ill try to keep this brief. I receive housing benefit (£170/month.).I'm renting privately and received notice that the landlord wants to sell house which wasnt too suprising as its been on market. I really need a 4 bed house with 4 kids (one infant) so it kind of limits my choice as to house/rent/area etc.
Anyhow my question is this - If I rent a house that has a higher rent per month could I request/expect the HB to increase accordingly? (No other change of circumstances otherwise)
thank you
Richard

I have 3 children, 2 boys aged 13 & 15, 1 girl aged 9.

I am only entitled to the 3 bedroom LHA rate but I top the money up to pay for a 4 bedroomed house as my 2 son's can't share a bedroom due to them both being autistic & the fact they would kill each other.

The council don't care why your children can't share though & will still only provide you with what they think is the relevant rate.

I only receive £576 pcm LHA but my rent is £925 pcm so I pay the rest out of my boys DLA as they need their own space.

mitchaa

relhuk wrote: »

Hi All,
Ill try to keep this brief. I receive housing benefit (£170/month.).I'm renting privately and received notice that the landlord wants to sell house which wasnt too suprising as its been on market. I really need a 4 bed house with 4 kids (one infant) so it kind of limits my choice as to house/rent/area etc.
Anyhow my question is this - If I rent a house that has a higher rent per month could I request/expect the HB to increase accordingly? (No other change of circumstances otherwise)
thank you
Richard

£170pm housing benefit?

Surely a 4bed private rental is £750+

Caz3121

mitchaa wrote: »

£170pm housing benefit?

Surely a 4bed private rental is £750+

the OP says they work so the £170 will be the difference between the LHA and the amount that is calculated that they should be paying from their own salary so it a top-up

Wee_Willy_Harris

There seems to be an awful lot of personal judgement in here. Regardless of the OPs current circs, or her previous posting history, she has asked a perfectly reasonable question which I'm sure many others would like an answer to. I thought that was what these boards were here for, rather than a "holier than thou" competition.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Fiver29 wrote: »

You've already said you can't afford it because you get HB, and because you don't want to share the tax payer is footing the bill.

The OP IS a taxpayer as well.

Wee_Willy_Harris

squack wrote: »

why not get a 5 bedroom and use the spare room as an office or for a billiards table?

An option that IS open to the OP.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Fiver29 wrote: »

I rented a 2 bedroomed house until my children were too old legally to sleep in the same room, then I had to move.

Legally? What LAW is that then???????

Wee_Willy_Harris

The OP needs to have a look on her local authority website under "LHA rates", there will be a list of all rates currently in pay as well as historic rates that applied when her LHA was awarded. She needs to compare the 3 bed rate from the time of award with how much her rent is. If the rent is higher than the LHA, then her current level of LHA is at the maximum and this will have to be taken into account when looking at alternative housing. If the LHA is higher than the rent, then a more expensive property may gain a higher than current LHA payment for the OP. As this would be a new claim, current rates would apply to this, which may be higher than when the original claim was awarded.

The secret with LHA is to look at the rent charged first, then the number of rooms. A 4 bed for the same rent as a 1 bed would get the same amount of LHA.

Additionally, with the health issues suffered by her two boys, she may qualify for the 4 bed rate of she can establish that they are unable to share on medical grounds. A letter from the Dr or specialist advising this fact may help.

Fiver29

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

Legally? What LAW is that then???????

No idea which law it is, but neither the council nor letting agents will rent a house with insufficient bedrooms once the oldest child reaches 10 (if they are different sexes). But looking at the sarcasm in your post, I'm sure you're going to say there is no law and you can rent a smaller house {yawn}, heard it all before from the trolls. If you can get your council or letting agents to rent to you, then good for you, they won't here.