Pre Tenancy Determination

james2005

Dear MSE'rs , Is there such a thing called a pre tenancy determination or something similar.. a form you fill in for LHA that basically is assessed to see if you will get housing benefit, I am relocating shortly am currently a carer for my disabled mother, However I am going self employed as a telemarketer from home and need to know if I can defiinitely get help with paying my rent at my new place which i be moving into the next 2/3 weeks.

I am not currently earning any income apart form carers and a bit of income support about 61 per week in total.

Also as I am going self employed and will be working initially for 16 hours or upto that amount, how do i go about claiming benefit to support me in the meantime until i generate some new business?

Would it be income support i claim......?

Or tax credit, I am 36 with no dependants and single.

Many thanks

karenx

you won't get tax credits on 16 hours per week
nor income support as you don't fit the criteria
only thing you could get is jsa but you would have to be activly seeking full time employment

alwaysonthego_2

karenx wrote: »

you won't get tax credits on 16 hours per week
nor income support as you don't fit the criteria
only thing you could get is jsa but you would have to be activly seeking full time employment

The op does fit the criteria for IS if he is claiming carer's allowance.

Jowo_2

You could check the LHA direct website for the potential maximum rate payable for the postcode of the property and eligibility on the Entitled to website which takes into account your other income and is a rough guide to the LHA you could receive.

james2005

alwaysonthego wrote: »

The op does fit the criteria for IS if he is claiming carer's allowance.

I will be stopping the carers allowance due to gaining self employment and relocating.

james2005

Jowo wrote: »

You could check the LHA direct website for the potential maximum rate payable for the postcode of the property and eligibility on the Entitled to website which takes into account your other income and is a rough guide to the LHA you could receive.

I did check that and its shows £125 per week, but I will be living in a house share so think my entitlement is less than that.

james2005

karenx wrote: »

you won't get tax credits on 16 hours per week
nor income support as you don't fit the criteria
only thing you could get is jsa but you would have to be activly seeking full time employment

If i want to go self employed how many hours is it best to do to fit the criteria as i will need help in the early days

I am so confused I hear conflicting information from friends and family

Wee_Willy_Harris

james2005 wrote: »

I did check that and its shows £125 per week, but I will be living in a house share so think my entitlement is less than that.

The LHA entitlement remains the same, regardless of the size of property you rent. If the actual rent is lower than the entitlement, you get to keep the difference up to a limit of £15. So, if you found a place for £110pw, you would still get £125.

james2005

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

The LHA entitlement remains the same, regardless of the size of property you rent. If the actual rent is lower than the entitlement, you get to keep the difference up to a limit of £15. So, if you found a place for £110pw, you would still get £125.

Cheers for that WWH, do you know about pre tenancy determination or whatever its called, its some form you fill in before you move into a property and they assess it beforehand or something.....?

Jowo_2

james2005 wrote: »

Cheers for that WWH, do you know about pre tenancy determination or whatever its called, its some form you fill in before you move into a property and they assess it beforehand or something.....?

As far as I know, a pre tenancy determination was something that happened under housing benefit which has been phased out and replaced by Local Housing Allowance.

Under LHA, each claimant is given a potential rate based on their entitlement to a particular size of property (number of bedrooms), if they are under or over 25 and the post code of the property. All this is decided automatically and in advance (broad rental market rate or a similar term to this).

Therefore what the applicant gets depends on this, plus other factors such as the income they receive from other sources. In order to claim, a tenant needs to be able to provide the local council with relevant documents, including a copy of the tenancy agreement or letter from the landlord detailing the rent. Therefore i believe that while you can check out your entitlement yourself in advance of finding accommodation, you will need to actually have an offer of accommodation first before submitting a claim to your local council.

The Shelter website and your local council website will tell you how it operates, how you claim, the evidence required. But pre-determination no longer takes place in the way you mention.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Echo what Jowo says. LHA rates are published online. Simply search google under your local authority and add "LHA rates" to the search. That gives you the standard rent paid for your household. In your case that would be the one room rate. The only thing that will reduce that award are if the rent is more than £15 less then the LHA and/or your personal financial circumstances (earnings/savings etc)