housing benefit help

ilovemybabiessomuch

hello all
wondering if you could help me, i recieved a letter over the weekend telling me my housing benefit had been lowered, so instead of my full rent being paid i now have to find £138 a month omg,
i have 3 children and myself i am disabled and have just had a baby, my eldest boy is 16 and suffers from mental illnesses, so he is now living with my parents as of 2 days before baby was born, my girl is 11 in october and my new baby boy is 3 months old, my girl has one room and i have 1 room and my baby has the 3rd room, i did look on the LHA site and put the details they wanted and for 3 people myself girl over 10 and male under 10 it said i was entitled to a 3 bedroom house, please could someone tell me im entitled to 3 bedroom house and not a 2 bedroom house, i cant afford to find £138 a month and neither can i afford to move which would be so exhausting with being disabled and just having a baby.
i have been crying all weekend over this and my depression has rocketed in 2 days, im so sad

HappyMJ

I think it should be 3 bedrooms. Maybe when you advised the 16yr old was leaving they didn't understand that a baby was coming into the household. Just phone or write to council asking them to explain their decision.

It could be because you were getting a discretionary payment due to your disability that needs reveiwing again?

AnxiousMum

You have a three month old baby - is there a father on the scene who is maybe working and his income has something to do with the lower entitlement?

DX2

ilovemybabiessomuch wrote: »

hello all
wondering if you could help me, i recieved a letter over the weekend telling me my housing benefit had been lowered, so instead of my full rent being paid i now have to find £138 a month omg,
i have 3 children and myself i am disabled and have just had a baby, my eldest boy is 16 and suffers from mental illnesses, so he is now living with my parents as of 2 days before baby was born, my girl is 11 in october and my new baby boy is 3 months old, my girl has one room and i have 1 room and my baby has the 3rd room, i did look on the LHA site and put the details they wanted and for 3 people myself girl over 10 and male under 10 it said i was entitled to a 3 bedroom house, please could someone tell me im entitled to 3 bedroom house and not a 2 bedroom house, i cant afford to find £138 a month and neither can i afford to move which would be so exhausting with being disabled and just having a baby.
i have been crying all weekend over this and my depression has rocketed in 2 days, im so sad

You are entitled to a 2 bed at the moment. Your 16 year old son no longer lives with you. You have 2 daughters and yourself.

iamana1ias

DX2 wrote: »

You are entitled to a 2 bed at the moment. Your 16 year old son no longer lives with you. You have 2 daughters and yourself.

She has a baby boy and an 11 year old girl, not 2 girls.

I'm also wondering where the baby-daddy is...........

HappyMJ

iamana1ias wrote: »

I'm also wondering where the baby-daddy is...........

Got to love Urban Dictionary

March 10, 2006 Urban Word of the Day

Short for "Baby's Daddy". The father of your child, whom you did not marry, and with whom you are not currently involved.
That man isn't my boyfriend, he's my baby daddy.

ilovemybabiessomuch

thankyou for your replies, i just phoned them and its to do with a payment change date instead of every 4 weeks its now pcm, so basically i have to find 1 weeks rent of £138 but from next month it will be normal again but no back pay of the 1 week that everyone has lost.

babys dad is on the scene but we dont live together but is very much involved with baby.

thankyou again xx

thorsoak

ilovemybabiessomuch wrote: »

thankyou for your replies, i just phoned them and its to do with a payment change date instead of every 4 weeks its now pcm, so basically i have to find 1 weeks rent of £138 but from next month it will be normal again but no back pay of the 1 week that everyone has lost.

babys dad is on the scene but we dont live together but is very much involved with baby.

thankyou again xx

Maybe baby's dad can find the shortfall for you - you shouldn't have to bear the burden completely on your own and neither should the state.

iamana1ias

ilovemybabiessomuch wrote: »

babys dad is on the scene but we dont live together but is very much involved with baby.

Ah, the traditional family unit. Superb. :T

ilovemybabiessomuch

iamana1ias wrote: »

Ah, the traditional family unit. Superb. :T

hi
what does that mean, i hope that isnt a dig at me, im not on benefits beacause i wont work or cant be bothered my disabilities have stopped that right now, and as for not being with my babys daddy it happens unfortuantly wasnt planned neither is it liked.

Jowo_2

Have you considered asking for discretionary housing benefit?

And can you confirm if this £138 charge is just a one off, as they have switched paying your LHA on a 4 week cycle to a monthly cycle, so there is just this single adjustment to make the dates marry?

If so, why not contact your landlord to explain that there is an unexpected shortfall due a no notice change in payment dates, apologise and offer a repayment schedule to pay it back as quickly as you can afford. If you do this, make sure you keep a letter to your landlord and that you stick the repayment schedule you offer. But it would be better if you could not get into arrears in the first place. Perhaps your partner would like to loan or give you this money?

I've never heard of someone on LHA getting it on a monthly basis. Perhaps they've started to do this because so many tenants and landlords get confused because LHA is typically paid every 4 weeks, but most landlords charge rent on a monthly basis.

Also, do note that there appears to be downward trend for LHA as the govt seeks to control public spending. For example, there is a proposal to start basis LHA rents on the lowest third of local market rents whereas it is now based on the median (change from 50th percentile to 30th percentile) so it is likely that many households could face some kind of squeeze in the future.