help and advice needed

alexandra_cmpbll

I posted this on a wrong forum and was told to post it here and I may get more replies. I was divorced five years ago after being a victim of domestic violence. My then husband forced the sale of the marital home, effectively leaving my two children and I homeless. Where I live, council housing/shared ownership housing is in short supply. I have had to move house five times in five years due to the lack of affordable housing. I am currently staying in a two bedroom flat, in the area where my children grew up. We are safe and happy here. I work part time , earning 6.72 per hour. I work shifts, 24 hours per week. My eldest child has recently turned 18, so my child benefit and tax credits have been amended accordingly. He is currently receiving 50 per week job seekers allowance. The council appear to have taken this into account and my housing benefit has been cut to 2 pounds per week,meaning I need to find 540 pounds per month for rent, I also pay 28 pounds per week council tax. I paid 310 pounds per moth before my child turned 18 and just managed to do this. I receive working and child tax credit. Once I have calculated out essential living costs I am left with 10 pounds per week to feed my children and me. Online benefit calculator suggests I would be 3 pounds a week better off not working! I enjoy my work, and feel it sets a good example to my children seeing me go to work instead of sitting at home. I have been in touch with various government ministers including Alex neil, scottish housing minister, Elaine smith msp and john sharkey, government official who is responsible for homelesness. He advised me that new houses were being built which i may be able to purchase with the help of the new build shared equity scheme, the houses were ten miles away from where i currently stay. i went to see them and liked them. however, after speaking with a mortgage advisor on the site, i was informed i would need to earn 27000 per year, or have a deposit of 22000 to put down. I am at my wits end, the thought of having to move to another private rent is something i cant cope with. Why do the government in this country not do something to address the dire lack of housing . i would love to be able to buy my own home, part own but no schemes available. The various ministers i have contacted have informed me they cant do anything to help. I also spoke my local counillor who told me he would look into my position and get back to me. 6 months later, I have yet to hear from him. Though I did see him yesterday, in his jaguar which has a nice private number plate. Is anyone in a similar position or offer me any help or advice, as it would be greatly appreciated.

Jowo_2

What age is your youngest child? Can you work more hours?

Did you take any legal advice during the house sale to find out your rights?

Have you applied for social housing in your area?

Does your ex husband pay any child support?

Does your eldest contribute towards their keep, towards household expenses like food and bills, out of their JSA?

While I'm disappointed that the local affordable housing requires a household income of £27k, I'm surprised that someone suggested to a person earning £8.4k per year is in a position to buy property.

What child tax credits and working tax credits do you receive?

Do you have any debts?

One really helpful thing to do is to download the budget planner on the free tools section of this website and list all your expenses and income, then work through the site to get tips on how to reduce outgoings, such as changing tariffs, changing your shopping habits and so forth. For instance, one of the respected members of this website has produced a recipe planner which means a family of your size can have nutritious meals for just £75 per month.

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

Realistically, there's little in terms of forthcoming political policy changes, house building and improved economy that can lift your family out of its financial doldrums so you should put your efforts into increasing household income and decreasing household costs, which is something that you do have a degree of control over.

alexandra_cmpbll

In answer to your questions, my ex husband has retired and will not pay child support as he says he doesnt get enough. Yes, my name i has been on the housing list for 6 years and nothing has come up. I receive 120 per week in child and working tax credit, this includes a disabled persons premium for myself. My son contributes 10 per week from his 50 pounds a week. My yougest child is 12 years old. I have looked at increasing my hours to work 32 but by the time i pay travel would not be any better off. As you suggest I will download the 75 per month recipe planner. thanks for the reply

DX2

alexandra_cmpbll wrote: »

In answer to your questions, my ex husband has retired and will not pay child support as he says he doesnt get enough.

Surely that's up to the child support agency to decide! Have you applied via the CSA?

claudiac_2

Hi, I am not really informed enough to offer you practical advice, but reading your post made me feel for you. There you are trying to keep your head above water, and set a decent example to your children, and at every turn you meet a brick wall. I just want to say that you have my sympathy, and I hope you find a way through all this.

Jowo_2

Currently from the information you've provided you indicate your net income is £800 per month. This is composed of around £640 net income from employment, £120 child, disabled tax credits and £40 keep from your eldest son.

Does this include child benefit for your youngest too? What other benefits are you receiving that you may not have listed above? Do you receive local housing allowance or housing benefit? What kind of council tax benefit have you applied for (type of discount or exemption)?

Also, what is the maximum LHA rate for the property versus the rent you pay (the shortfall) and the size of the actual property in terms of bedrooms versus the entitlement for your household size? Use the LHA Direct website to calculate this.

Because you've indicated you are paying £650 per month alone in council tax and rent so I wonder about the affordability of your rental property versus your means and whether you have accidentally ommitted other benefits or allowances you may be receiving. Paying out 80% of your net income on CT and rent alone is not sustainable so that's why we need more info.

Also, have you run your circumstances through the Turn2us online benefit calculator to double check everything?

alexandra_cmpbll

I receive 80 pounds per month, child benefit. The csa said my ex cant afford to pay any support. The local housing allowance here is 126 per week, I stay in a two bedroom flat. I need a three bedroomed house. All the other rents here are dearer than where I am living. I have checked various on line benefit calculators, one said I should be getting 360 per month in rent rebate and the council tax i only get a single persons allowance. Thats all the income I get. The turn to us website said I am 3 pounds better off a week working. With regard to your question about legal advice when my ex forced the sale of my marital home. I did take legal advice. I felt at the time that I had no choice other than to sell, as my ex was extremely violent and I had interdicts against him. He would not leave me in peace with the children and the house was in joint names. It was a nightmare. However had I known then that I would get help with mortgage payments as I was working then as well, I would have thought twice about selling.

Jowo_2

Blimey - £880 income per month and basic outgoings on council tax and rent is £650 per month, leaving your household with £230 per month to cover food, energy, telecoms, transport and so on? £65 per week for a family of 3?!

That's terrible.

You say the LHA maximum rate is £126 per week which works out at £546 per month and that you have to pay £540 per month, as your LHA is only £2 per week. Are you entitled to a 2 or 3 bedroom rate (according to the LHA direct website)?

Do double check your LHA with the local council to see if you can receive that £360 rebate as I'm assuming it would bring down your rent from £540 per month to much less than that, perhaps £280. Ask the Citizens Advice Bureau to double check your entitlements and consider asking for discretionary housing benefit. If that's the case, your household disposal income will be nearly £600 instead of £230 (£150 per week instead of £65 as it is now).

Other than that, consider asking for your eldest son to increase his contribution from his JSA. The sum he offers you will not even cover the food he eats. At the moment, you say you can barely afford groceries and he has £40 pocket money, an amount equivalent to nearly 65% of your weekly disposable income which isn't stretching to meet household expenses.

Jowo_2

OP - I'm confused about the disabled person's premium you claim, though this area is not my strong point - do you mean DLA?

Did the eldest boy leave college or sixth form in the summer and has he been unemployed since then? What are his job prospects like in your area? Shops and the post office will soon be recruiting Christmas temps which often lead to permanent work. Even if he got a minimum wage job, he'd net £150 per week and if he could pay you at least £50 for his keep, that would go a long way towards easing the household finances.

I'm surprised this post hasn't attracted any other advice on how the OP can up their income, decrease their expenses or advice on benefit entitlements?

Any more takers for how the OP can improve her position which currently sees three quarters of the household income spent on council tax and rent?

nikki&asha

I would get the LHA calculation checked - I was under the impression that a non dependants deduction (about £7?) rather than their whole income would be taken into account. So you should only have to pay about £7 a week more than before (ish). Plus if he is on JSA he would get full LHA if he lived alone. Along with that he should be contributing more than £10 even if your rent stayed the same - he is an adult now and should pay his way.

not sure if that helps but should bump you up a bit
x

Duncombe

Jowo. I think there have been some miscalculations.

OP works 24 hours a week @ £6.72 / hour = £161.28.

She also receives £120 a week in CTC and WTC.

And £20 a week CB.

And £10 a week from her sons JSA.

Total monthly income of £1245. (Well, every 4 weeks actually). On this basis, finding the rent and CT each month shouldn't be a problem?

Unless I have misread something, the OP is on an annual income of £16100 (ish).