Housing help if pregnant?

LauraLou1982

Hello guys. I am really panicking at the moment! I have recently found out I am 6 months pregnant (dont ask lol) and will go onto SMP from when I leave at the end of November.
My wages pay the majority of the bills for our flat, as my OH has so much debt he pays off every month he cannot really contribute.
He was meant to pay the August rent though, which I have just found out he hasnt done, and I have now got our (very nice) land lady emailing me asking where the payment is. I am up to date with all our other bills, but £700 seems a unreachable amount of money to find...I feel bad asking family to lend as they have been so good buying me things for the baby...does anyone have any ideas?
We are already going to have to move as I am going onto SMP and cant afford the rent soon...I thought we might be entitled to some kind of housing help for the 6 months I am on maternity as plan to go back in May, but one of my collaeagues at work has informed me we wont get any help because my OH is on quite good money (£10.50 an hour) however it doesnt help us as he has hardly any left over!
Now with these 2 problems I am really panicking! Does any one have any ideas for me? :eek: I dont really have anyone else to tell as I dont want to worry anyone...:( Would we be entitled to any kind of help seen as we have a baby on the way?

zzzLazyDaisy

Your whole household income is taken into account when assessing your benefit entitlement (that includes his earnings as well as yours). However, the state won't pay your (his) debts, so they are ignored when doing the calculation.

Remember that once the baby arrives you will get child benefit and child tax credits.

If you go to entitledto.com and put in the details of your situation as it is now, and as it will be once you have had the baby, you will have a good idea what you will be entitled to by way of benefits.

EDIT if you head over to the DFW board, you will get good advice on coping with the debt.

LauraLou1982

Thanks for that, will have a look on that website in a bit.
So if I am on SMP and it will be £124 a week, and he is on so roughly £1300 a month after tax are we likely to get any help? I am so scared we are going to be homeless after Xmas when my pay goes down! The annoying thing is one of my friends blatantly lies and says she is on her own and she isnt her OH lives with her and works, but because she says she is single with 2 children she gets all her rent paid for her - because I am trying to be honest and upfront I get the feeling I am going to get no help at all...

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Have you asked your husband what he has done with the money? and did he pay September's. You will not get help with paying the arrears and I very much doubt they will help because of his income. I would recommend that you go over to the Debt Free Wannbe Board so that the kind people on there can help you and your OH to budget and reduce his debts. You can't make any headway until he can control his spending.


AMD

Hammyman

LauraLou1982 wrote: »

Thanks for that, will have a look on that website in a bit.
So if I am on SMP and it will be £124 a week, and he is on so roughly £1300 a month after tax are we likely to get any help?

No. Firstly, its the GROSS PAY, not net so he's on around £1700? So your gross income is over £2000 a month. You'll get Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit but unless you're living in London, you're not going to qualify for help with the rent or council tax benefit.

zzzLazyDaisy

LauraLou1982 wrote: »

Thanks for that, will have a look on that website in a bit.
So if I am on SMP and it will be £124 a week, and he is on so roughly £1300 a month after tax are we likely to get any help? .

No-one can give you a definitive answer to this, as it depends on variables such as where you live, and the level of your rent and council tax. But as someone else has said, it is the gross income, before deductions, which is used.

You need to check the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates for your area - google LHA and your local authority should bring it up. Before the baby is born you can only count one bedroom, after the baby is born you can count two bedrooms (so, for example, if you live in a three bed house, you would still only be assessed at the number of bedrooms applicable to your circumstances).

If you live somewhere with low cost housing, such as (say) Stoke-on-Trent then you will almost certainly not be entitled to any help. If you live in a high cost area such as (say) Dorking, then you may be entitled to some help, which is why you need to do your own calculations.

At the other end of the scale, you need to look carefully at your outgoings and see where you can cut back.

If the debts are really so bad that you don't have enough money left over for essentials, then you may need to seek advice from the CAB, or debt counsellor. The good folks on the DFW board will point you in the right direction.

LauraLou1982

KimYeovil wrote: »

He is on £22K-odd and you will receive whatever you will receive but you still expect more? Flit to a single room or a cheaper flat and stop shopping in Waitrose if you are not happy.

Thanks for all your replies so far.
Excuse me KimYeovil but I actually find the above really rude - you dont know me really except a little bit I have put in the original post - I dont 'expect more' as you put it, I am nearly 30 and have worked all my life without claiming anything at all if thats what you are getting at - I have never shopped in Waitrose in my life, I shop at Nettos or ASDA. If you have nothing nice to say its probably better to say nothing at all seen as there is actually nothing constructive or helpful in your post at all. All I am doing is asking for advice in a very stressful time for me, and you should perhaps thinks what effects your comments could possibly have on people. Of course everyone has opinions but you could possibly look at how you put them across.

gatita

LauralLou, Ignore that nasty piece of work KimYeovil... he just cannot resist passing his
twisted opinion on almost EVERYTHING on this web site! Bit of a sad person if you ask me, he obviously gets his 'kicks' being nasty.

Jowo_2

AMILLIONDOLLARS wrote: »

Have you asked your husband what he has done with the money? and did he pay September's...

This is a good question. You do not want to end up compounding your problems with being served notice for late payment of rent and arrears and then struggling to find onward accommodation because your current landlord cannot give you a good reference. It is a fairly common practice for landlords to terminate the tenancy for these reasons.

Paying rent is a priority whereas some of your OH's debts may not be, will not have such serious potential impact and repayments can be negotiated. Get the debt repayments reduced to token sums.

"The most important debts are known as ‘priority debts’ and they aren't always the biggest ones. Priority debts are ones where serious action can be taken against you if you don't pay what you owe.

For example, you could lose your home, be disconnected from a service or even go to prison.
Prioity debts usually include things like:

• secured loans
• rent
• Council Tax
• utility bills
• taxes
• court fines

Non-priority debts include things like:

• credit card and store card payments
• bank loans
• overdrafts
• home-collected credit - like a Provident loan where the agent collects payments weekly
• catalogue repayments
• money you've borrowed from family or friends"

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/PlanYourWayOutOfDebt/DG_10013291

There is a budget planner on the free tools section of this website.