Housing benefit advice please

RockGypsy

Im currently receiving income support and housing benefit which covers my rent for a 2 bed council house.My boyfriend wants to move in with me he is on income support as well and doesnt get housing benefit as he`s staying with him mum.(im 40 he`s 43).
Does anyone have a link of a benefit calculator to see how much benefit we would get as a couple.Also we`ve been looking around at private renting and were wondering how much housing benefit we would be entitled to.If anyone has any idea or a link to anything which may help I would be very grateful,thanks:beer:

sunnyone

RockGypsy wrote: »

Im currently receiving income support and housing benefit which covers my rent for a 2 bed council house.My boyfriend wants to move in with me he is on income support as well and doesnt get housing benefit as he`s staying with him mum.(im 40 he`s 43).
Does anyone have a link of a benefit calculator to see how much benefit we would get as a couple.Also we`ve been looking around at private renting and were wondering how much housing benefit we would be entitled to.If anyone has any idea or a link to anything which may help I would be very grateful,thanks:beer:

Under what grounds are you both claiming IS?

You get HB for a 2 bed home so I assume that you have kids?

DX2

You would be mad to give up a secure council house for a private rent.

fluffymovie

If it's a 2 bed and at present it's you and a child or children, as your partner would be expected to share a bedroom, as long as you are both on IS, your HB benefit wouldn't change

tomitma

In the current circumstances of all the ho ha over Housing benefit payments, the most stupid thing that you will ever do is leave that council house, whilst you are there at least you have security, all right it might not be exactly what you want, but at least you have a roof over your head, there are a lot of people privately renting that are going to end up homeless, I would stay.

Tehya

I agree with the other posters it would be silly to give up a council tenancy. Also what you should think about private renting is if you're tenancy comes to an end and you can't find/afford another one the council will not be any under obligation to re-house you again as you will have made yourself homeless. This happened to my brother and it was almost 10 years before he got offered another tenancy with a HA. He was living in very expensive rental properties all that time trying to find the rent out of his wages.

To find out about your entitlements as a couple try putting your details into the directgov website as we'd need a lot more information to help you work it out here as number and ages of children, what DLA or sick benefits you're on will all affect how much the government says you need. The direct gov calculator gets me and my hubsband's benefits correct to the penny. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DoItOnlineByCategory/DG_172666

You get HB for a 2 bed home so I assume thayou have kids?

Hi sunnyone, the bedroom rates of LHA don't affect HB on a council house. I live in a two bed house (last year it was a three bed) with just my hubby and still got full rent paid.

Jowo_2

You can use the Turn2us online benefit calculator to work out your joint household income.

The LHA direct website will indicate the rates for the size of property you'd be entitled to in the private sector, based on the age and number of the occupants, and for the areas where you are interested in living. Do check out how the proposal to move from calculating LHA rates from the 50th (i.e. middle) average of local rents to the 30th (i.e. bottom third) could affect you.

Generally, social housing tenants have a lifetime tenancy of low rent whereas in the private sector, security of tenure doesn't often last longer than a typical 6 month contract and will be higher. Do consider the risks of giving up your council flat to move into a private property where you may have to look for a new property fairly regularly and where most landlords will not accept benefit claimants.

sunnyone

Tehya wrote: »

Hi sunnyone, the bedroom rates of LHA don't affect HB on a council house. I live in a two bed house (last year it was a three bed) with just my hubby and still got full rent paid.

I was asking more because of the wanting to leave secure housing for private renting Tehya, I wondered if the OPs secure place was too small for the blended unit, and I asked about the grounds for IS because if it was as lone parents they would lose the IS by moving in together.

Tehya

sunnyone wrote: »

I was asking more because of the wanting to leave secure housing for private renting Tehya, I wondered if the OPs secure place was too small for the blended unit, and I asked about the grounds for IS because if it was as lone parents they would lose the IS by moving in together.

Hiya yeah I see what you mean now, sorry. I do forget about IS and single parents etc as I really don't know enough about it and the rules for claiming it seem to change with the wind these days.

piemashandliquer

The easiest way to find out how much you will get is to contact the local council for the area you wish to live in. They will have this months Local Housing Allowance rate and will be able to tell you straight away what your allowance will be.

I am assuming that you will be on Income Support in your new circumstances therefore you would be able to get the full rate for the size of your family (ie one bedroom LHA for you and partner and further bedrooms for any children living with you)

RockGypsy

Hi thanks for your repilies,I don`t have any kids.I got the house through the council about 8years ago it was through a scheme where you put in a bid for it,I was the first to bid.Ive had a good think about it and will be staying put,Im going to re-carpet and re-decorate soon instead.
Its the longest Ive ever lived in one place as an adult,guess I was just getting itchy feet lol