Help for a friend

purplehibiscus

Hello,

I've been trying to help a friend out but I'm getting rather confused and would like some guidance if possible.

She's currently a student but I'm trying to help her work out what to do after she graduates. She currently lives all year round at University as she has no contact with her parents and so when her course finishes she will effectively be made homeless.

She is obviously going to look for work but currently this may take some time and how would she pay for housing in the meantime? I don't think she comes into a priority category for local authority housing so the long wait would I assume mean that private housing is the way to go.

I'm also not sure if I fully grasp housing benefit. As she's under 25 - she would be entitled to the room in a shared house rate? With HB, do you sign a contract/deposit etc and then apply to the council? I'm trying to work out how "automatic" IYKWIM housing benefit is.

I know I sound incredibly confused and I would appreciate any help!

allen35

Your friend could apply for Jobseekers Allowance when finishing her course, this will be dependant on her grant finishing on completion of her course and meeting the Jobseekers agreement.

She would most probably have to pay for the deposit herself unless she could apply for a crisis loan from the social fund through the Jobcentre Plus.

Due to age she may only be entitled to single room occupancy, therefore a bedsit etc or shared accom'

Hope she finds employment as soon as and good luck

Jowo_2

Yes, an LHA claimant needs to find the accommodation first before applying for LHA - many landlords won't accept LHA claimants. 99.9%of landlords will expect a months rent and a deposit (equivalent to a months rent) paid in advance of the start of the tenancy. LHA is paid in arrears. This is why its a struggle for many people.

Yes, it would be the shared rate - see the LHA Direct website to identify her entitlement.

Some local councils operate deposit guarantee schemes to help those on low incomes/benefits. See the council website.

To understand the councils obligation to house the homeless, look at the Homelessness section of the Shelter website which explains the process. They prioritise the disabled, those with children when it comes to allocating social housing - the single and healthy are a low priority. The Crisis website has good info on the single homeless.

Oldernotwiser

purplehibiscus wrote: »

She is obviously going to look for work but currently this may take some time and how would she pay for housing in the meantime? I don't think she comes into a priority category for local authority housing so the long wait would I assume mean that private housing is the way to go.

I'm also not sure if I fully grasp housing benefit. As she's under 25 - she would be entitled to the room in a shared house rate? With HB, do you sign a contract/deposit etc and then apply to the council? I'm trying to work out how "automatic" IYKWIM housing benefit is.

If you're helping her, could I suggest that you encourage her to get a move on and start looking? Many graduate schemes have finished recruiting and she'll be available for work in about 3 months, so she should really be applying now.

Also, although knowledge is obviously a good thing, she really shouldn't be encouraged to look on claiming benefits as a first resort. Many graduates don't return to live with their parents and it would be much better for her to apply for jobs so that she can move anywhere she's offered one, rather than get accommodation and feel stuck looking just in the one area.

RAS

CAn she also speak to the Welfare officer at her university now if she has debts emphasising the lack of family support. She may be entitled to hardship help; that way she does not start her graduate life in a mess.

also, does she have a student Overdraft and or a deposit to help with the first few weeks?

There are cheap housing schemes around (will try and post later) and if she has not got anything line up work-wise for the summer, she might check out CSV, the summer scheme providers or even things like Camp America (although that may be closed now).

purplehibiscus

RAS wrote: »

also, does she have a student Overdraft and or a deposit to help with the first few weeks?

There are cheap housing schemes around (will try and post later) and if she has not got anything line up work-wise for the summer, she might check out CSV, the summer scheme providers or even things like Camp America (although that may be closed now).

She does have an overdraft and I don't think the deposit will be too much of a problem. She's independent from her parents for student loans purposes so she gets a bursary from the university too - she should hopefully be able to save some of this. If not, there should be enough of her friends able to scrape something together.

I'll suggest the camp ideas - sounds like a good idea! Thank you!

allen35 wrote: »

Your friend could apply for Jobseekers Allowance when finishing her course, this will be dependant on her grant finishing on completion of her course and meeting the Jobseekers agreement.

She would most probably have to pay for the deposit herself unless she could apply for a crisis loan from the social fund through the Jobcentre Plus.

Due to age she may only be entitled to single room occupancy, therefore a bedsit etc or shared accom'

Hope she finds employment as soon as and good luck

Thank you! I'll encourage her to go for JSA. Do you know if you can apply in any area or do you need historical links - would university be enough for this? My course doesn't finish for years yet and I pretty much have a guaranteed job at the end so I haven't really looked into all this before.

Jowo wrote: »

Yes, an LHA claimant needs to find the accommodation first before applying for LHA - many landlords won't accept LHA claimants. 99.9%of landlords will expect a months rent and a deposit (equivalent to a months rent) paid in advance of the start of the tenancy. LHA is paid in arrears. This is why its a struggle for many people.

Yes, it would be the shared rate - see the LHA Direct website to identify her entitlement.

Some local councils operate deposit guarantee schemes to help those on low incomes/benefits. See the council website.

To understand the councils obligation to house the homeless, look at the Homelessness section of the Shelter website which explains the process. They prioritise the disabled, those with children when it comes to allocating social housing - the single and healthy are a low priority. The Crisis website has good info on the single homeless.

Thank you - that was a really helpful explanation.

I don't think the council would be under an obligation to home her after reading that so it definitely sounds something needs to be sorted out privately, with or without support from housing benefit.

It is likely that we could sort her out with the months rent and deposit as an informal loan. Is it very difficult to find a landlord who accepts HB? Is it due to problems with paying on time and would this change if we could somehow assure them this wouln't be the case?

purplehibiscus

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

If you're helping her, could I suggest that you encourage her to get a move on and start looking? Many graduate schemes have finished recruiting and she'll be available for work in about 3 months, so she should really be applying now.

Also, although knowledge is obviously a good thing, she really shouldn't be encouraged to look on claiming benefits as a first resort. Many graduates don't return to live with their parents and it would be much better for her to apply for jobs so that she can move anywhere she's offered one, rather than get accommodation and feel stuck looking just in the one area.

Thank you! I agree in general although looking at the experiences of my friends who graduated last year graduate jobs seem to be difficult to secure even with a good degree. Many have had to go back home to continue looking for work, unless they are lucky enough to have an allowance from their parents.

In any case, she is hoping to study at a postgraduate level next year (and all this seems to be in place) and so she's not looking for graduate level jobs but more in the line of admin and waitressing. She has had some good offers for a years paid internship but nothing concrete.

I'm trying to find out how we go about things if the worst happens and she has no income after June.

RAS

Hi

And has she spoken to the University Welfarem And Union officers? Because they have funds to help students who are in difficulty. If she is classed as independent, she may have higher priority.

Jowo_2

purplehibiscus wrote: »

...

It is likely that we could sort her out with the months rent and deposit as an informal loan.

Never a borrower or a lender be. Her first port of call should be places like the Uni hardship fund, council deposit scheme, DWP loans, bank overdraft or loan.

Having a financial relationship with a friend can ruin the friendship. It certainly has backfired for me (I paid out to help a friend improve her flat so she could get a lodger in to help with bills, this allegedly broke person on the cusp of getting into debt, then took out a loan for a grand to spend on a holiday:mad:. To my knowledge, many months after the decoration at my expense, she never got a lodger, probably found someone else to tap to pay her bills and social expenses).

Someone on a low income will struggle to pay back the deposit to the person who has lent it to them.

But I digress...

purplehibiscus wrote: »

...
Is it very difficult to find a landlord who accepts HB? Is it due to problems with paying on time and would this change if we could somehow assure them this wouln't be the case?

Yes, it can be very difficult to find a landlord who accepts HB which is mainly due to the system of payment (slow processing of claims), plus a reputation for being harder to evict, plus a perception of more likely getting into rent arrears and impossible to get any arrears paid back compared with a working tenant.

Your verbal assurance is worth the paper it is written on, probably going to be a waste of time, landlords see HB tenants as a business risk, its not actually personal (though it probably feels like that to the claimants).

Many landlords don't accept LHA claimants, many of those who do don't want a character reference but a guarantor, someone who can pay the rent if the tenant defaults. It's extremely risky for you to offer to be a guarantor, as it can commit you to paying all their rent for all the time the tenant stays there (not just the initial length of the tenancy agreement). The housing forum has lots of posts from guarantors who were stiffed by people they trusted.