Local Housing Allowance is being decreased - Now have to survive on £58 per week

stayinganonymous

sunnyone wrote: »

Because he gets DLA care their will be no none dependant deductions in his LHA but I dont know about ctb.

She need to think hard before she moves, can she realistically live with him and his problems?

Its just that it may be seen as though she made herself homeless if she cant live with him and has no where else to go.

Oh I thought they took her wages into consideration, whether the tenant (my cousin) was working or on benefits.

My mum and cousin get on very well. He has severe depression and agoraphobia. Her mum suffered with depression too so she deals with these types of situations quite well.

I just thought it would be an option until she can find a property with cheaper monthly costs.

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

If your mother was a long term council tenant (although I don't understand why the house was only in your father's name) didn't they offer her any help with housing as she had to leave because of domestic violence?

My dad got a council house before he met my mum. At the time of getting a council house he was married to a previous lady, who was on the rent book. He split up with her and met my mum and she moved in, but his ex wife refused to remove herself so they wouldn't allow my mum to get put on. It went on for years and got forgot about, I guess my mum never thought she'd end up in a situation like this. And because the house wasn't in her name the lady at the Council said she's not entitled to any help. It was so rush rush, it was an absolute nightmare.

RAS wrote: »

Absolutely; with a 12 month contract, if she moves in with the cousin, she remain liable to pay the rent until September but has no LHA allowance towards it at all.

Plus she is dependent on someone else for her housing and if it goes pear-shaped, is homeless.

I will check this to make sure. But I will help her with the costs if it is another 12 month contract, in the mean time try and get some other things sorted.

Jowo_2

stayinganonymous wrote: »

...LHA are paying it directly to him, have for a few months even though she's asked them 3 times since to pay it directly to her

To be honest, it sounds a very bad idea for your mother to receive the LHA directly when she is under pressure to pay other bills...

RAS

The cousin option may well be a good idea if it allows her a bit of time to move out of the current flat (even in Spetember) and get the deposit back before looking for a new place at a lower rent.

Please do however check the situation regarding the change in rules, as I thought it only came in in April and only impacted on people taking up new tenancies after that date. It might be worth a call to Shelter, or a thread on the renting forum here.

Jowo_2

stayinganonymous wrote: »

... And because the house wasn't in her name the lady at the Council said she's not entitled to any help. It was so rush rush, it was an absolute nightmare.

Not that it's any use now but victims of domestic abuse are entitled to a higher level of support when it comes to homelessness applications but local councils are notorious for being poor at helping those in need, and particularly single people. It's a shame she wasn't aware of Shelter or Womens Aid that would have advised her on her rights and her options and ended up taking a private flat whose level of rent she would struggle to afford.

pandaspot

Do you know when her anniversary date is? Cause the change in lha will only affect her then but she gets a 9 month transitional protection.

bob40

pandaspot wrote: »

If she moved in with the cousin then there would be no charge for her living there as he is on dla care. So maybe that would be the answer

on reading this thread why has the op not read this post by pandaspot i sugest the op should try to read all replys before posting atleast then it stops others from repeating themselfs

stayinganonymous

bob40 wrote: »

on reading this thread why has the op not read this post by pandaspot i sugest the op should try to read all replys before posting atleast then it stops others from repeating themselfs

I did, that's why I thanked the post. It's hard to reply to everyone, the replies come through quickly and I am trying not to ignore anyones help. By the time I've written my reply, 3 more posts have appeared.

Jowo_2

bob40 wrote: »

on reading this thread why has the op not read this post by pandaspot i sugest the op should try to read all replys before posting atleast then it stops others from repeating themselfs

I reckon this is just a simple cross posting issue - as she is typing a reply to an earlier post, a new one has been posted, but it's not visible until she's completed her response.

stayinganonymous

RAS wrote: »

The cousin option may well be a good idea if it allows her a bit of time to move out of the current flat (even in Spetember) and get the deposit back before looking for a new place at a lower rent.

Please do however check the situation regarding the change in rules, as I thought it only came in in April and only impacted on people taking up new tenancies after that date. It might be worth a call to Shelter, or a thread on the renting forum here.

I'm going to take her down to the council office this week so she can speak to someone in person rather than over the phone, to make sure what is definitely going on. But if the lady on the phone was right (even though she said it would start in March). I don't mean to sound rude, but they really haven't got a clue what they are doing down there. The amount of problems she's had since claiming LHA is stupid.

pandaspot wrote: »

Do you know when her anniversary date is? Cause the change in lha will only affect her then but she gets a 9 month transitional protection.

Do you mean when her LHA claim started? If so it was the 25th March 2010.

RAS

Jowo wrote: »

I reckon this is just a simple cross posting issue - as she is typing a reply to an earlier post, a new one has been posted, but it's not visible until she's completed her response.

My thoughts too.