From Council to private renting ....

NikNox

Hi everyone.

I'm writing this post as a question relating to a family member's situation so bear with me as I may not have all the info needed, but hopefully enough.

Basically, there's a family of 3, mum and 2 kids (one 12, one 7) living in a 2 bedroomed council house. The council won't rehouse them as they don't qualify immediately as mum can sleep downstairs and the kids can have their own rooms. Mum has just gone onto Jobseekers Allowance as youngest child is 7 and she is therefore expected to go and seek work. She wants to move into a 3 bedroomed property, because she doesn't like the area where they are at the moment, and is looking into private rental. At the moment all of their rent, and council tax etc., is covered by benefits, but moving up to a 3 bedroomed home would mean a significant increase in rent, and also moving out of council renting into the private sector. Mum is unlikely to be working any time soon, and is therefore likely to be staying on benefits for at least the next 5 years.

Will the council cover all of her rent if she moves into a more expensive, privately rented property?

leveller2911

NikNox wrote: »

Hi everyone.

At the moment all of their rent, and council tax etc., is covered by benefits, but moving up to a 3 bedroomed home would mean a significant increase in rent, and also moving out of council renting into the private sector. Mum is unlikely to be working any time soon, and is therefore likely to be staying on benefits for at least the next 5 years.

Will the council cover all of her rent if she moves into a more expensive, privately rented property?

Why is she unlikely to be working for at least the next 5 years?.If she is now on JSA surely she will be looking for work and 5 years is a long time.
Can she not at least go ino further education to get some qualifications which would help in her search for work?

McKneff

Dont have the answer to the rent but you dont mention the sexes of the children.
If both the same, why cant they share the same bedroom.

Or mum share a bedroom with a daughter....................

nannytone_2

LHA rates are going down to the 30th percentile, which means that any property rented would have to be in the bottom 1/3 of rents charged for a 3 bed property in that area.
so likely to not be a very nice house/area, and get ALL the rent paid.

are the children different sexes?

council properties are like gold dust, and i consider anyone looking at moving from one into private rental, needs their bumps feeling!

i don't understand all the fuss about kiuds sharing a room.........didn't most of us?
i shared a room until i moved away from home!

MrsManda

If you're renting privately the maximum amount of rent you can claim is dependant your circumstances and the area where you live. You can check this using the Local Housing Allowance calculator.
https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Secure/Default.aspx
The amount is NOT necessarily what you will receive but is the maximum.

Changes to LHA which start in April can be found here:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_192415

If she's looking for work then 5 years is a ridiculous amount of time to think she's not going to be able to get a job unless she's claiming JSA without any intention of seriously looking for a job/only applying for a very selective field of jobs.

McKneff

Is there any reason why she doesnt work or why is she unlikely to be working for the next 5 years.

If she is claiming JSA, she should be job hunting. It is JOB SEEKERS ALLOWANCE after all.

NikNox

Thanks for the replies. The children are mixed sexes, daughter 12, son 7. Basically mum has alcohol and drug issues, has never worked and doesn't intend to, but because of the new rulings with her having to go onto JSA because youngest child is now 7, then she has no choice but to go onto JSA after 15+ years of being on income support. She has epilepsy (alcohol induced originally) and asthma, and will probably play on these ailments to get DLA, or perhaps to get her pushed up the housing list although the current property is not damp. She has no qualifications or experience to speak of, although she did work for 2 days at Asda many years ago but was sacked for being late.

In all honesty, the daughter is my stepdaughter, and she has told us that they are looking at properties in their town at rental's in, to quote her, the £7-8 hundreds (pm), and we don't think she will be able to rent a 3 bed property privately, as that is what they are going for in their area. At the moment the children share a room and mum has her own room. The council have told her she must sleep downstairs, but she's not willing to do this, or have either of the children sleeping downstairs. The area they live in is very rough, lots of gangs and drug related crime. Mum is making promises to the children that they will be living in a nice 3 bedroomed house in a nice area by the summer, and my stepdaughter is clinging on to this (she gets fed up sharing with her brother). Before we bring her down to earth with the truth we want to get our facts right, and because neither myself nor my husband have ever claimed benefits of any kind (except child benefit), it's a world we're not familiar with.

karenx

Also if moving to private let does she have first months rent and deposit?

She wont get all her rent paid by the looks of it. So will have to make up the rest out of her JSA which she shouldnt be getting as she isnt looking for a job. So she better cancel the claim for JSA as she isnt eligable.

karenx

NikNox wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. The children are mixed sexes, daughter 12, son 7. Basically mum has alcohol and drug issues, has never worked and doesn't intend to, but because of the new rulings with her having to go onto JSA because youngest child is now 7, then she has no choice but to go onto JSA after 15+ years of being on income support. She has epilepsy (alcohol induced originally) and asthma, and will probably play on these ailments to get DLA, or perhaps to get her pushed up the housing list although the current property is not damp. She has no qualifications or experience to speak of, although she did work for 2 days at Asda many years ago but was sacked for being late.

In all honesty, the daughter is my stepdaughter, and she has told us that they are looking at properties in their town at rental's in, to quote her, the £7-8 hundreds (pm), and we don't think she will be able to rent a 3 bed property privately, as that is what they are going for in their area. At the moment the children share a room and mum has her own room. The council have told her she must sleep downstairs, but she's not willing to do this, or have either of the children sleeping downstairs. The area they live in is very rough, lots of gangs and drug related crime. Mum is making promises to the children that they will be living in a nice 3 bedroomed house in a nice area by the summer, and my stepdaughter is clinging on to this (she gets fed up sharing with her brother). Before we bring her down to earth with the truth we want to get our facts right, and because neither myself nor my husband have ever claimed benefits of any kind (except child benefit), it's a world we're not familiar with.

You seem concerned for the wellfare of your stepdaughter. Can you not take her in instead? Then the mum is just there with her son and will have no reason to move. But will still have to come off jsa

Wee_Willy_Harris

NikNox wrote: »

....... The council have told her she must sleep downstairs, but she's not willing to do this, or have either of the children sleeping downstairs. ........

The Council will have no interest in the families sleeping arrangements and would NOT have told her that she MUST sleep downstairs. She has probably told them that the children cannot share and they have merely pointed out the only available alternative. There is no LEGAL reason why any of the family members cannot share. Even all 3 in one bedroom would be of little interest to the council.

Moving from secure social housing to private rent requires some very careful consideration.

NikNox

Thanks Karen. Yes we are concerned for my stepdaughter's welfare, and could take her in as she has her own, very pink and fluffy bedroom with us!! But, she is fiercely protective and responsible for her mother, so there's no way on this earth that she would leave her at the moment. One day maybe, but right now wild horses wouldn't drag her away. So, we want to make sure that she is at least equipped with the truth about her potential housing situation. She talks a lot about how they're going to move before Summer, that they'll have 3 bedrooms etc., but we reckon it's all a load of ballony, as is usual. Don't get me wrong, we don't denigrate mum, but this kid is convinced they're getting a super new home in the next couple of months and we don't think it will be possible, not least for financial reasons. As you say, rental in advance as a deposit will be needed, and mum has no spare cash to speak of as any spare cash she does have goes down her neck.

As for JSA, I know people have to show that they're looking for work, but we've been told it's quite easy to stay out of work whilst on JSA simply by saying you've been applying for jobs but haven't had interviews etc. My eldest son knows someone who simply circled job ads in the paper, took them with him to his fortnightly interviews at the Job Centre and they accepted that as 'proof' he's looking for work!!!!!!!