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Friend moving home
Jojo_the_Tightfisted
Posts: 27,228 Forumite
I hope somebody can help with this, as I've never been in this situation...
A very close friend of mine is not renewing his bedsit's shorthold lease when it expires at the end of this month. He moved there when absolutely desperate as he had split up with his ex when he got injured and lost his job. Before then, they owned their home and he had never rented. So he isn't used to the way things work outside jobs and mortgages.
As usual, the landlord has already sent the 'giving notice' thingy well in advance (which they always do, then ignore it when he comes in and signs the new agreement), so he is going to pack up his stuff, leave the place in good condition and hand back the keys when he tells them that he has decided he is not going to renew.
He has a couple of people to stay with for the period in between ending this tenancy and starting a new one and is moving roughly 200 miles away from his old place.
The lettings agent has offered him a long term tenancy for a one bedroom flat. They know of his financial circumstances and are happy to have him sign the agreement without a guarantor.
He receives Income Support by virtue of his long term injury and Housing Benefit as a private tenant. It is his intention in the long run to get settled and healthy enough to look for employment again - being aware that the benefits system changes may bring this about sooner rather than later.
I believe that once he has a new address, he writes to his current IS address and notifies them of the date he moved and his new address and the transfer is sorted out by them and not him, the claim remaining ongoing throughout this period. He will receive a letter from the new office dealing with him once the process has been carried out.
Is that correct?
Turning to Housing Benefit, this claim will cease as he writes to tell the first council that he no longer lives at the first property and he will have to submit a new claim for LHA, plus a discretionary payment for any difference in the rent level (it appears to be about £30 a month more than the LHA rate for the area, but it's right near the border of the two areas - and it is a very modest property which is priced at the lowest level in the area).
Does he have to fill in a second form for the discretionary payment or can he include in the LHA application a statement saying 'and I would be grateful if any amount over and above the LHA rate is addressed through the housing discretionary fund'?
He is moving for genuine reasons - he has been very unwell (recovering from a spinal fracture complicated by pneumonia and repeated chest infections) and is moving to be closer to family for mutual support so that he can try and get himself back up on his feet rather than continue as he was, and moving somewhere which falls under the Fit Homes Standard - ie, has heating, double glazing and no ongoing mould/damp situation.
The place he was renting was furnished and the new flat isn't, so he has nothing he could bring with him, even if he wanted to risk contaminating the new place with mould spores - not even a bed or fridge. Much as I would like to, there is only so much I can give him to help, and his Mum will do what she can - but she isn't awash with cash either. I already do a lot of skip diving and freecycling with him, so he won't be passively expecting brand new things to be handed to him on a plate. But he does need help.
How would he go about making an application to the Social Fund for a Community Care Grant and a Budgeting Loan? (Realising that they can easily say no, but applying nonetheless as they may say yes because they feel his circumstances warrant it). The last I heard of these, the forms were collected from the local benefits delivery place, but I don't know whether this has changed.
Oh, and he can't use the telephone because he is going deaf, so everything really needs to be in writing rather than phone. He doesn't use typetalk or the internet, mainly because the previous landlord said they didn't want any connections made to the bedsit. The lettings agent for the new place has said that it is no problem to get connected, but then he would have to buy a computer, which is rather low on the list of priorities right now.
This move has the potential to change his life and get him back earning a living, so any advice people could offer to make this as smooth a benefits changeover would be gratefully accepted.
A very close friend of mine is not renewing his bedsit's shorthold lease when it expires at the end of this month. He moved there when absolutely desperate as he had split up with his ex when he got injured and lost his job. Before then, they owned their home and he had never rented. So he isn't used to the way things work outside jobs and mortgages.
As usual, the landlord has already sent the 'giving notice' thingy well in advance (which they always do, then ignore it when he comes in and signs the new agreement), so he is going to pack up his stuff, leave the place in good condition and hand back the keys when he tells them that he has decided he is not going to renew.
He has a couple of people to stay with for the period in between ending this tenancy and starting a new one and is moving roughly 200 miles away from his old place.
The lettings agent has offered him a long term tenancy for a one bedroom flat. They know of his financial circumstances and are happy to have him sign the agreement without a guarantor.
He receives Income Support by virtue of his long term injury and Housing Benefit as a private tenant. It is his intention in the long run to get settled and healthy enough to look for employment again - being aware that the benefits system changes may bring this about sooner rather than later.
I believe that once he has a new address, he writes to his current IS address and notifies them of the date he moved and his new address and the transfer is sorted out by them and not him, the claim remaining ongoing throughout this period. He will receive a letter from the new office dealing with him once the process has been carried out.
Is that correct?
Turning to Housing Benefit, this claim will cease as he writes to tell the first council that he no longer lives at the first property and he will have to submit a new claim for LHA, plus a discretionary payment for any difference in the rent level (it appears to be about £30 a month more than the LHA rate for the area, but it's right near the border of the two areas - and it is a very modest property which is priced at the lowest level in the area).
Does he have to fill in a second form for the discretionary payment or can he include in the LHA application a statement saying 'and I would be grateful if any amount over and above the LHA rate is addressed through the housing discretionary fund'?
He is moving for genuine reasons - he has been very unwell (recovering from a spinal fracture complicated by pneumonia and repeated chest infections) and is moving to be closer to family for mutual support so that he can try and get himself back up on his feet rather than continue as he was, and moving somewhere which falls under the Fit Homes Standard - ie, has heating, double glazing and no ongoing mould/damp situation.
The place he was renting was furnished and the new flat isn't, so he has nothing he could bring with him, even if he wanted to risk contaminating the new place with mould spores - not even a bed or fridge. Much as I would like to, there is only so much I can give him to help, and his Mum will do what she can - but she isn't awash with cash either. I already do a lot of skip diving and freecycling with him, so he won't be passively expecting brand new things to be handed to him on a plate. But he does need help.
How would he go about making an application to the Social Fund for a Community Care Grant and a Budgeting Loan? (Realising that they can easily say no, but applying nonetheless as they may say yes because they feel his circumstances warrant it). The last I heard of these, the forms were collected from the local benefits delivery place, but I don't know whether this has changed.
Oh, and he can't use the telephone because he is going deaf, so everything really needs to be in writing rather than phone. He doesn't use typetalk or the internet, mainly because the previous landlord said they didn't want any connections made to the bedsit. The lettings agent for the new place has said that it is no problem to get connected, but then he would have to buy a computer, which is rather low on the list of priorities right now.
This move has the potential to change his life and get him back earning a living, so any advice people could offer to make this as smooth a benefits changeover would be gratefully accepted.
I could dream to wide extremes, I could do or die: I could yawn and be withdrawn and watch the world go by.
Yup you are officially Rock n Roll
0
Comments
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Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »Did I say something wrong?
No, I read this thread but i cant help you.
Although I did wonder if he'd tried a speak easy phone?
It worked for me until I became severly deaf.0 -
I think people give up reading after an hour or so.Be Alert..........Britain needs lerts.0
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