housing benefit confusion, please help

paddedjohn

Your daughter has had at least 8 months to make prepare herself for the cuts, they have been in the media virtually every week. She is going to have to move into shared accomodation or get work to pay her extra rent.

katrina123

paddedjohn wrote: »

Your daughter has had at least 8 months to make prepare herself for the cuts, they have been in the media virtually every week. She is going to have to move into shared accomodation or get work to pay her extra rent.

the 8 months, we were told it would be a £5 shortfall per week.

the news of the shared accomodation rate was told to her in jan 2012, she thought it must have been an error.

was this shared rate news just told to the public and HB claimants in jan 2012?

Dunroamin

katrina123 wrote: »

the 8 months, we were told it would be a £5 shortfall per week.

the news of the shared accomodation rate was told to her in jan 2012, she thought it must have been an error.

was this shared rate news just told to the public and HB claimants in jan 2012?

I'm afraid that it's been common knowledge for most of last year; there've been lotsof threads about it on here over that period.

ETA

Information on direct.gov dated March 2011.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_192415

BigAunty

MSE has a handy link for detecting if a household is impacted by HB cuts and how to cope with them.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/housing-benefit

Who told you that she would only be affected by a fiver a week?

One big change is that the percentile dropped from 50% to 30% which meant that instead of qualifying for mid priced properties in the local rental market, the claimant could only qualify for the bottom third lowest rents. Perhaps that accounted for the predicted five pound loss? However, that was only part of the change.

And then the other big change which had masses of publicity and all affected claimants should have been notified is that the age limit for a self contained 1 bedroom changed from 25 to 35. Going from an exclusive self contained property entitlement to a shared property rate involves significant drop and pretty much means its unaffordable for those on single benefits like JSA or ESA to afford to retain their tenancy.

katrina123

thanks
CAB told her several months ago that it would £98 per week with the cuts, £5 shortfall per week.
And also a letter from Local Council dated Dec 2011 says new calculation will be £98 (£5 shortfall per week). Then few weeks later letter saying £55 per week Shared Rate, so £49 shortfall per week.

"when will these changes affect me?
you will have been told of the changes to the LHA from april 2011 and given
9 months protection from changes. the nine months start from 26 feb 2012.

so, we have 9 months to prepare, or 9 months have passed?

another letter says 9 months is ending in feb 2012.

The 9 months they gave, was time for the £5 shortfall information.
Now the the 9 months is up, they are saying £49 shortfall.

emsywoo123

katrina123 wrote: »

thanks
CAB told her several months ago that it would £98 per week with the cuts, £5 shortfall per week.
And also a letter from Local Council dated Dec 2011 says new calculation will be £98 (£5 shortfall per week). Then few weeks later letter saying £55 per week Shared Rate, so £49 shortfall per week.

"when will these changes affect me?
you will have been told of the changes to the LHA from april 2011 and given
9 months protection from changes. the nine months start from 26 feb 2012.

so, we have 9 months to prepare, or 9 months have passed?

another letter says 9 months is ending in feb 2012.

The 9 months they gave, was time for the £5 shortfall information.
Now the the 9 months is up, they are saying £49 shortfall.

As she has had conflicting letters it might be wise to speak to the council directly.

I know what I think it means, but best to check!

Dunroamin

katrina123 wrote: »

thanks
CAB told her several months ago that it would £98 per week with the cuts, £5 shortfall per week.
And also a letter from Local Council dated Dec 2011 says new calculation will be £98 (£5 shortfall per week). Then few weeks later letter saying £55 per week Shared Rate, so £49 shortfall per week.

"when will these changes affect me?
you will have been told of the changes to the LHA from april 2011 and given
9 months protection from changes. the nine months start from 26 feb 2012.

so, we have 9 months to prepare, or 9 months have passed?

another letter says 9 months is ending in feb 2012.

The 9 months they gave, was time for the £5 shortfall information.
Now the the 9 months is up, they are saying £49 shortfall.

It certainly sounds as if the 9 months ends on Feb 2012 and as if the "start" letter you quote was a misprint. Was the other letter ( where it says the 9 months ends in Feb 2012) a correction of the misprint in the earlier letter?

katrina123

"Based on the information you have given, your Local Housing Allowance bedroom entitlement is:

1 bedrooms - for a total of 1 people"

this is gvt website using their bedroom calculator.

Calling council to clear up confusion.

If 9 months ends in feb 2012, thevye basically given 3 weeks to prepare for Shared Accommodation Rate. This massive shortfall was only told to us 3 weeks ago. Before that we were told it would be £5 shortfall, by CAB and by Local Council.

BigAunty

This local council explain a bit more how to work out transition protection so I wonder if this helps or not.

http://www.enfield.gov.uk/info/200039/grants_financial_help_and_benefits/801/housing_benefits-performance_news_and_hot_topics/2

katrina123

BigAunty wrote: »

This local council explain a bit more how to work out transition protection so I wonder if this helps or not.

http://www.enfield.gov.uk/info/200039/grants_financial_help_and_benefits/801/housing_benefits-performance_news_and_hot_topics/2

when were other Single Claimants told by their council about the Shared Rate change? Jan/Feb 2012?