Housing benefits - living with partner.

Gtuk

Hi

I'm currently claiming housing benefit which pays for a 1 bed flat, approx £450 a month, i also get JSA is £65 a week. My partner is finding it hard to afford her privately rented place so we were thinking of finding a place together.

She is working at the moment and gets around £200-£220 a week before tax, she doesn't claim anything. I assumed that if we lived together, my benefits would be reduced, it makes sense to avoid paying 2 sets of heating/electricity/internet/council tax/etc, plus it frees up a property/benefit money that a single person could use.

I went to the council office today and explained everything but when she did the calculations, she worked out that if i lived with my partner, we would be eligible for £11.91 a week HB. I checked out an online calculator when i got home and realised on the print-out she gave me, the question "are you receiving income based JSA" was set to "no". Was this an error on her part or will i not be eligible for JSA when living with a partner?

I hate to rely on any type of benefits and haven't claimed a penny in the 15 years since i left school, but it just worries me that if this is all correct. What would happen if we both were in full time employment, rented a place and one of us was made redundant again? Would we only be entitled to £11 a week to pay the rent while the other persons wages having to cover everything?

If anyone has any idea what's the best to do in this situation, please let me know.

RAS

one check is www.turn2us.org.uk

Aarons_mummy

If you currently receive JSA income based then on your partners wages you wouldn't be entitled to JSA(IB).

If in the future both of you were working full time and one was made redundent then as long as the necessary NI credits have been paid for 2 years I believe then you would be entitled to the countribution based JSA for 6 months. After that JSA would cease as long as the other partners income was above the weekly threshold the government set (around £110 or around that figure per week).

KimYeovil

A partner is supported by their partner. And vice versa. Of course you do not receive income based JSA when together. That is what a couple is!

If made redundant you would receive six months contributions based JSA that is granted regardless of partner's income. After that six months you support each other.