Housing benefit

confusedincambs

Hi,

This is a bit confusing... hope it makes sense!

My boyfriend is trying to rent a house, that I will eventually move into with him, ideally next spring. He is unable to work due to mental health issues, so is eligible for maximum housing benefit. Once I move in, the benefit would obviously be adjusted, so I assumed I'd need to stay where I am which is in a cheap shared house, for a while, to save up some extra money.

But we are considering moving in together sooner, but have no way of knowing whether we could afford to - unsure what monthly rents to look at when choosing houses as you don't find out how much housing benefit you're eligible for as a couple until you present a signed tennancy agreement!!

So we can't move forward either way. If he moves into somewhere alone, and I stay where I am, then he can't afford a place big enough for us to share next year, but if we move in together now, we don't know what we can afford! We just want to be honest about things and make an informed decision, but I feel like the system assumes everyone is being fraudulent!

I have a good(ish) salary, but rents here are very high, so we can't do it if he gets no benefit at all and my salary is considered a joint income. It seems unfair that they would offer him financial support with living costs if he had a house all to himself, but if he shares with someone they assume he no longer has to pay half the rent from his own income, but can expect me to pay it all from mine!

When you ask the council how much help he would get if sharing, they say they can't tell us - not even an estimate! Can anyone help?

If 2 people share a house, which costs £650 a month plus council tax etc, and one is unable to work and the other earns a modest salary (£20 - 25K), would we be eligible for any housing benefit?

Thanks!

confusedincambs

I should add that my boyfriend HAS TO move in the next month or so as he currently shares with his mum, who is moving abroad!

To put this all into context, we're nearly 30, so it's not like we're still 18 or anything!

puddy

it depends why he gets full maximum HB at the moment, is it because his disability benefits are below the threshold for any taper or is it because he is on a 'gateway' benefit like income support?

if the latter, then your income is likely to negate his income support, he may not be entitled to it

if he is on disability benefits in their own right, then that is different, you need to know which ones are income related as your income will be counted as household income and may affect this too

the claim then for hb will change because his initial benefits change, thats without the hb being tapered to take account of your income

i would post on the benefit board and put facts and figures in. i think you can go to 'entitledto' and put in income and rent and things and it should tell you what you would get. your council website will also tell you what the maximum housing allowance is for your area, so for example a one bed flat may be calculated based on a maximum rent of 100 per week, if you rent somewhere thats more than that, they wont take the full rent into consideration when calcuating your benefit

so you need to be careful

could you not both rent single rooms in a houseshare, then you are individuall tenants but living together?

DannyboyMidlands

Why doesn't he sort himself out for now with a 6 month tenancy. You save as much as you can. Next Spring move in together.