JSA and Housing Benefit

SKINTMARE

My husband is on the above and we have just gone into rented accomodation due to his business closing and us going down the bankruptcy route..(thats a different story) but what my question I am needing to know is:- he has been on JSA since beginning of August and we have just got housing benefit, How long are you able to stay on JSA if not lucky enough to get a job and how does coming off JSA affect the housing benefit??? what is the criteria for getting and staying on housing benefit till in employment?

HappyMJ

You can stay on job seekers allowance until your retirement date. You can stay on housing benefit until the day you die. You can even claim it when working. Especially helpful when self employed and earning peanuts.

I would recommend that you try not and stay on JSA for more than 12 months. They will expect you to participate in work programmes and jump through hoops to continue to receive it. if your income has been low for a few years I'd look for a job for the next 6 months then come off JSA and back into self employment claiming enterprise allowances and working tax credits to keep things ticking over until either you find a good job or the business picks up. Don't invest too much time or money in the new business it only has to tick over at minimal profit (i.e not at a loss) and you doing 30 hours per week.

nannytone_2

you can stay on JSA contribution based, for 26 weeks, after this time, all household income/savings is taken into account before JSA income based is awarded.

housing benefit isnt based on receiving any particular benefit, but on household income/savings