Girlfriend redundant 0k, does my 60k salary mean no Housing Benefit?!

uponahill

PasturesNew wrote: »

£60k is a take home of £3,465.
Rent is £850
Council tax for two is £100

£3,465 - £850 - £100 = £2,515

The Government work on a couple needing £460/month to live on after housing costs.

So, you're still £2k ahead.

Answer is no.

Rubbish, a pair of disabled people over 60 are paid upwards of £550 a week in benefits BEFORE Housing & Council Tax.
How can you say that? It all depends on each persons circumstances and age.
There is no fixed - The Government work on a couple needing £460/month to live on after housing costs.

pmlindyloo

I do feel some sympathy for the OP.

On some forums on this site two people living together are encouraged to keep their finances entirely separate, especially when the relationship is relatively new.

I can see that the OP and his girlfriend decided to live together when they were both working and able to support their half of the bills.

However, the scenario has now changed.

I can understand the OP asking about benefits as I believe he believes that his girlfriend should be contributing to her half of the bills.

Now the OP has found out that living together is 'supporting each other' in the eyes of the government it will make the two of them consider their relationship closely.

Butterfly_Brain

I think that the main gripe is that he has only been living with GF for 4 months so he doesn't want to have to pay for her like married couples do.

jamespir

if you live as a couple then they take that you are and youd get no hbeneift if she was a lodger she probably could but the dwp see a man and a girl living together as a couple

debrag

uponahill wrote: »

I used to earn well over £100,000 a year in the late 80's early 90's. My net was £1350 a week.

Yet I was entitled to DLA and IIDB and my wife had Family Allowance for two children.

We were entitled despite my income, so what is so wrong with that?

The OP is only asking what he is entitled to!

Not means tested though, I think, not sure aout FA. Times have changed since the 80s/90s.

We earn less than £30k between us and can't qualify for benefits. I understand you want her to pay her way but living together after only 4 months is a big step and from now on you are a couple.

samwich1979

I can see why people are a little ticked off with the OP on this subject, I am the sole earner for my family, i earn £24000 a year working part time and my husband, who is looking for work, stays home and looks after our 10 month old son.
My husband cannot get any JSA as i work and earn a 'decent' wage and so i have to pay rent, all bills and food shopping for all of us. It is a real struggle to be honest sometimes and we get 3 weeks into the month and i am lucky to have £20 left in the bank, sometimes nothing and i have to borrow off family.
Whilst the OP may not think it is right, unfortunately this is how it works, you are living together, ie PARTNERS, you share everything. So when one half of the couple is struggling the other half is there to help, whether this be monitory support or whatever, it is what you HAVE to do and it shouldnt be questioned, even if you have only been living together for 4 months.
You chose to do this so you have to live with the consequences. The OP cannot think much of his partner if he thinks his partner should pay her own way even though she obviously cannot at the moment.
Then you have the matter of 60k a year! I get £2.00 a month housing benefit on a wage of 24k so take from this what you want.

Mara69

uponahill wrote: »

We were entitled despite my income, so what is so wrong with that?

Well that is what is wrong with that....but that is a debate for a different board.

PasturesNew

uponahill wrote: »

Rubbish, a pair of disabled people over 60 are paid upwards of £550 a week in benefits BEFORE Housing & Council Tax.
How can you say that? It all depends on each persons circumstances and age.
There is no fixed - The Government work on a couple needing £460/month to live on after housing costs.

I read it that the OP isn't disabled and not over 60 ... and was wanting money because of a JSA-type situation.

Nouveaupoor

Is it presumed that the girlfriend was earning also earning £60K as she was paying half the rent and CT? If she was earning less than £60K it would have been fair for her to pay on a pro rata basis.
In the good old bad old days when my partner earned £40K and I earned £20K he would pay 2/3 of bills and I would pay 1/3.
Now the tables are turned and I earn more, I now pay more.
What support would the OP like to receive if he were made redundant and his girlfriend was working?
The crux of the matter is that the OP and girlfriend are regarded as a couple and do not qualify to receive benefits. Rightly so as neither the OP or his girlfriend will suffer a reduced standard of living on an income of £60K.