Claiming Council Tax Benefit and living with a funded student (partner)

sopaz

Really confused regarding council tax payments and wonder if anyone here could help?

I'm considering moving in to a rented property with my partner. I'm a PhD student, funded by a research council stipend (~£13k per year, paid quarterly, with no income tax paid on it).

My partner earns ~£100 a week part time, so most of her income would be going on half of the rent, with what's left of my stipend to cover the rest of the rent and everything else.

This all adds up fine until we think about council tax (likely an extra £100 a month, or about 20% of the rent!).
As a student I normally wouldn't be paying council tax, and I presumed my partner wouldn't as her income is so low? (she is well below the income tax threshold)

Using an online benefits calculator, it would seem she is entitled to both full housing benefit and full council tax benefit.

Is this actually true when taking into account my stipend?
(If so, it almost seems like we would be scamming the system? We would definitely be much better off than what I've budgeted for!)

Thanks for reading!

sammyjammy

If you've put all your income in for both of you then yes it probably is true, it can't hurt to apply, as long as you've given all available info.

sopaz

Thanks for the reply.

There isn't a way to put my stipend into the calculator - I've tried the benefits calculator on MSE and it suggests "it's complicated" for students.

Is there some sort of national department I could call or is this all dealt with by local councils?

BigAunty

I can't answer your question but note that while your stipend may be tax free it doesn't necessarily mean that there is any protection whatsoever from it being classed as income for the purposes of benefit entitlement calculations, and it probably will.

The benefits system is set-up on the expectation that partner's who live together mutually support and assist each other. Income by the couple gets classed jointly as household income.

I appreciate that the benefit calculators can't cope with one in a couple working, and one being a student. Perhaps there's a student services advisor at your Uni who has specialist benefits knowledge or there is a student forum where this type of question has been answered.

Housing benefit and council tax is paid by the local council so that's your main port of call. However, the local Citizens Advice Bureau may be able to do a benefits calculation for you but their services are usually under extreme pressure.

sammyjammy

sopaz wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

There isn't a way to put my stipend into the calculator - I've tried the benefits calculator on MSE and it suggests "it's complicated" for students.

Is there some sort of national department I could call or is this all dealt with by local councils?

As has been said you'll need to contact your local council, put your stipend in as employed earnings as it'll be treated as such, remember that your income is not so if it asks for gross you'll have to work out what it would be if you paid tax, NI etc to get accurate figures. Just remember the liability for council tax will be different as it will be based on the need to pay by your partner only and the calculation website won't know that

Anybody can apply for LHA if they live in rented accommodation so I would recommend just put the application in when you're able to do so.

sopaz

Thanks for the replies.

I've finally found a phone number so will give the council a call next week. Hopefully they can do some sort of calculation.

Is it possible to just apply for council tax benefit? Or is it a case of applying for all benefits and getting housing and council tax benefit together?