Housing benefit and jobseekers for couple ...

nacbeth

Hi guys, thanks very much for your help with this!

I'm 22 and about to enter full time employment earning £15,000 a year. I live with my boyfriend who is 25 and a full time student. When he finishes his MA in September it is very likely that he won't be able to find a job. But here we run into a bit of a pickle!

It seems he is ineligible for income-based jobseekers because I work full-time, and it seems I'm ineligible for Working Tax Credit because I'm under 25! Is this the case?

Also, I can't find out if we would be eligible for housing benefit if he isn't working but not receiving jobseekers. Can anyone help us out with this? We are living in London and our lease expires in September, after which we'll be living in Camden, Brent or Westminster.

Thanks again.

mazza111

I'm not sure how that would work tbh. Have you tried going to entitledto.co.uk and putting his name in as the claimant? That would tell you if you would get WTC and/or HB.

Robbie64

Unless you have a child or have a disability that puts you at a disadvantage you can't get WTC if you are under 25. And to claim Income based JSA the partner has to work under 24 hours a week.

Your local council website should have a benefit calculator so you can enter your financial details in there to get a calculation of how much you may receive. Sorry I can't help more than this but HB depends on a number of factors, including your rent.

BigAunty

Couples are required, according to the rules for means tested benefits, to support and assist each, so your employment income is considered joint/household income.

If he has paid sufficient contributions over the last 2 tax years, he would be entitled to contribution based JSA for 6 months.

WTC is not available to the under 25s and you wouldn't get any or much on an income of 15k.

HB and council tax discount is based on income so if your household income is low enough, you may qualify for some.

You can identify the maximum Local Housing Allowance rate for a 1 bedroom property (if you are living in a place without sharing with others) or the shared property rate if you live with others, on the local council or Direct Gov websites.

Then you can enter the information into the Turn2us online benefit calculator which will take into account your employment income. The Shelter website provides good info on how Local Housing Allowance (housing benefit in the private sector) works.

nacbeth

The entitledto website said that we could claim housing benefit up to £9,000 a year, but the Camden borough website said we could claim 0 .... a bit confused at the mo!

mynameistallulah

You could move to a cheaper area ...