Housing benefit and under occupancy

dexyweescot

I'm a 35 year old single father who was offered a 2 bedroom flat at the time of my relationship breakup as i was homeless being separated from the family home. I have 2 kids which is why i needed a 2 bedrooms. I still have a good relationship with their mother so we half our parent responsibilities The kids come to stay over at mine 3 times a week and for a full weekend every 2nd week. I have recently had an accident and I have broken my heel which has a recovery time of 12-18 months. I was a self employed ventilation engineer which is very physical and I might never be able to do my job properly again. I'm sure like many self employed people i did not have insurance, purely as i could not afford any and injured myself leaving me no option but to claim Employment Support and Housing Benefit. This is the first time in my life I have ever had to claim housing benefit so it was a bit of a learning curve and one I don't wish to repeat. My ESA is £71 per week. From that my energy bills are £30, I buy shopping for 3 of us at £30 and i try give £5 maintenance to support them with the remainder going for bus travel to hospital and physio, which sometimes I can't afford.
I have also had my letter which i find disgusting, I actually had to read it a few times till it sunk in!! I just hope I can get back to work before the change takes place but it looks highly unlikely from the doctors reports. By the looks of my budget, I would have no option but to ask for a smaller property and have my kids sleeping either in my room or the livingroom. Does this mean that in future single parents cant ask for extra rooms then? or is there anyway of splitting the child benefit payment? as this is what determines who has the room for the children.
All I can say is the Scottish referendum cant come quick enough to vote Scotland away from these tyrants. I for one never voted them in and I have a few chosen words for Mr Cameron!

Mojisola

dexyweescot wrote: »

I'm a 35 year old single father who was offered a 2 bedroom flat at the time of my relationship breakup as i was homeless being separated from the family home. I have 2 kids which is why i needed a 2 bedrooms. I still have a good relationship with their mother so we half our parent responsibilities The kids come to stay over at mine 3 times a week and for a full weekend every 2nd week. I have recently had an accident and I have broken my heel which has a recovery time of 12-18 months. I was a self employed ventilation engineer which is very physical and I might never be able to do my job properly again. I'm sure like many self employed people i did not have insurance, purely as i could not afford any and injured myself leaving me no option but to claim Employment Support and Housing Benefit. This is the first time in my life I have ever had to claim housing benefit so it was a bit of a learning curve and one I don't wish to repeat. My ESA is £71 per week. From that my energy bills are £30, I buy shopping for 3 of us at £30 and i try give £5 maintenance to support them with the remainder going for bus travel to hospital and physio, which sometimes I can't afford.
I have also had my letter which i find disgusting, I actually had to read it a few times till it sunk in!! I just hope I can get back to work before the change takes place but it looks highly unlikely from the doctors reports. By the looks of my budget, I would have no option but to ask for a smaller property and have my kids sleeping either in my room or the livingroom. Does this mean that in future single parents cant ask for extra rooms then? or is there anyway of splitting the child benefit payment? as this is what determines who has the room for the children.
All I can say is the Scottish referendum cant come quick enough to vote Scotland away from these tyrants. I for one never voted them in and I have a few chosen words for Mr Cameron!

If your ex would agree to it, you could claim the CB for one child while she claims for the other. As you are sharing care 50/50, it would make sense.

BigAunty

dexyweescot wrote: »

.... Does this mean that in future single parents cant ask for extra rooms then? or is there anyway of splitting the child benefit payment? as this is what determines who has the room for the children.
.

There's never been an obligation for children of parents in relationship breakdowns to have rooms in both properties for their children, you've just been lucky. Otherwise, the UK would have an even higher rate of unoccupied bedrooms across the country and the housing benefit bill would be even higher (if both properties had HB for the children, duplicating the costs).

Typically, the parent with primary care of the children (i.e. the one receiving child benefit, the address where their GP and school is registered) has the children taken into account when it comes to the size of the property they are allocated by a social housing landlord or their Local Housing Allowance rate in the private sector, not both.

It's even harder for those in private housing under the age of 35 - there, the non-resident parent is only eligible for the shared property rate of LHA (housing benefit) and therefore don't have their own place with a living room to themselves to accommodate the stays of their children.

sulkisu

dexyweescot wrote: »

I'm a 35 year old single father who was offered a 2 bedroom flat at the time of my relationship breakup as i was homeless being separated from the family home. I have 2 kids which is why i needed a 2 bedrooms. I still have a good relationship with their mother so we half our parent responsibilities The kids come to stay over at mine 3 times a week and for a full weekend every 2nd week. I have recently had an accident and I have broken my heel which has a recovery time of 12-18 months. I was a self employed ventilation engineer which is very physical and I might never be able to do my job properly again. I'm sure like many self employed people i did not have insurance, purely as i could not afford any and injured myself leaving me no option but to claim Employment Support and Housing Benefit. This is the first time in my life I have ever had to claim housing benefit so it was a bit of a learning curve and one I don't wish to repeat. My ESA is £71 per week. From that my energy bills are £30, I buy shopping for 3 of us at £30 and i try give £5 maintenance to support them with the remainder going for bus travel to hospital and physio, which sometimes I can't afford.
I have also had my letter which i find disgusting, I actually had to read it a few times till it sunk in!! I just hope I can get back to work before the change takes place but it looks highly unlikely from the doctors reports. By the looks of my budget, I would have no option but to ask for a smaller property and have my kids sleeping either in my room or the livingroom. Does this mean that in future single parents cant ask for extra rooms then? or is there anyway of splitting the child benefit payment? as this is what determines who has the room for the children.
All I can say is the Scottish referendum cant come quick enough to vote Scotland away from these tyrants. I for one never voted them in and I have a few chosen words for Mr Cameron!

You should be able to claim for travel to and from the hospital. Not sure what part of Scotland you are in, but presumably the same applies across the country.

http://www.nhsggc.org.uk/content/default.asp?page=s591_5

dexyweescot

@Mojisola

Ye that was the only way i thought of too, ill have to get the bunch of flowers bought then haha.

@sulkisu

Thanks I looked into that and just hope I can get it back dated without the tickets now