Housing benefit and under occupancy

elliegirl

The way some people jump to conclusions on here is a joke. Did I say what age my daughter was when she had a baby. She had moved out, then her flatmates left and she could not afford the rent on her own. We decided to have her move back in so we could help when the baby was born so she could continue with work. She could have given up work and gone the homeless route and live on benefits but she did not want to do that. She is only doing part time as she needs to finish the course she is doing so hopefully she can become a fully qualifed TA.
As for the downsizing row going on, we tried to do that but because of husbands disability needs we need to have a lift and wetroom put in. The H.A have no suitable properties, the council said it would be ages for one of their properties to come up, so both adviced that we have the adaptations done. We know by doing this, when the kids move out we are going to be left paying the extra for under occupancy but what can we do?

nottslass_2

bestpud wrote: »

This is widely publicised so tenants need to make sure they have a back up plan in place, in the same way those with a mortgage should.

If they don't do that while they are working then, frankly, they only have themselves to blame if they reveive an eviction notice.

It's about social housing tenants taking a bit of responsibility for staying in their homes and I don't think it's a bad move tbh.

I say that as a HA tenant. We aren't affected now but it has made us think more about the effects of redundancy etc. I've obviously thought about it before as my OH has survived two rounds of redundancy now and it's stressful to say the least, but I haven't really worried about the house before - now I will!

Is that a bad thing? I think we and many others have taken social housing for granted for a long time - too long!

With a Mortgage Most people will have PPI which will pay out in the event of redundency - unfortunately i do not know of any such scheme in regard to rent.
If you are on a low income it may not be possible to save a nest egg large enough to see you through the extra rent people will have to cover.

The only thing I think this idea will achieve is that people will start to move more to the private rental market which will ultimately cost more in housing benefits !!!!

Popperwell

hunters wrote: »

I understand that DLA is for extra costs for living with a disability such as taxis, wheelchair, equipment etc so I assume you have other income on top of that which pays for your rent, food and utilities?

If you were to downsize then surely heating costs and water rates, council tax will reduce? Perhaps you need to post your SOA on the DFW board and people will see where costs can be cut.

You seem to be making a genuine caring point but like some of the posts before and after mine it is not straight forward.

elliegirl wrote: »

The way some people jump to conclusions on here is a joke. Did I say what age my daughter was when she had a baby. She had moved out, then her flatmates left and she could not afford the rent on her own. We decided to have her move back in so we could help when the baby was born so she could continue with work. She could have given up work and gone the homeless route and live on benefits but she did not want to do that. She is only doing part time as she needs to finish the course she is doing so hopefully she can become a fully qualifed TA.
As for the downsizing row going on, we tried to do that but because of husbands disability needs we need to have a lift and wetroom put in. The H.A have no suitable properties, the council said it would be ages for one of their properties to come up, so both adviced that we have the adaptations done. We know by doing this, when the kids move out we are going to be left paying the extra for under occupancy but what can we do?

Around here all the councils were dissolved so unless you move to an area not covered by the HA and would they accept you doing that there are few if any properties suitable and what is are like matchboxes and in poor areas of the town and out of the way so what you save on the cost of rent, CT, utility bills and the incoming BT is lost because of using taxis and/or buses.

It will be difficult and I might be able to do it but it will mean being very frugal and assumes that the equivelent of DLA will still be available or ESA/JSA is enough to cover the extra costs...I am frugal(keeping warm with clothes/blankets/fleeces and duvets)Eating less and carefully...but there is only so much you can do.

nottslass wrote: »

With a Mortgage Most people will have PPI which will pay out in the event of redundency - unfortunately i do not know of any such scheme in regard to rent.
If you are on a low income it may not be possible to save a nest egg large enough to see you through the extra rent people will have to cover.

The only thing I think this idea will achieve is that people will start to move more to the private rental market which will ultimately cost more in housing benefits !!!!

If you are working and your wage cannot cover the extra costs, you're stuck. If you are on benefits you cannot save because you the threshold is so low and you'll be penalised if you can and again if they are reduced or stopped.

If there is smaller properties available and again you can be charged for extra rooms unless the landlord is good to the tennant and going into the private sector you do lose some security as a Landlord can get rid of you even more easily than in the council/HA sector. And as you say they are likely to charge more than that housing sector with the horrible term of "Social Housing" And once in private property you'll probably never get back into SH again...

Popperwell

bestpud wrote: »

HA tenancies are social housing and come under exactly the same rules as council housing.

The reason it doesn't affect us is we aren't claiming HB and we aren't under occupied.

I'm caught every way:(

bright_side

FBaby wrote: »

Except for those who suddenly can't afford to pay their rent because their hours are cut or are made redundant and they are given 2 months notice to get out if they can't pay any longer...

This is exactly why I have chosen to downsize NOW. If I were to lose my job or have my hours cut, there is no way I could afford to stay here. Those things may never happen, but I'm not prepared to take the risk.

nannytone_2

bestpud wrote: »

It's hard not to take social housing for granted - I think we all do to some extent. The reasons we take it for granted are the same ones that have thousands on waiting lists for them!

I disagree about the DLA - it is to provide for needs related to your disability so, in my eyes at least, paying extra for a larger house because your disability means you can't downsize or need extra room is what DLA is intended for.

if its a valid use pf DLA as a top up of rent ...... how come when a tenant is in receipt of DLA, no non dependant deductions are made to housing benefit?

if someone on DLA has a working adult child ( no matter how high their earnings) full housing.council tax benefit is received?

so a single person with DLA in a 2 bed property will have to find 14% of their rent.... but a person on DLA living in a 2 bed property with an adult child earning any amount will still get full housing benefit because their household qualifies for the second bedroom?

so their household income is higher, and they get more in benefit.

if the system is to be changed it has to be fair on everyone.


from april, i will get £77 a week hb. there are no social housing 1 bed properties in my area, so if i moved to a 1 bed private let i would get £87 a week in lha.
seems really a rse upwards to me

bright_side

Popperwell wrote: »

But it's coming to HA properties and...it is said that HA's are going to charge slightly more BT than council's/LA's do.

I'm a h/a tenant and mine will be charging the standard 14% for one extra room and 25% for two extra rooms.

BigAunty

nannytone wrote: »

if its a valid use pf DLA as a top up of rent ...... how come when a tenant is in receipt of DLA, no non dependant deductions are made to housing benefit?

if someone on DLA has a working adult child ( no matter how high their earnings) full housing.council tax benefit is received?

..

I know, I wondered that myself when one of the earlier posters indicated her adult child was working full time on NMW with extra shifts and didn't need to pay a penny while her DLA claim is live but found he had to pay around 15-20% of his gross income when it was rejected, apparently causing him hardship because of his travel expenses.

I think that most kids do pay keep even when there's no HB deduction to pay towards energy, food and so on, so there's not only no deduction by the Local Council, there's also extra keep in the house.

Presumably, the moment he moves out, the same claimant will be at a double disadvantage - 14% loss of HB and no keep so the household expenses aren't shared.

I know that even in the event of non-DLA claiming households, some parents on CT/HB are astonished that they are expected to sort out the deduction as a family matter through the payment of keep by the paid adult occupants, plus some actually post an admission that their kids refuse to pay up!

nannytone_2

in principle, i agree with the changes.

everyone says .... downsize! but if the one bed properties arent there.... you have no choice!

PippaGirl_2

Another complication which might apply to elliegirl and to me if I needed to downsize is I have had a DFG for bathroom adaptions here so I can shower (I have spinal deformities) and as part of that agreement to get the DFG had to sign to say I would repay every penny if I moved from here within 5 years of the work being signed off. It was signed off 3 months after completion so I'm still tied to the agreement until 2017 as it was completed early this year. If my adult children do move out I will have no choice but to stay here and swallow the cost of the BT as I simply don't have the thousands of pounds needed to pay back the DFG. Of course any new property I downsized into, would need to be adapted if not already done so and any adaptions there may need adapting for me anyway.