What am I entitled to as a single, unemployed man?

6091833

I was unfortunately made unemployed two months ago and have been having trouble finding work since.

I am currently receiving:

• Job Seeker's Allowance @ £140 per fortnight
• Housing benefit @ £240 per month

I also get a reduction in my council tax.

The problem is that even if I saved up all of my Job Seeker's Allowance and Housing Benefit for a month, I would still only have £520. My rent alone is £600 per month.

This is obviously without taking food, drink and utility bills into account.

Fortunately my parents were generous enough to help me with rent last month and other family members have been able to help out with food and drink.

I don't like relying on family members for loans as it is demeaning for me and unfair to them.

I'm just wondering why the Housing Benefit is so low. Am I expected to move into a smaller property? Wouldn't I still be liable to pay the rent for the duration of the lease even if I moved out?

Another factor that could possibly help is that my girlfriend unofficially lives with me. If I amended the tenancy agreement to have both of our names on it, would we be financially better off? And would she need to be credit checked to amend the agreement? She was made unemployed at the same time as we worked together. I'm unsure if we could both claim housing benefit for the same property, or if it would be better as a joint claim?

Any advice that you guys could give would be greatly appreciated. My rent is due on September 1st and I'm told my Housing Benefit won't be paid until September 7th.

kingfisherblue

Do you mean JSA is £140 a fortnight?

6091833

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Do you mean JSA is £140 a fortnight?

Yes, sorry, I have amended my post.

[Deleted User]

£140 per week? Do you mean every 2 weeks?

Otherwise your sum does not add up...

SORRY POSTED AT SAME TIME :-)

Torry_Quine

It definitely should be a joint claim for HB. If you are both entitled to JSA contribution based then single claims will remain but if one or both of you are only on income based it will be a joint claim as well.

sniggings

you should already have your girlfriend on the form, if she lives there, they watch for stuff like that so I would tell them as soon as possible, if she is living their too then you need to make a joint claim for housing benefit if she is on benefits too, if she is working then she will have to pay towards the rent so your housing benefit will be reduced to take her share into account.

thorsoak

How old are you? Housing benefit is paid dependant upon age.

sniggings

thorsoak wrote: »

How old are you? Housing benefit is paid dependant upon age.

He's over 25 as he is on the full JSA amount of £71 a week.

moose1982

sniggings wrote: »

He's over 25 as he is on the full JSA amount of £71 a week.

Yes, but under 35 would mean he would only be entitled to the 'shared house' rate, which is normally lower than the one bedroom home rate.

(They changed it fairly recently)

BigAunty

A couple who live together without dependents are entitled to a 1 bedroom housing benefit (LHA) rate at any age whereas a single person without dependents is only entitled to shared room rate if they are under 35 (used to be 25 but that changed in January).

Your local council website will have the LHA rates published.

6091833

Thanks for the replies so far.

It seems I should be getting £95 per week for Housing Benefit.

This still wouldn't cover my rent. Is there anything else I may be entitled to?

I just don't understand how the council expect me to make up the difference when I'm not working.

I had already been living in this property for a long time before I became unemployed so it's not as simple as moving out as I have a lease. Plus there would be the normal costs associated with moving house which I just can't afford at the moment.