housing benefit

nicky7175

hi could somebody tell me house this works and if i would be entitled to housing benefit. am on income support and looking to rent for me and 2 kids would i be entitled to housing benefits and does anybody know how much they pay????

Morglin

In council housing, as you are on Income Support, then you would get all your rent paid.

Private rentals work differently, and I would suggest you contact Shelter, who are a mine of information, as to what they will pay for and what they won't:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-120.cfm

Lin

Biffa

Hi,

When you view a private rented property, you will need to get the landlord or letting agent to complete a Pre_tenancy determination form, which you can get from your local council housing / housing benefit department.

Once this is completed, send it back to the HOusing benefit section who will assess the rent. For example, a one bed flat where I work is on average £350 per month, which is a fair rent. If I wanted to look at a penthouse 1 bed flat that was £900 per month, then Housing Benefit would only cover around £350 of the rent, leaving YOU with a massive shortfall that needs to be paid.

It depends on the area where you are. If in doubt, ring your local council and ask for an appointment with their Housing Options team.

real1314

just to add, in some areas a new scheme called Local Housing Allowance (LHA) has been introduced. Under this scheme, you are assesed on your household - i.e you + 2 kids and would be given a set amount of HB. You can then find somewhere to rent and either 1. pay extra if the rent is higher than your LHA OR 2. pocket the difference if the rent is less than your LHA. Any excess LHA in scenario 2. is not treated as income for means tested benefits.

nicky7175

ok cheers its all confusing stuff isnt it, doesnt anybody know how it will stand if I rent a house off my parents all legit with proper documents etc will I still be able to claim housing benefit. They are charging me the going rate of £575 for a 2 bed house.

seven-day-weekend

As far as I know you will only be able to claim HB whilst renting from your parents if they can prove that the property was bought as an investment/business venture.

Our son used to rent our flat, but I was able to show HB the clause on our mortgage which said I was allowed to rent it out, and also got a letter from a local Estate Agent to say it had been offered on the open market in the past. They did pay my son some HB, but not all as they said as a single person he didn't need a two-bedroom flat.

Hope this helps.

nicky7175

ok cheers for that yeah at the moment they rent it out through an agency so it is done as an investment. so hopefully might be ok its 2 bedroomd for 3 of us

seven-day-weekend

Sounds like it could possibly be OK then!

Good luck!

hmc

hi

it will depend on your area how much they will pay

i rent a 2 bed for my son and i

rent is 425 a mth and they only pay 370mth as they say that is the average rent for area

i couldnt find anything cheaper to rent and as its going up im going to ask for another assessment

good luck

daff_duck

Housing Benefit cannot be claimed if you are related to the landlord. This is what we were told when we wanted to let our house to a niece, who was on income support.

Morglin

"If you live in a property owned by a family member and pay them rent, you may be entitled to Housing Benefit. However, there are a couple of things the Housing Benefit department will want to check. Firstly, they will want to be satisfied that you're paying rent on a commercial basis. In other words, they'll want to know that it's a proper tenancy, not just an informal arrangement between family.

Secondly, they may want to check that the arrangement has not been set up in order to take advantage of the Housing Benefit system - this is called a 'contrived tenancy'. For example, if your landlord only asks you to pay rent when you are not working (and so eligible for Housing Benefit), but not when you are working (and earning too much to claim Housing Benefit), this would be a contrived tenancy.

What if my application is turned down?
If there are any problems with your application, you have the right to appeal the decision. You can read more about appealing Housing Benefit decisions in the section on Challenging a decision. Talk to an adviser at a housing aid centre or Citizens Advice Bureau if you're in this position - you can use our Advice services directory to find an agency near you.

Updated: 07 Feb 07"

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-7386.cfm

Lin