Asking advice for my nephew

SPELLKASTER

My nephew is 24 and is claiming jobseeker's allowance (not sure if its income or contributions based).

He currently lives at home with his parents and is not happy.

He wants his own place; what help is he entitled to?

Thanks.

Caz3121

He will be entitled to housing benefit based on the shared accommodation rate (as he is under 35) for the area
He can live in any size accommodation that he wishes, eg if he is looking for a one bedroom place, but the benefits will still be for the shared rate.
He will also be able to claim council tax benefits
note: his JSA will need to cover all his other bills and any topup on the rent.
As housing benefit is paid in arrears he is also likely need to be able to stump up the deposit and a months rent in advance together with finding a landlord that will accept people on housing benefit (many don't)

LittleMax

Single people under 35 (used to be 25) only qualify for local housing allowance at single room rate ie a room in a shared house or flat. The amount varies according to the local authority area.

BigAunty

To move into a rental property, most tenants will be expected to pay the equivalent of 2-3 months rent in advance rent, deposit and perhaps admin fees. Some local councils run deposit guarantee schemes for those in housing need and/or low incomes. Most landlords do not accept HB claimants.

It will be extremely hard for a single person receiving £53 a week to pay for their basic bills with this. It is a subsistence sum that only those with fantastic budgeting skills can live on. Getting into hardship and debt is easy.

The LHA he will get (shared property rate) is calculated to cover the cheapest third of rental properties on the market, therefore he will have limited choice of lower quality properties.

Mojisola

He should do a paper exercise showing how he would make his JSA spread when he has utilities, etc, to pay as well food.

He may decide to stay at home until he can get a job.

SPELLKASTER

Thanks for the replies, I will let him know what his options are.

He also has around £5000 debt on a credit card; when I found that out I went mad; mind you he did have a job at the time but he is now struggling to pay off his debt.

He is not happy at home at all and doesn't get on with his parents; especially his dad who wants him to get a job but my nephew doesn't seem bothered!!

He got laid off work several months ago, he's only had several interviews,and not much since.

I also think its quite shocking that he only pay his parents £25 a week for his keep yet he gets that back more in food alone!!

I have said to my brother he needs to kick him out and make him stand on his own two feet and that he can then see how much things cost!!

BigAunty

Perhaps his alleged laziness is actually that he's depressed at his finances and the difficulty in securing another job, that he's demoralised, dejected and fed-up?

Get him to post his details on the Debt Free wanabee board so he can start taking control of his debts rather than the other way round.

Not sure how evicting him will help matters - perhaps a constructive way of doing it is to pay his deposit/first month's rent at a new place and guide him out into the real world rather than make him homeless - that will still probably be a shock to his system if he's used to getting full bed and board for £25 a week but at least it won't fracture the family.

MSE has a budget planner.

dseventy

Ask him to ring around some local letting agents asking what they have for a young man with no job on the dole.

When he comes off the phone, see if you can show him a energy bill for the house, perhaps some shopping receipts etc.

Then ask him if its wise to wait until he has a job.

That should solve a lot of problems.

D70

pmlindyloo

SPELLKASTER wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, I will let him know what his options are.

He also has around £5000 debt on a credit card; when I found that out I went mad; mind you he did have a job at the time but he is now struggling to pay off his debt.

He is not happy at home at all and doesn't get on with his parents; especially his dad who wants him to get a job but my nephew doesn't seem bothered!!

He got laid off work several months ago, he's only had several interviews,and not much since.

I also think its quite shocking that he only pay his parents £25 a week for his keep yet he gets that back more in food alone!!

I have said to my brother he needs to kick him out and make him stand on his own two feet and that he can then see how much things cost!!

Since he is on JSA at the moment then he should write to his creditor and ask to pay a token £1 a month until he finds a job.

CAB/National Debtline(google) will have template letters that he can use.

Leaving home whilst on JSA is not really a sensible option so I agree that sitting down with him and showing him the cost of utilities etc is an excellent way of proving this and may give him the 'kick up the ...' that you suggest he needs.

Having said this it can be very depressing for young people who cannot find a job and often they need a helping hand to explore different avenues than merely applying for jobs.

Can't remember if you said how old he was but am thinking that he might benefit from a college course or similar to increase his skills. Has he explored such options? Would he be eligible for help from somewhere like Connexions?

Edit, just seen his age and Connexions wouldn't be appropriate but still might be worth exploring the idea of further education/apprenticeship etc

BigAunty

The Princes Trust have courses for those in his age bracket who are unemployed? Perhaps it would be more constructive if he is pointed or nudged or ordered towards one of these?

http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/need_help.aspx

SPELLKASTER

Thank you all for the above advise.

The trouble is with my nephew he has everything handed to him on a plate; my brother is at fault because he is too soft with him; my newphew, when he was working, was still giving them £25 a week, totally taking the ***, I said to my brother at the time he was working he should have contributed a lot more to his keep a week.

My brother has kicked him out in the past and stupidly let my newphew back in!! All of us said how can he learn to stand on his own two feet!!

He has no idea about the cost of food, utility bills, etc etc; I think he should pay more for his keep!!

I will let him know about the Princes Trust and tell him to contact them; the trouble is my nephew has a terrible attitude, he eats his parents out of house and home, he spends all night on the computer which I feel is unhealthy and sleeps half the day as a result.

I think my brother needs to be more firmer with him; his older brother works night shift so I cant understand why he wont do the same as they are looking for staff!!