Housing Benefit / Council Tax Benefit - Bed room tax?

juanmanuelmarquez

Hi there,
I was told by a work colleague that in April the benefits will change on Housing Benefit and the new council tax benefit will include bedroom tax of every bedroom vacant, so i will be paying upto £14 per week? What if im supposed to be on Council Tax Benefit? - would i still need to pay?

benefitbaby

The bedroom tax effects HB (1 bed = 14% less HB, 2 bed or more = 25% less - i think). CTB is not affected by the bed tax, however you ar elikely to be affected by the abolition of CTB and the bringing in of the new council tax support scheme. In most areas people will have to pay something to CT.

HappyMJ

juanmanuelmarquez wrote: »

Hi there,
I was told by a work colleague that in April the benefits will change on Housing Benefit and the new council tax benefit will include bedroom tax of every bedroom vacant, so i will be paying upto £14 per week? What if im supposed to be on Council Tax Benefit? - would i still need to pay?

Are you in a council/housing association property? Yes, you would still get your housing benefit reduced even if on council tax benefit.

If you are in a private rental then your rates are based on LHA rates for your area already.

benefitbaby

HappyMJ wrote: »

Are you in a council/housing association property? Yes, you would still get your housing benefit reduced even if on council tax benefit.

If you are in a private rental then your rates are based on LHA rates for your area already.

Very important point that I forgot to mention.

juanmanuelmarquez

HappyMJ wrote: »

Are you in a council/housing association property? Yes, you would still get your housing benefit reduced even if on council tax benefit.

If you are in a private rental then your rates are based on LHA rates for your area already.

I have no idea which benefit im on, i cant remember when making the claim, i received a letter saying regarding my claim for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit, which i had to pay some money knocked off due to the benefit. so it hasnt told me exactly what benefit im on. But i own the house outright, 3 bedroom, only 2 people living in house and only 1 bedroom vacant, but both of us are on working tax credits.

benefitbaby

If you own the house outright then you cannot be receiving HB as this is paid for rental costs. Therefore you are getting CTB for help towards your council tax bill and may be affected by changes in April due to the abolition of CTB and council tax support scheme coming in (but not the bedroom tax which is for HB recipients living in social housing).

HappyMJ

juanmanuelmarquez wrote: »

I have no idea which benefit im on, i cant remember when making the claim, i received a letter saying regarding my claim for Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit, which i had to pay some money knocked off due to the benefit. so it hasnt told me exactly what benefit im on. But i own the house outright, 3 bedroom, only 2 people living in house and only 1 bedroom vacant, but both of us are on working tax credits.

If you own your house outright then you won't be on housing benefit so ignore anything you see regarding "bedroom tax". There are changes being made to council tax benefit so you will probably have to pay something towards your council tax next tax year. That amount is currently unknown...some areas are basing council tax benefit on a band A property and you pay the rest and some are giving a fixed discount.

nannytone_2

it only applies to rented social housing.

council rtax benefit will be replaced by council tax support, and everyone will have to contribute towards their council taz, whereas before, people on means tested benefits were exempt,

doesnt seem like either will affect the OP

juanmanuelmarquez

oh thats ok, im glad im off the hook otherwise how on earth would i have paid for that! yeah i had to contribute towards council tax benefit this year anyway, thinking that... i guess the council tax benefit gave me a big discount, so i suppose it would be the same, as i would still need to pay something towards it and not completly exempted!

Billy_two_speakers

nannytone wrote: »

it only applies to rented social housing.

council rtax benefit will be replaced by council tax support, and everyone will have to contribute towards their council taz, whereas before, people on means tested benefits were exempt,

doesnt seem like either will affect the OP

or war pensioners

HumptyDumpty

Hi,

Am I correct in saying that this will only apply to those that are claiming Housing Benefit? If so, then it doesn't apply to me.

Also, I seem to be picking up on a change to the Council Tax, I'm not aware of any change being introduced and can't find any information on this? Is this happening?

How will this affect those who own a place that their son resides in?
Only benefit he claims is a reduction on the Council Tax as he is unemployed to date and living there alone. We don't rent it out to him. It's purely for his own independent living.

Will he or myself (owner of flat) incur a charge on the spare room? It's a 2 bed TFF.
Thanks.