Housing Benefit and Rent Issues

chloelaurenj

Hi,

Basically, me and my partner applied for housing benefit in December last year. It finally came through on the 23rd of January and by that time our first rent due date had passed (11th of each month). To pay this we had to borrow money of family and friends and so when the payment finally came in we had to use it to pay these people back.

So now we have to wait for the next due date for housing to come in to pay rent which is the 18th. This means we can't pay the rent until then which will be a £15 late charge. I have attempted to change the rent due date and also change the date of housing benefit but neither will budge.

Is there anything we can do to either change the rent date or housing benefit date?

iluvmarmite

chloelaurenj wrote: »

Hi,

Basically, me and my partner applied for housing benefit in December last year. It finally came through on the 23rd of January and by that time our first rent due date had passed (11th of each month). To pay this we had to borrow money of family and friends and so when the payment finally came in we had to use it to pay these people back.

So now we have to wait for the next due date for housing to come in to pay rent which is the 18th. This means we can't pay the rent until then which will be a £15 late charge. I have attempted to change the rent due date and also change the date of housing benefit but neither will budge.

Is there anything we can do to either change the rent date or housing benefit date?

Is it private rented, if so then it's up to the landlord if they will change the rent date and no one else can do anything about that, housing benefit wont change the date that's for sure.

chloelaurenj

iluvmarmite wrote: »

Is it private rented, if so then it's up to the landlord if they will change the rent date and no one else can do anything about that, housing benefit wont change the date that's for sure.

It's private rented from a lettings company. They've said they can't change the date.. I've read that letting companies just won't allow you at all, so really we have no hope?

Beckyy

Ask if you can borrow the money from family again, but pay them back in installments instead of using next months benefits?

Does your HB cover your rent?

BigAunty

You could check on the housing forum if this £15 late charge is actually legal. I'm aware that landlord's can charge a modest amount of interest for late rent but I'm not aware if penalty charges are legitimate. There are some clauses in tenancy agreements that landlords or their agents typically insert which don't actually have any basis in law.

The housing bods there may also be able to tell you why landlord's are reluctant to change payment dates. It could be, perhaps, because contractually it's awkward to do and requires a new tenancy agreement. I don't know, just speculating on this.

The problem with housing benefit when it comes to real life is that it never synchronises with the rental periods. For example, typically rent is required to be paid monthly in advance whereas HB is paid 4 weekly in arrears so they rarely match.

DannyboyMidlands

Changing the rent due date all sounds very easy but you are effectively asking to live rent free for that period. If I was the landlord I wouldn't agree to that. It's your problem not mine and up to you to budget so that you have the money available.

Sharon87

Well because HB is paid 4 weekly it will be a few days earlier each month as I see you pay your rent monthly, and there are more than 4 weeks in a month (except March as Feb is 28 days). So in a few months, the dates will line up, as suggested ask those people you borrowed money from again and pay them back in installments.

nannytone_2

after this month, it will all sort itself out.
your rent is paid calandar monthly but housing benefit is paid 4 weekly.
you will get 13 paymenys of housing benefit over the year and it is up to you to wnsure that you keep hold of the money needed to pay your rent