Bedroom Tax and kids living away??

garyandsandra

Hello all, sorry if this is in the wrong place. I was just wondering how this bedroom tax will affect me.

I am married to my now new wife in a 3 bed council house. We have 1 child living with us (her son) so we have a 'spare' third bedroom.

As i have 2 children to my previous wife I have them every fortnight for 3 days and have done for the last 3 years.

We use the spare room as a bedroom for my kids complete with bunk beds wardrobes etc.

How will they look at this as to me its not fully a spare bedroom but it is used as a bedroom every fortnight for 3 days at a time.

Obviously we cant take in a lodger as the bedroom is used on the earlier mentioned times.

The Council say this is an option to take on a lodger but it is impossible for us to do this because of the situation already. Seems to me that i have lost this option the Council are offering because i am a good dad who has my kids regular. What on earth are this government going to try and tax us on next.

Another option is to take on more work to pay for the reduction in benefits yet again this can come back and bite you as if you start earning more money you then get it taken from somewhere else and be worse off!

They were quite happy offering my wife this house and other 3 bedroom houses 10 years ago while she was single and with no kids! They never even offered here anything smaller so who fault is that.

Anyway Ill shut up now as im going off topic and ranting!!

Any help would be appreciated.

meerustar

Unfortunately, you will have to pay. They don't care, it's as simple as that.

sablelady

This will only affect those on HB.

princessdon

You don't lose all income when you increase it. Can your wife work?

Will your ex negotiate maintenance? I'd happily reduce my maintenance by £14 a week to ensure overnight stays if I was the PWC.

princessdon

If you both work how do get HB? Do you both only work part time? I think the next generation is part of their concern as the pot is low due to redundancies and lack of incoming tax. Paying for rooms people don't need and isn't available to most others is part of this.

pmlindyloo

No allowances are made for children staying over on a temporary basis so your options are:

1. Pay the reduction in HB. Increase your income - you can input differentt scenarios as regards benefits on the calculator here:
http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

2. Move to a 2 bed place and put bunk beds into the second bedroom.

3. Stay where you are, put bunk beds into the second bedroom and rent out the third bedroom (see if you can find a Monday to Friday lodger)

Can't think of any more, sorry!

How much are we talking about here? Can you cut back somewhere else?

thorsoak

In an ideal world, I'd suggest going for another job paying more so that you could come off benefits completely. However I recognise that this is not an ideal world.

The suggestion that you possibly negotiate reduced maintenance seems eminently sensible to me.

Morlock

princessdon wrote: »

Will your ex negotiate maintenance? I'd happily reduce my maintenance by £14 a week to ensure overnight stays if I was the PWC.

I'd suggest that you are in an extremely tiny minority.

princessdon

Morlock wrote: »

I'd suggest that you are in an extremely tiny minority.

I don't think so, I'm also confused as to how 2 FTE working adults get HB.

flight747

The government could revert 14% to 9% for one bedroom and 25% to 20% for more than one bedroom from 2014/15. So you better off stay where u are.

pmlindyloo

garyandsandra wrote: »

Would never take on a lodger. I would not want a lodger in our house with my kids anyway!. Plus i thought it was illegal to sub let a council property?
Also would the lodger sleep somewhere else on the days i have my kids as there wont be enough beds when i have them!.
Increase your income, easier said then done. We are both part time. The place i worked last year burnt down so made redundant but my boss still give me some hours on clerical work part time. We have both been looking for full time work for the last year but as yo are aware sometimes it works out that your are taking home less money even though you are working more as they stop other benefits. I dont want to sponge off the government but am i hell going to work longer hours just to have less money going in my bank each week then in turn start struggling with other bills like gas and electric and end up on the other forums on here in the Im in debt section!.
We have been living here 10 years and the school is nearby for our oldest. There is no smaller properties in this area, and like I say why on earth did they put my then single wife in a 3 bed house anyway??

this is just a load of rubbish to cut your benefits, thats all it is. If they shut the door on all the immigrants coming it taking all the houses we would not be in this state and next month we are welcoming more in to the country!!!. Its insane. when are we going to get a government who actually lives in the real world!!!

This suggests that you could work full time but believe that you would receive less money overall if you did.

This would be unusual in a couple situation.

Have you checked this using the online calculator?