Housing benefit declined

Drew111

Hey,

I recently applied for housing benefit after a colleague of mine told me about it. I used the Turn2us.co.uk checker and it all seemed to be pointing in the direction of me being entitled to something.

I work full time as a bar tender on minimum wage, share a flat with a friend renting from a private landlord where I pay £375 and my flatmate pays £350.

I received the reply from the council today and the first page says "Weekly housing benefit £0" so I'm assuming I'm not getting anything.

Asked my friend in work who is in the same situation except he works only 30 hours/week as opposed to my 39 and he pays a bit less rent. He gets £100+/week from the council in housing benefit/working tax credits...

Basically I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this, on the council websites it says housing benefit is to support people on a "low income"...is full time minimum wage not low?

Thanks for any help
Andrew

nannytone_2

how old are you and what is your LHA rate?( assuming it is a private let>)

Drew111

I'm 26 and the LHA is £66.92 for shared accomodation (I think thats the one I should be looking at)

Witch_Hazel

Drew111 You can apply for working tax credits as you are over 25.

luvchocolate

It can be very confusing on the turn2us site I was allowed £52 per week working tax credit, when I googled wtc it said not entitled to anything I believe the figure is below £12000 gross.

drbraindead

I also was declined for housing benefit with NE Lincolnshire council.

I live in a flat with my wife who works part time and I have been strugling to get more than 30 hours in.

They calculated our combined earnings were £220 a week (even though I sent in a wage slip of £30).

So we get Nothing. It seems if your on benefits full time you get everything, but if you want a little help you get nothing.

pmlindyloo

Drew111 wrote: »

Hey,

I recently applied for housing benefit after a colleague of mine told me about it. I used the Turn2us.co.uk checker and it all seemed to be pointing in the direction of me being entitled to something.

I work full time as a bar tender on minimum wage, share a flat with a friend renting from a private landlord where I pay £375 and my flatmate pays £350.

I received the reply from the council today and the first page says "Weekly housing benefit £0" so I'm assuming I'm not getting anything.

Asked my friend in work who is in the same situation except he works only 30 hours/week as opposed to my 39 and he pays a bit less rent. He gets £100+/week from the council in housing benefit/working tax credits...

Basically I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this, on the council websites it says housing benefit is to support people on a "low income"...is full time minimum wage not low?

Thanks for any help
Andrew

As someone has already said you should apply for tax credits and also council tax benefit.

Based on the information you have given my finding on the calculator are that you would be awarded a small amount of tax credits (and I mean small) and a small amount of council tax benefit but no HB.

Is there any chance of your getting extra hours or trying to find a better paid job?

BigAunty

Drew111 wrote: »

I'm 26 and the LHA is £66.92 for shared accomodation (I think thats the one I should be looking at)

Yes, if you are under 35, and without dependents or a partner, then it is the shared rate for you.

You have compared apples and pears by compaing your HB with someone who is 35 and over who are entitled to a 1 bedroom HB rate which is perhaps why your friend, if he's in self contained accommodation and isn't sharing with anyone, gets a much higher rate. Also, HB is based on income so if he's working less, he's earning less. 30 hours per week is the minimum time that a single person over the age of 25 can work to qualify for Working Tax Credits.

Your maximum LHA rate works out at £289 per month (and is reduced by your income) whereas your rent is £86 more per month. The difference between your rent and maximum LHA is always ignored in the calculations - anyone who lives in a property whose LHA rate is above their rent has to pay the difference out of their existing income, including benefits.

If you lost your job, for example, you'd be expected to find nearly £20 out £71 Job Seekers Allowance to pay for this top-up yourself. In addition, the local councils in England are setting their own council tax discount schemes from April and many are charging CT to groups that previously had 100% discounts, including the unemployed, making it even harder for those on subsistence benefits to live.

Can you find somewhere cheaper to live, like your friend? Work more hours? You can play around with the Turn2us online calculator to understand how changes in your income affects housing benefit and working tax credits.