Housing benefit. My flat is too big for one?

Cashtyke

In the near future i will be living alone as my wife and child move out to care for my mother in law. I will be on JSA/IS unless i find work and have been told i will not get all my Rent paid as i will be a single person living in a two bedroomed flat. It isnt a particularly big flat but as it has two bedrooms i wont get the full amount.
Now some might think im being selfish for a single man wanting to stay there but i still want my daughter over at weekends and i dont want to lose my home as well as my job and family. Besides i want to get my life back to normal starting with a job but i need to keep my home.
So i just wondered roughly how much shortfall i will have to make up on a £70 pw privately rented flat?
Any ideas appreciated.

zoezoe_3

Cashtyke wrote: »

In the near future i will be living alone as my wife and child move out to care for my mother in law. I will be on JSA/IS unless i find work and have been told i will not get all my Rent paid as i will be a single person living in a two bedroomed flat. It isnt a particularly big flat but as it has two bedrooms i wont get the full amount.
Now some might think im being selfish for a single man wanting to stay there but i still want my daughter over at weekends and i dont want to lose my home as well as my job and family. Besides i want to get my life back to normal starting with a job but i need to keep my home.
So i just wondered roughly how much shortfall i will have to make up on a £70 pw privately rented flat?
Any ideas appreciated.

You wont get ANY extra money just because your wife has moved out unless you are splitting up on a permenant basis. You are still man and wife and a couple so you wont be able to make a claim as a single man....

Cashtyke

In fact im just concerned over whether i can still pay my rent.
£59 JSA wont pay £70 rent.
As for us still being man and wife. If we are living apart surely that means she will have to claim where she lives and i claim where i live. We wont be living together and my daughter will be visitin at weekends.
Im not after any extra money i just want to make sure i dont lose my home

Hapless_2

Cashtyke wrote: »

In fact im just concerned over whether i can still pay my rent.
£59 JSA wont pay £70 rent.
As for us still being man and wife. If we are living apart surely that means she will have to claim where she lives and i claim where i live. We wont be living together and my daughter will be visitin at weekends.
Im not after any extra money i just want to make sure i dont lose my home

Only if you have separated on a permanent basis, otherwise the DSS would see it as a temporary arrangement and therefore you are still a couple. Is there any reason why your daughter cannot stay with you?

seven-day-weekend

No, if you are a couple, even if you live apart, you will have to claim as a couple. You can only apply separately if you split up permanently.

Is it not possible to move to another flat nearer your mother-in-law so that you can live as a family?

Voyager2002

Surely you should claim as a family. Your wife (and daughter) are allowed to stay in her mother's house while retaining their family home.

Elle00

They're quite harsh actually as they will only pay for a single person to occupy the cheapest bedsit or studio in your area. Look at Rightmove.co.uk and see what bedsits and studios cost then work out the difference between the rent on those and the rent you are paying.

If you accept joint residency of your DD you can keep the second bedroom. Otherwise you will have to move out if you can't find a job asap. The thing is, and I hate to sound mean but am going to, your DD does not need a whole bedroom just to stay one or two night's a week. She doesn't need a wardrobe etc so could just sleep in your bed while you take the sofa as is customary for people in these situations.

When you are working again, you can look at moving to a new 2 bed flat and starting afresh.

I'm afraid I've learnt the hard way that no-one cares what your life story is - rules are rules and the government is only there to stop us starving, not actually having a decent standard of living. I got hit and abandoned by my husband but you're joking if you think anyone's helped us out. I live in a poky 2 bed flat with a kitchin the size of a wardrobe (seriously) and a second bedroom too small to fit a standard single bed into (just as well he fits in a toddler bed). The council say that despite our short-term lease and my medical needs, we will probably never be rehoused and affordable housing round here is for rich people's kids mostly.

I know you're down right now but keep at it and see if you can do any education etc to get a decent job. Working your behind off and having an element of luck is the only way the working class have a hope in hell of ever enjoying a decent standard of living.

BTW I omitted the detail about your wife staying temporarily with your MIL as I suspected there is more to it but you didn't want to elaborate.

Zara33

I'm a little confused by your posts

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=448175

You are a family and any benefit claims should be made as a family not as single people.

I don't understand why you think that because you wife goes to look after her mother you should be classed as single people.

Cashtyke

Its not that easy to explain from where i am standing.
At this moment in time we live toether all as a family, but my wife stays at her mothers to care for her 2/3 days a week while my daughter lives with me. my wife also works in the area we live in 2 days per week.
However in the near future my wife is expected like i have been recently to be made redundant.
As my daughter has been removed from school (reasons too complicated to explain) we decided it was probably best if my wife and child move to her mothers
This was decided based on several reasons.
a)My mother in law is needing more care than ever before
b)My daughter needs an adult around her as she will most likely be taught at home
c)Having no child to care for would mean i could get back into work more easily

I assumed that if we were seperated like this i would be classed as single and therefore my wife would have to claim for her and my daughter.

But after reading all the comments im confused as what exactly am i supposed to say to the Jobcentre people on the phone
Do i tell tehm im living apart but still together or am i on my own?

Hope this clears it up a little

Hapless_2

If your marriage has not broken down then no you are not separated, your wife is just away temporarily caring for a relative. It would be no different if you were to take a job away from the family home, your wife would not be able to claim anything as you are still a couple.

dmg24

Hapless is spot on. If you did try to claim as a single person, when your wife moved back home you would most likely have to pay back any monies previously claimed, and at worst, you could be prosecuted for fraud (though this would be an extreme measure).