housing benefit

llrl

Can someone help please?

Me and my partner are going to be on the streets at the end of the month.
Im currently claiming JSA and so was she until hers got stopped and wont be able to start claiming again until may.
The council have said the will help with renting and the deposit etc.
Will they still help if she is not claiming???
thanks

nannytone_2

why cant she claim until may? has she been sanctioned? what is she living on?help with housing benefit isnt dependant on receiving other benefits, it is based solely on houshold income

llrl

Because she missed one of her appointment's (she couldnt get there) she asked for help getting there but they wouldnt help her and said if she dosent attend they will stop her claim. we tried making a complaint but they just ignored it... what worries me more is that if we do get a place, how do we afford the bills, heating, electric etc. when we are just living off JSA. Dont get me wrong we have both been looking for work since december but had no luck. We want nothing more that to do this the proper way but its so hard... Im doing a couple of courses at the moment and should have a job at the end of may but how do we cope until then??
Thanks

fluffymovie

Hi,

I dont think it's a case that she isn't claiming as much as she has been sanctioned. This in itself would not necessarily be a barrier to help with deposit from the council but in most, for you to have help from the rent deposit scheme, you have to pass an affordability test and they may say that with your income, you can't afford to rent a property the size you are looking at.

To be honest, all the bills etc will be hard. You can find cheap furniture through freecycle or gumtree and recycled furniture warehouses are opening up all over, your local Housing Office may be able to give you some support there.

You should be ok with heating (once the weather warms up) and you will be entitled to Housing Benefit and help with the Council Tax (although each council has a different scheme for this now)

If you can, open a basic bank account for bills that doesn't allow an overdraft and move money into it from your JSA each week. If you can set up direct debits from such an account, you usually receive a discount on bills and there are some social tarriffs run by energy suppliers who can help.

With regards to her JSA, she should make an appeal against the sanction and if that isn't successful, she could apply for a hardship payment which from memory is around 60% of the usual JSA amount although I don't work for them so that could be a bit off!

sammyjammy

Are you currently living together or claiming separately?