Do I qualify for any kind of housing benefit?

stargirl90

Hi all,

Here's some info about my circumstances:

I rent from a private landlord, a 2-bedroom house, and I live alone.
Rent is £330pm (not a typo, I know it's cheap - I rent from a family member).
I earn around £12-13,000 a year, working 30-35 hours a week in one full-time job (£13,500 in 2012/13).
I receive DLA - £296 every 4 weeks.
I receive WTC - £190 every 4 weeks.
No savings, ISA, bonds etc.

Do I qualify for any kind of housing benefit? I looked into it myself and it looks like I might qualify for Local Housing Allowance, but my local council's website is so confusing that I struggled to make sense of it (never mind work out how to apply for it!). I wondered if the fact my rent is quite low might disqualify me, or the fact I receive WTC. I couldn't find a clear answer online, and I tried to phone a helpline which turned out to be completely automated and a total waste of time!

Any help is hugely appreciated.

Own_My_Own

Put all your details in here, and it should tell you know.


http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

Dovah_diva

Couple of points:

• You would only be entitled to LHA for a single person - under 35 this will be the room rate, over 35 it will be a one bed rate.
• If you are renting from a family member and want to claim HB or LHA you will have to prove it is a genuine tenancy and not a contrived tenancy. Paying less than market rent because you are related is considered contrived.
• You almost certainly earn/receive too much in benefits to qualify. Put your details in the Turn To Us website.

Finally, with a monthly income of £1600 and very low rent you are surely not struggling to pay it?

stargirl90

Thank you both for your help, and for the link

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Dovah_diva wrote: »

Couple of points:

• Paying less than market rent because you are related is considered contrived.

No it isn't. Don't give advice if you don't have a clue what you are talking about.

Dovah_diva

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

No it isn't. Don't give advice if you don't have a clue what you are talking about.

Ooooh, tetchy. Heat getting to you? No need for rudeness, is there?

It is certainly one of the things that will be looked at, among others that I didn't have time to outline. OP, Google contrived tenancies. Or perhaps our rude 'friend' would like to elucidate further as s/he clearly has all the answers?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Dovah_diva wrote: »

Ooooh, tetchy. Heat getting to you? No need for rudeness, is there?

It is certainly one of the things that will be looked at, among others that I didn't have time to outline. OP, Google contrived tenancies. Or perhaps our rude 'friend' would like to elucidate further as s/he clearly has all the answers?

You said paying a rent below market rent is considered contrived - it isn't. I will be as rude as I like to people who give false advice thus misleading people.

If some (text removed by Forum Team) who doesn't know what they are talking about gives out false advice then the person they mislead could find themselves in financial difficulty or even homeless.

In deciding whether or not the agreement is commercial, the local authority must look at the whole agreement, taking into account all the circumstances. For example, they can look at the agreement to pay rent. As long as there is a binding and legally enforceable agreement that rent has to be paid on a regular basis, a claimant does not need to demonstrate that it is a market rent (in other words, a rent typical of private rents locally).

The local authority should also not assume that just because a claimant is a relative of, or has a close relationship, with their landlord, that this automatically means that the agreement is non-commercial. For example, DWP documents drawn up to train Local Authority Housing Benefit departments state, amongst
other things, that it should be considered as reasonable that a landlord may want to choose to rent to someone that they know, in order to be certain of having a good tenant.

The council should also consider that a claimant might have good cause to move into a property, which has been rented to them by a close relative. For example, it may be to enable a young person to leave their parental home, or to provide a more suitable home for a person with a disability.

The council should consider and fully investigate all these facts and then show that the agreement is not on a commercial basis.

Dovah_diva

You are extremely rude and unfortunately it is people like you that perpetuate the idea that HB officers are unpleasant and rude.

Some of my info. may have been erroneous - but at least I was pleasant, unlike you.

I'll pop you on ignore. Have a nice day

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Dovah_diva wrote: »

You are extremely rude and unfortunately it is people like you that perpetuate the idea that HB officers are unpleasant and rude.

Some of my info. may have been erroneous - but at least I was pleasant, unlike you.

I'll pop you on ignore. Have a nice day

I am just as rude to you as you were to me. So you admit to giving erroneous information. Far better not to give the wrong information in the first place then if you just don't have a clue what you are talking about.

pmlindyloo

Whoa................. no need for this.

It is very easy to misunderstand about contrived tenancies. On the Shelter website it says about the accommodation being let on a commercial basis. It is easy to misinterpret this as needing to have a commercial rent.

There is an interesting discussion here:

http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/house-garden-194/money-finance-entitlements-267/935919-anyone-rented-home-family-member-got-hb-2.html and at the end some useful links from a Housing Officer!

Renting from a close relative is looked at much more closely than a tenancy with a non related person. Of course, it does vary from council to council - it has been known for them to be refused point blank!

The rent itself (from what I've read of the 'guidance') would not in itself make it a contrived tenancy as this would be covered by the Local Housing allowance. Other factors would need to be looked at, as already said.

Just wanted to point out that it is easy to make 'mistakes' - even the ones who are employed in the field do - so let's not be too harsh.

I'm sure the OP has enough information to answer their question.