Private Rents and Housing Benefits???

quidsinquentin

Would anyone know what the sort of amounts of rent that housing benefit would cover?

What I mean is, if someone - disabled person on IB - takes on a private rented property thru landlord, at a rent of say £100.00 p/w, how much would be covered by HB?

Or doesn't it work like that/does it depend on area of country?

Or is there a set proportion of the rent that HB covers?

Thanks

dmg24

It depends on how many people are living in the property, and the area.

quidsinquentin

The person is looking for a small flat - 1 bedroom for themselves - but is COMPLETELY flexible on the area - happy to go to Aberdeen or Cornwall!

They've never rented before, circumstances have gone rapidly downhill recently - domestic violence - and need to find somewhere to live.

Everything else is sorted except housing.

This is not my area at all so I thought I'd ask advice from MSE.

Fran

Housing Benefit is income based so it will depend on the income/capital/savings the person has and is administered by local councils. They should check the rules for any council whose area they are in when they find accommodation.

SeaBreeze

Hi, I was living in a private rented 2 bed flat with my 4 children. My local council decided that my rent was too high...£535 at the time and I had to pay £25 a week out of benefits to cover the shortfall. Now I'm in a 3 bed council house and when I was on income support the council paid for all the rent. So what I'm rambling about is: the local council will inspect the property and they have guidelines on how much rent each type of property should charge and this is the amount they will pay. I did appeal but was unsuccesful and it was this period that caused me to get into debt....it took them 3 months to start paying! Sorry, I only have to hear the dreaded Housing Benefit words and I feel my blood pressure rising!:D

Chrysalis

My experience of housing benefit is that firstly they take an age to process new claims I would set aside at least 3 months of expecting to pay your rent whilst the claim is processed and the deposit since housing benefit doesnt cover bond payments, also it pays in arrears and not in advance how private rent is paid. In my case one claim took just over a year to be processed yes a year and then subsequent claims were quicker but only because by then I learnt how to push them involving the MP etc. One way to get a quicker processing time is to remind them they have to pay whats known as a 'payment on account' which they are supposed to pay after 14 days of a claim been made, this will be low to cover the possibilities of overpayment but is better then waiting a long time and in my case sped up the proper processing of the claim since when I asked for the payment on account and I got it within 2 weeks of that I then got my proper entitlement having previously been told I would have to wait over 6 months. I still havent had a house visit which indicates my area is vastly overloaded with claims and explains why the long waits.

My area also only pays by cheque not into a bank account which is bad when having mobility problems usually my sisters will cash it for me if I am unable to get to the bank. I know tho this is area dependant and many areas will pay into bank accounts.

I have a 1 bed flat, did some research prior to moving here, I couldnt do the predetermined stuff because that requires landlord consent and the stigma associated with claimants and landlords I havent told him I am on benefit so the women on the phone kindly gave me an idea that my rent was probably going to be deemed acceptable when she compared to other claims in the area. Assuming the person is over 25 and will be living alone the size of the property can be 1 bedroom, 1 living room plus kitchen and bathroom. Any other rooms will be excessive and deducted from any benefit and of course the rent has to be reasonable for the area so it pays to check on sites like rightmove.co.uk.

Hope this helps.

nicky7175

hi i have just claimed housing benefit for a 2 bed house for me and my 2 sons. it is £565 a month and i get £130 a week to cover the rent so i have to find the extra £40 a month. the claim was simple and came throught the first week and got the cheque for first two weeks yesterday