Housing Benefit... I'm so stuck!

rosalyn129

Hi MSE'rs

For personal reasons I am having to move out of the house I share with my dad/brother at the end of January.

I'm currently self-employed, earning around £140 p/w and after looking at the Housing benefit regulations I think I should be able to get some rent help if I were to move into a flatshare. I think this works out about £87 per week help available, does that sound about right? Or would it be more like the £200 for 'one bedroom'

Also, looking through the form a few questions I'm stuck on....

If I'm renting a room, but this includes shared living room/kitchen etc, do I need to give all the details of the other people sharing the house? Or do they not count as part of my 'household'

Thanks for any help you are able to give me

pmlindyloo

rosalyn129 wrote: »

Hi MSE'rs

For personal reasons I am having to move out of the house I share with my dad/brother at the end of January.

I'm currently self-employed, earning around £140 p/w and after looking at the Housing benefit regulations I think I should be able to get some rent help if I were to move into a flatshare. I think this works out about £87 per week help available, does that sound about right? Or would it be more like the £200 for 'one bedroom'

Also, looking through the form a few questions I'm stuck on....

If I'm renting a room, but this includes shared living room/kitchen etc, do I need to give all the details of the other people sharing the house? Or do they not count as part of my 'household'

Thanks for any help you are able to give me

If you are under 35 then you are eligible for the shared accommodation rate of local housing allowance.


If you are over 35 then you are eligible for the one bed rate of local housing allowance.


However, regardless of your age, if you have the use of one bedroom but share other rooms then you are only eligible for the shared accommodation rate.


If the other people in the house are friends/strangers! and are not closely related to you then they do not form part of your 'household'.

BigAunty

The local council website will detail the maximum LHA for either the shared accommodation rate (age under 35) or 1 bedroom rate (35 plus). You can live in any size property you like but if the rent is above the LHA rate that you are entitled to, you must make up the difference from your existing benefits. If your rent is less than the LHA rate, then the rate will only go up as far as the rent charged.

The rate will take into account the income you receive. Use the Turn2us online benefit calculator to identify your benefit entitlements. Look at the HMRC website to determine if you qualify for any Working Tax Credits. Although there is a 'maximum' rate for your age/size of property criteria, it can be reduced by income and be less than the maximum.

If you are single, without dependents or disabilities (and over 25, I think), you must do at least 30 hours per week business activities (the HMRC website will explain what is classed as legitimate business activity) and it pays to keep proof of this in case you are investigated for it. However, note that there are changes planned that affect the self employed under the move to the Universal Credit system when tax credits are scrapped so keep your eye on this.

Caz3121

If £87 is the LHA for shared accommodation rate for your area, that is the maximum they would pay if you had no income. If your rent is lower than that then they will use the actual rent figure.
Your income would reduce the amount of benefit you would receive,
note: there are certain things that the tax man allows as deductions for self employed that housing benefit do not
Also if the rent for the shared accommodation includes bills, they will calculate what is 'rent' and what is 'bills' and base the calculation on the 'rent' part or the LHA, whichever is the lower

rosalyn129

Hi,
Thanks for your help that has made it quite a bit clearer