Renting on benefits

Zekkia09

Hi. Im not sure if this is in the right place but here we go.
Just looking for advice really.
Me and my boyfriend (20 and 18) are living with our parents.
I have mental illnesses and my home life is making my mental state worse. So i'd ideally like to move out and my boyfriend would need to come with me because I cant trust myself to be left on my own for periods of time. I'm currently in the assessment stage of receiving ESA but if/when I begin to receive the full whack at £106(?) would we be able to move out?
I think we are entitled to have our full amount of rent paid for us by housing benefit if we do. But im not sure about utility bills?
Would we be able to choose our own place to rent privately or would they make us live in council accommodation?
A bit more info: he is a college student and does not have a job.
Also would we be able to live off £106 a week?
Thanks

specialboy

As a couple you would be entitled to the 1 bed rate lha for your area depending on your income

Caz3121

Utility bills need to be paid from your benefits there is no additional payments given for them.
Does your boyfriend receive any student finance/loans. If so this may reduce the amount of housing benefit you receive
All claims for benefits will be based on your combined income

Pippin12

Zekkia09 wrote: »

Hi. Im not sure if this is in the right place but here we go.
Just looking for advice really.
Me and my boyfriend (20 and 18) are living with our parents.
I have mental illnesses and my home life is making my mental state worse. So i'd ideally like to move out and my boyfriend would need to come with me because I cant trust myself to be left on my own for periods of time. I'm currently in the assessment stage of receiving ESA but if/when I begin to receive the full whack at £106(?) would we be able to move out?
I think we are entitled to have our full amount of rent paid for us by housing benefit if we do. But im not sure about utility bills?
Would we be able to choose our own place to rent privately or would they make us live in council accommodation?
A bit more info: he is a college student and does not have a job.
Also would we be able to live off £106 a week?
Thanks

Of course you can choose wherever you like to live, but, having said that, you would be unlikely to be offered a council place as they're in such short supply. Plus you'd only get the single bedroom rate of lha (housing benefit). As the previous poster said you would have to pay water, gas, electricity, etc etc yourselves out of your weekly benefits. If £106 is all you have coming in a week you'd be hard pressed to manage IMHO.

BigAunty

To the OP - ignore Tinkledom who swings between outrage at benefit claimants to gloating at how much he receives.

To understand how social housing allocation works, look at the Direct Gov and Shelter websites. There are two routes to social housing, general applications and the homelessness route.

With a general application, you go go on a waiting list or have access to choice based letting where people bid on the properties and the one with the most points and who has the longest application time gets it. The homelessness route is where someone has no security of tenure past the next 28 days and the local council perform an assessment to see if they have any obligation to help and whether they need to offer housing or just advice.

Also, if you are in England, there is no requirement for the local council to provide social housing (council or Housing Association property) to the homeless anymore, they can find a private tenancy for them. The Shelter website has excellent information for those who might become homeless.

What if you fail to get ESA and get ported onto JSA which is about £51 a week for your age - have you considered if you can afford your own place, even with housing benefit, on JSA and student income? Download the MSE budget planner to work out how much your living costs will be and you can model certain scenarios, like different incomes such as getting JSA or ESA which will make a big difference.

AllThingsEmmaDunn

It will be hard for you to live like that!

My brother and gf age 21 were both at uni and working 2 jobs and were unable to afford their 1 bed place and after the 6months rental they ended up moving back in with my mum.

You need to remember that while you may get housing allowance from the council, on your combined income, you will still have to pay all bills including tv licence, heating, water, food .

You say you have mental health issues - If this is the case you maybe able to get DLA - its always worth putting in a claim make sure you send in any medical notes, appointments ect.

Also if home life effects you, you can put down for a council place - asking your gp to fill in a special medical form you get from the council and see if you can get on the list - depending on the effect of homelife you may get one right away.

good luck.

BigAunty

AllThingsEmmaDunn wrote: »

You need to remember that while you may get housing allowance from the council, on your combined income, you will still have to pay all bills including tv licence, heating, water, food .

That's why the MSE budget planner is so fab - it will remind the OP to account for things like all the above, plus mobile, landline, broadband, travel, clothes, haircuts, social expenses, etc.

AllThingsEmmaDunn wrote: »

Also if home life effects you, you can put down for a council place - asking your gp to fill in a special medical form you get from the council and see if you can get on the list - depending on the effect of homelife you may get one right away.

.

I disagree with the impression that you've given that there is a chance that the OP will get instant social housing based on her current circumstances.

To be a priority for social housing, one has to be defined as homeless by the council AND have factors like dependents or disabilities that make the person vulnerable when homeless. Despite this, in England, the council still don't have to provide social housing AND if there is big demand for services and little social housing stock, the homeless applicants may find themselves in interim accommodation, including hostels and B&Bs.

Not getting on with your folks and having mental health issues while adequately housed is not the strongest of priorities for housing. Yes, if a council have hard to let properties on estates with constant churn and voids, for example, they might get a place sooner but adequately housed people, even if they don't like their housing, are not a high priority.

pmlindyloo

AllThingsEmmaDunn wrote: »

It will be hard for you to live like that!

My brother and gf age 21 were both at uni and working 2 jobs and were unable to afford their 1 bed place and after the 6months rental they ended up moving back in with my mum.

You need to remember that while you may get housing allowance from the council, on your combined income, you will still have to pay all bills including tv licence, heating, water, food .

You say you have mental health issues - If this is the case you maybe able to get DLA - its always worth putting in a claim make sure you send in any medical notes, appointments ect.

Also if home life effects you, you can put down for a council place - asking your gp to fill in a special medical form you get from the council and see if you can get on the list - depending on the effect of homelife you may get one right away.

good luck.

Just to clarify - DLA no longer exists for new claimants - you need to apply for PIP (Personal Independence Payment) Google for more information.

sulkisu

Zekkia09 wrote: »

Hi. Im not sure if this is in the right place but here we go.
Just looking for advice really.
Me and my boyfriend (20 and 18) are living with our parents.
I have mental illnesses and my home life is making my mental state worse. So i'd ideally like to move out and my boyfriend would need to come with me because I cant trust myself to be left on my own for periods of time. I'm currently in the assessment stage of receiving ESA but if/when I begin to receive the full whack at £106(?) would we be able to move out?
I think we are entitled to have our full amount of rent paid for us by housing benefit if we do. But im not sure about utility bills?
Would we be able to choose our own place to rent privately or would they make us live in council accommodation?
A bit more info: he is a college student and does not have a job.
Also would we be able to live off £106 a week?
Thanks

I knnow that you weren't asking for relationship advice, but this (in bold) is absolutely the wrong reason for moving in together, especially at your ages. A lot of pressure and responsibility, especially for him. You could probably survive on £106 p.w. but it would be just that, 'surviving' as opposed to 'really living'. Those who manage to do it, are usually those who already have everything that they need in the home - if you will starting out with nothing, you will find it hard and that will do nothing for your mental health. Perhaps wait until at least one of you is able to work.

Indie_Kid

If you live with your boyfriend and your ESA is income based, it'll be a joint claim. This is £112 ish per week with no added premiums.

evenasus

BigAunty wrote: »

To the OP - ignore Tinkledom who swings between outrage at benefit claimants to gloating at how much he receives.

You mean like this...

tinkledom wrote: »

Hi, My wife is 69 and receives her state pension, and I am due mine in June when I attain 65. She receives max Attendance Allowance and I receive max mobility and mid care of DLA. We both claim Carers Allowance for each other.
We receive a top up of Guaranteed Pension credit of £116.32 a week which takes our combined income from all sources up to approx. £588 a week excluding Council tax Benefit.