Housing Benefit/LHA - Unavoidable Overlapping Liability Help.

Simon7685

Does anyone have any experience of an unavoidable overlapping liability, which I believe is a fancy way of saying housing benefit on 2 homes at once.

We are signing up for a social housing property on Monday that has come out of the blue. We have given notice on our current private rented property which runs until 21 July and we get full Housing and Council Tax Benefit.

I was expecting to have to pay the rent on the new property for the first 4 weeks, which on a limited income was never going to be easy. However I have been told that because it is not our fault that there is an overlap, we may be able to get both rents covered under this Unavoidable Overlap scheme.

We have to give the current landlord his one months notice but the housing association insist that the new tenancy starts immediately we get the keys, they will not wait until our notice expires. So we have to either take it or leave it.

Does anyone have any experience of this?

Thanks in advance

RAS

Simon7685 wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience of an unavoidable overlapping liability, which I believe is a fancy way of saying housing benefit on 2 homes at once.

We are signing up for a social housing property on Monday that has come out of the blue. We have given notice on our current private rented property which runs until 21 July and we get full Housing and Council Tax Benefit.

I was expecting to have to pay the rent on the new property for the first 4 weeks, which on a limited income was never going to be easy. However I have been told that because it is not our fault that there is an overlap, we may be able to get both rents covered under this Unavoidable Overlap scheme.

We have to give the current landlord his one months notice but the housing association insist that the new tenancy starts immediately we get the keys, they will not wait until our notice expires. So we have to either take it or leave it.

Does anyone have any experience of this?

Thanks in advance

Is your private rental fixed term or a periodic tenancy?

Simon7685

I'm not sure what you mean exactly sorry. We have lived here for 10 years, the tenancy agreement is an assured shorthold tenancy for a period of 6 months. At the end of that period it just runs on. The only time we have received new agreements has been when the landlord increased the rent, the last increase was in Jan 2013.

It states that the rent is due monthly in advance with effect from the 21st Jan 2013.

The notice period is one calendar month from the date the rent is due so our notice runs from 21st June to 21st July.

Is that any good?

PasturesNew

Simon7685 wrote: »

....our notice runs from 21st June to [STRIKE]21st[/STRIKE] 20th July.

You move out/it ends, the day before the rent date/moving in date. Makes no odds, as you did it in time ... but just saying.

elmer

Please note that you can only claim an overlap from the date you move in to the new property, so please move in as soon as possible, and notify the council about your change of address, there is usually a bit on the form to request an overlap

elmer

pmlindyloo

A link to explain the process of applying for HB for two properties:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/reporting_family_and_income_changes/housing_benefit_for_two_homes

RAS

Simon7685 wrote: »

The notice period is one calendar month from the date the rent is due so our notice runs from 21st June to 21st July.

Is that any good?

What did you put on your notice? You must move out by 23.59 on July 20 or you have to pay a whle month's extra rent.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Simon7685 wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience of an unavoidable overlapping liability, which I believe is a fancy way of saying housing benefit on 2 homes at once.

We are signing up for a social housing property on Monday that has come out of the blue. We have given notice on our current private rented property which runs until 21 July and we get full Housing and Council Tax Benefit.

I was expecting to have to pay the rent on the new property for the first 4 weeks, which on a limited income was never going to be easy. However I have been told that because it is not our fault that there is an overlap, we may be able to get both rents covered under this Unavoidable Overlap scheme.

We have to give the current landlord his one months notice but the housing association insist that the new tenancy starts immediately we get the keys, they will not wait until our notice expires. So we have to either take it or leave it.

Does anyone have any experience of this?

Thanks in advance

You can only get the overlap for 28 days and you have had to move into your new property when the tenancy begins. If you leave it a couple of weeks then you will only get few weeks overlap. You will get the full rent paid at your old address irrespective of the LHA rate or amount of benefit you received.

Simon7685

Thanks for the info guys, I think I have a better understanding of it now, the link to the website helped as well.

We sign the agreement with the housing association on Monday and get the keys, so our tenancy begins from that date. We intend to move in as soon as physically possible but will go straight down to the council and let them know. Our current notice period does officially end on the 20th July, not the 21st, that was my mistake. I just wrote down 21st to 21st!

It will be a real help if we can get the overlap but if not we will find a way to manage and the credit cards will get a bit of a battering to help us through. To be honest we are just extremely grateful to get this new place, it is going to make such a difference health wise for me.