Housing benefit help!! 16 year old working

kevandkeira

Hi,
I am in receipt of full housing & council tax benefit for myself & 2 children, my 16 year old son (3rd child) has applied for the army but his final selection doesn't take place until march. He has been offered a job by a family member to tide him over until he joins the army, he will be on minimum wage (£3.72) working full time as a labourer.
Does anyone know if this will affect the housing & council tax benefits I receive? It has already decreased due to him leaving full time education.
Thankyou

pmlindyloo

kevandkeira wrote: »

Hi,
I am in receipt of full housing & council tax benefit for myself & 2 children, my 16 year old son (3rd child) has applied for the army but his final selection doesn't take place until march. He has been offered a job by a family member to tide him over until he joins the army, he will be on minimum wage (£3.72) working full time as a labourer.
Does anyone know if this will affect the housing & council tax benefits I receive? It has already decreased due to him leaving full time education.
Thankyou

Did you mean to say that your child tax credits and child benefit for him have stopped?

Your HB and CT reduction will not be affected as he is under 18 years old.
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500180/housing_benefit/4285/adults_non-dependants_who_live_with_you_may_affect_your_housing_benefit_and_council_tax_support

kevandkeira

No, I meant housing & council tax benefit, but maybe i'm confusing myself!!
We are renting a 3 bed house & were entitled to full benefit, our benefit has now dropped (due to him leaving education) as we are now only entitled to benefits on a 2 bed.
We knew the child benefit & tax credits would drop, which is what did happen.
I'm just worried that our HB & CTB will drop again as he is earning? I can only find information online for non-dependents of 18 years +, there's is no information that I can find of a 16 year old earning.

kevandkeira

Going by the link you have posted as he is under 18 his earnings will not affect my benefits, hopefully i've read that right.

pmlindyloo

kevandkeira wrote: »

No, I meant housing & council tax benefit, but maybe i'm confusing myself!!
We are renting a 3 bed house & were entitled to full benefit, our benefit has now dropped (due to him leaving education) as we are now only entitled to benefits on a 2 bed.
We knew the child benefit & tax credits would drop, which is what did happen.
I'm just worried that our HB & CTB will drop again as he is earning? I can only find information online for non-dependents of 18 years +, there's is no information that I can find of a 16 year old earning.

Something is wrong here. Can you look at your letter and see why they have done this?

Perhaps they think that your son has left home.

And by the way, if/when your son joins the armed forces if he intends to return home after training/deployment then you are still entitled to a bedroom for him.

Anyway, give them a ring in the morning and find out why they have changed you from a 3 bed local housing allowance to a 2 bed.

kevandkeira

I've just re-read the letter & it looks as though I have read it incorrectly & assumed that the HB & CTB would drop the same as my other benefits have. They have asked me when I received his last child benefit payment & what his plans are ie education, work, etc.

kevandkeira

So am I right to assume that his earnings will not affect any of my benefits until he turns 18?
Thankyou for you help pmlindyloo

HappyMJ

kevandkeira wrote: »

So am I right to assume that his earnings will not affect any of my benefits until he turns 18?
Thankyou for you help pmlindyloo

You would be right and when he turns 18 he'll be needing to earn more than £128 per week (this years figures) to affect the household benefits but you can ask him to contribute something equivalent to what's been reduced at that point if he wishes to remain living at home.

kevandkeira

That's fab, thankyou for your help.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

HappyMJ wrote: »

You would be right and when he turns 18 he'll be needing to earn more than £128 per week (this years figures) to affect the household benefits but you can ask him to contribute something equivalent to what's been reduced at that point if he wishes to remain living at home.

Not so.

Using this years figures if he was over 18 and earning less than £128.00 then £14.15 per week would be deducted.

If earning £128 or above then £32.45 per week would be deducted.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Something is wrong here. Can you look at your letter and see why they have done this?

Perhaps they think that your son has left home.

And by the way, if/when your son joins the armed forces if he intends to return home after training/deployment then you are still entitled to a bedroom for him.

Anyway, give them a ring in the morning and find out why they have changed you from a 3 bed local housing allowance to a 2 bed.

Having a child in the army isn't a reason to still be entitled to an additional bedroom for him or her. They have to be 'deployed on operations'.

This is the guidance notice from the DWP.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225717/a10-2013.pdf

Parents of Armed Forces Personnel

27. Adult children who are in the armed forces but who continue to live with parents, will be treated as continuing to live at home (for the purposes of applying the size criteria), when deployed on operations. In addition, the non-dependant deduction should be removed and only reinstated when they return home.

28. Member of the Armed Services means a member of the Naval Service, British Army or Royal Air Force of the Crown or members of the Reserve Forces.

29. An adult child means sons, daughters, step-sons or step-daughters of the claimant or partner.

30. For claimants in the private rented sector, this means that the applicable LHA rate or LRR will remain the same. This change comes into effect form 1 April 2013.

31. For claimants in the social rented sector, a reduction for under-occupation will not be made in respect of the bedroom of the relevant non dependants but may apply if the claimant has other spare rooms.

32. The adult son or daughter must have been a non-dependant before deployment on operations (although a deduction may not have been applied, for example where the claimant is blind) and there must be an intention to return to live with their parents.

33. On ‘operations’ does not necessarily mean away from the United Kingdom, just away from the home they normally occupy. It will also cover pre-deployment training and post operation leave (which is described as "normalisation"). For example, Royal Air Force personnel with immediate response duties who are based away from home for four months or where members of the armed forces were deployed to assist with the Olympics.

34. The LA should be satisfied that the adult son or daughter has been deployed on operations. If the adult son or daughter is already away on deployment when a new claim for HB is made, the claimant will be able to obtain a letter from the son or daughter’s chain of command in the armed forces, confirming the deployment.