Housing Benefit for young people

Cate1976

Condolences to you & your sister, the last thing you need now is stress of possible homelessness for your sister.

Looks as though the rent/HB situation is sorted so long as landlord is ok with your sister staying at least until she finishes college or possibly longer.

Your sister needs to get claim in for whatever benefit she's entitled to, should be Income Support until she finishes college at which point she may ahve to move to JSA unless she goes straight from college to apprenticeship or employment.

Once the 52 weeks bereavement protection is up, she might be entitled to some help with rent, depending on shortfall between what HB pays & actual rent, she may have to move elsewhere. Not many private landlords will allow dogs, could you have the dog if your sister has to move & can't get anywhere that will allow dogs?

I think most bedsits are arranged that you share bathroom facilities but have cooking facilities in your bedsit & I think I'm right that under the 'shared accommodation' rules, it's one of bathroom and/or kitchen that has to be shared. It does not mean you have to be sharing everything apart from your bedroom.

Batman 100: I think your friend was unfortunate with the accommodation she was in. Close friend of mine was in housing for young people, some were leaving care, others were kicked out of home. She enjoyed it and I'm sure there was a clause in the tenancy agreement about not using illegal substances in the flat, she had to get permission for overnight guests, she did ask a couple of times and got it no problem.

OP: Might be worth you finding out about housing for young people and maybe you & your sister could get things arranged for her to move in when the 52 weeks is up. I would be sirprised if housing for young people run by a proper organisation didn't count as social housing which should mean shortfall between HB & actual rent is lower than it'll be private. Another thing with private is that rent is usually due monthly but HB is paid every 4 weeks which can mean a big difference in what the tenant has to pay. It's happened to my husband & I, our rent is within LHA rates but we have to pay £41 month due to rent being paid monthly but HB every 4 weeks.

Batman_100

Cate1976 wrote: »

Batman 100: I think your friend was unfortunate with the accommodation she was in. Close friend of mine was in housing for young people, some were leaving care, others were kicked out of home. She enjoyed it and I'm sure there was a clause in the tenancy agreement about not using illegal substances in the flat, she had to get permission for overnight guests, she did ask a couple of times and got it no problem.

I'm pretty sure that was just an isolated case, but it's an illustration of what these places 'can' be like. I think the rat infestation was down to the fact it was an old building (I think it was originally on old Victorian workhouse), and she did inform management and the police about the cannabis problem, but nothing was done about it.


There were also lots of silly rules like only being allowed to have the radiators on for a certain number of hours each day and not being allowed to watch TV after 10pm. There was a rule about no overnight visitors, but she did manage to smuggle her boyfriend in on a number of occasions. I think this rule was in place because a number of the residents were teenage mums and the idea was that they didn't want them to have their partners over and potentially risk getting pregnant again, thus adding to their problems.


I guess it really depends on what type of place you end up in.

callum9999

Hi, I just thought I'd update you all and anyone who finds this later (it always annoys me when you offer help to people and they don't come back to say how it went!). The claim was approved and the council will be paying the full rent for the next 12 months (which is even more than the normal 2 bedroom rate is - bereavement protection doesn't appear to be capped).

Thanks everyone for the help.

p00hsticks

callum9999 wrote: »

Hi, I just thought I'd update you all and anyone who finds this later (it always annoys me when you offer help to people and they don't come back to say how it went!). The claim was approved and the council will be paying the full rent for the next 12 months (which is even more than the normal 2 bedroom rate is - bereavement protection doesn't appear to be capped).

Thanks everyone for the help.

That's good to hear, and thanks for the update

Housing_Benefit_Officer

callum9999 wrote: »

Hi, I just thought I'd update you all and anyone who finds this later (it always annoys me when you offer help to people and they don't come back to say how it went!). The claim was approved and the council will be paying the full rent for the next 12 months (which is even more than the normal 2 bedroom rate is - bereavement protection doesn't appear to be capped).

Thanks everyone for the help.

Good to hear

You will need to plan what will happen in 12 months time when the protection stops. It might seem a long way away but it will soon creep up.

benniebert

Unfortunately I am not able to offer any more advice than has been given already.
However I have an observation to make. This young lady, from my past knowledge and experience of what has happened to others in a similar situation, is the ideal candidate for falling through the cracks of the system. I'm not saying that she would allow herself, but finding herself in this daunting position with few friends and family close by, she has the potential of disappearing off the radar. How easy it is to have the grip of depression take hold and not old enough nor wise enough to realise what is happening.


As has been said, I can't think of a more deserving case that needs the system to take hold of her and guide her through the quire. I wonder how many other young adults haven't survived and have ended up on the streets with a substance abuse habit all for the sake of the powers that be doing the right thing instead of what the 'rule book' says.

seasideme

callum9999 wrote: »

Thanks.

She's a full-time student at college, not university, and my mum was receiving child benefit/tax credit so was being treated as a child within the benefits system. I thought that might change things?

She would only need a room in a shared house

mattcanary

seasideme wrote: »

She would only need a room in a shared house

But the benefit rules state she is entitled to more. Bearing in mind her mother has died recently (certainly not an easy thing to deal with), the rules are more generous for her. Why should she not take advantage of them if she wishes to live in her own place?
Some people may wish to have company so shared accommodtion may be where they would like to live. But someone getting over a bereavement may not be in a fit state to deal with petty disputes (that often arise in shared accommodation) or just to deal with other people in close proximity for a while after the death. That is probably why the benefits system has altered the rules, for this type of situation.