JSA and house benefit

jonny0

my younger brother will soon be getting Income based JSA.....will he be automatically eligible for housing benefit too ?

....if he is then will they give him a house or just a small room....because his living with us and my parents at the moment but wants his own place due to a problem.

so im not too sure but i read somewhere if your on JSA then your eligible for housing benefit too.

can he get rent a room and ask the government to pay the rent ?

Hapless_2

He will be entitled to housing benefit of some sort if he moves out BUT getting JSA does not automatically entitle you to housing. If he wants to move out he will have to go on the housing list or find somewhere private that will accept HB. If he is under 25, he will only get enough HB for 1 room, not a house.
Entitlement to benefits does not give entitlement to social housing.

diddlydum

Getting income-based JSA does automatically qualify you for housing benefit, but only providing you meet the criteria for housing benefit.

If your younger brother is under the age of 25 then he will probably be subject to the single-room rent restriction- the LA will only pay enough HB to rent one room in a shared house, and no more.

Being entitled to housing benefit doesn't entitle you to social housing.

If you want to know how much rent he'd get paid for in HB, get the council to do a pre-tenancy determination before signing the tenancy.

jonny0

thanks....so if he is on IB JSA then what is the criteria to qualify for housing benefit.

and he has found a place, it says 90 pound a week for a single room....will the LA pay that much ?.....(this is a private landlord)

dmg24

What area are you in jonny0?

The only person that can say for sure is the Rent Office, but that figure does seem very high?

jonny0

the room is in east london.....Forest gate to be precise (near stratford which is where olympics will be held)

Cant the council just find a place for him ? ....maybe a house that they own ?

dmg24

The council do not have to find him somewhere to live. Also, I do not believe that they have shared houses (though they may have some bedsits in your area).

Your brother needs to contact your LA's housing department, and see if they have any suitable properties available. Alternatively, he can find somewhere on the private market and apply for a pre tenancy determination. However, be aware with the latter option, that not all landlords will take tenants on Housing Benefit.

dmg24

I don't have any personal knowledge of London prices (except that they are very high!), but a quick browse at Gumtree makes me think £90 is expensive. Does that include any bills? If so, these will be deducted from any eligible rent to be paid by HB.

jonny0

thanks guys...

yes i have noticed some landlords put up a notice saying "no DSS" or something like that

is it because they think people on housing benefit are "3rd class" citizens and they may wreck their house ? ive wondered why some dont accept people on HB.

so if he finds someone privately does he just apply for pre tenancy determination ?....will they also pay for council tax, bills ETC or is it only rent

PS: thanks for the help

dmg24

Yep, if he finds somewhere he then needs to apply for the pre tenancy determination.

They will pay for the rent only, although he may claim for council tax benefit also (this is usually done alongside the housing benefit application). Equally, they will assess what is a suitable rent for an 'average' room in a shared house, not one that is overly large, or has an ensuite etc. He will need to make up any difference in rent, although it is possible to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment (though this is by no means guaranteed).

Different landlords have different reasons for not accepting HB recipients. The ones that I know have had some bad experiences with them, but equally I was in receipt of HB for a period of time and would like to think that I was a nice tenant?!! I have been told that there are also insurance issues, but I am not aware of the specifics of this.

Best of luck with finding somewhere! x

real1314

Do you think your brother is making a good choice?

He's unlikely to get his full rent met by Housing Benefit, and even if he does, he will have £59 a week to pay for gas, electric, water rates, food, clothes etc etc.

He might have "a problem" now, but he might have quite a few trying to budget on his own.