LHA/Housing Benefit rates help.

stivanii

Hi i recently applied for Housing Benefit, i am renting from a private land lord.

I'm 34 and single and receive Income Support and Carers Allowance. I put all my details through several online benefits calculators and all said i would be able to claim the LHA one bedroom rate which is roughly £75-85.

I moved into a house a few weeks ago which is owned privately, my rent was £110pw, i explained to my landlord i wouldn't be able to claim that much and he said once my claim is processed and i know what i have been awarded we can see what i can afford. He said we was willing to drop it by £20-25, which i thought was reasonable. And i thought i could always make a slight difference between rent and HB myself also.

I received a letter this morning informing me i am only entitled to and have been awarded £52pw which i believe is the shared accommodation rate , so obviously i wasn't expecting my award to be this low. I'm wondering if i have misunderstood the rates and what i was likely to be entitled to.

When i applied i put my landlords address down as the address i rent as he instructed me to do. He doesn't actually live with me as he works abroad most of the year.

Does this sound right to anyone, do they think i am only renting a room possibly?

I informed my landlord and he told me not to worry and we can sort it out, but even if he drops the rent by £25 i'm not sure i can afford to make up the difference between £52 and £85.

Any help or advice will be appreciated.

Thanks bye.

Indie_Kid

The shared room rate is for single people under 35 with no children who don't have a severe disability.

HappyMJ

As above you're under 35 so only entitled to the room in a shared property rate of LHA. How long till you reach 35 years of age? Could you afford the rent until then?

Could you rent a room to a lodger or is it a 1 bedroom property?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

You only qualify for the shared room rate not the 1 bedroom rate. When you turn 35 you will qualify for the 1 bedroom rate.

tomtontom

When i applied i put my landlords address down as the address i rent as he instructed me to do. He doesn't actually live with me as he works abroad most of the year.

Can you explain what you mean by this - is he claiming to live there also? If he is claiming you are just renting a room you'll continue to only qualify for the shared rate even when you are 35.

stivanii

Hi, thanks for the replies guys appreciate the advice.

HappyMJ wrote: »

As above you're under 35 so only entitled to the room in a shared property rate of LHA. How long till you reach 35 years of age? Could you afford the rent until then?

Could you rent a room to a lodger or is it a 1 bedroom property?

I actually turn 35 in a few months, so i might be able to work something out until then.

Also it has 3 bedrooms (well 2 and an office) but renting it out isn't an option i wouldn't think.

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

You only qualify for the shared room rate not the 1 bedroom rate. When you turn 35 you will qualify for the 1 bedroom rate.

Thanks for the info, as stated above i turn 35 in december. Does it automatically increase to the 1 bedroom rate or do i have to re-apply at that point?

stivanii

tomtontom wrote: »

Can you explain what you mean by this - is he claiming to live there also? If he is claiming you are just renting a room you'll continue to only qualify for the shared rate even when you are 35.

Hi, no as i was saying he works abroad 10-11 months of the year, only coming back for a month during the summer and the odd weekend. But when he's home he's staying elsewhere with family i so am basically renting the house not just a room.

tomtontom

stivanii wrote: »

Hi, no as i was saying he works abroad 10-11 months of the year, only coming back for a month during the summer and the odd weekend. But when he's home he's staying elsewhere with family i so am basically renting the house not just a room.

So it is not your landlord's address, it is your address. Don't confuse the two - your landlord's address is where he lives/ has his correspondence sent etc.

stivanii

tomtontom wrote: »

So it is not your landlord's address, it is your address. Don't confuse the two - your landlord's address is where he lives/ has his correspondence sent etc.

Yeah of course but as far as i know he works on an oil rig off the coast of Africa so i imagine it's not practical to use that as an address for the purposes of a Housing Benefit claim.

I suspect that's why he asked me to use this address for him too.

tomtontom

stivanii wrote: »

Yeah of course but as far as i know he works on an oil rig off the coast of Africa so i imagine it's not practical to use that as an address for the purposes of a Housing Benefit claim.

I suspect that's why he asked me to use this address for him too.

Be very careful with this. If he is still using the address as his own it could well affect your benefit entitlement - it's probably why he has agreed to lower the rent so much. Do you have a tenancy agreement giving you sole use of the property? Where is his post being sent to?

stivanii

tomtontom wrote: »

Be very careful with this. If he is still using the address as his own it could well affect your benefit entitlement - it's probably why he has agreed to lower the rent so much. Do you have a tenancy agreement giving you sole use of the property? Where is his post being sent to?

Yeah we have an agreement saying i live here alone, he won't be staying here while i am renting.

He still has a few letters coming here though, junk mail and virgin, Gas etc. mostly.