Housing benefit help...

DWhite

Hi,
I'm going to be moving into a new home in March when my current rental is up. My rent at the moment is £300, though when I move it will likely be around £650. I currently receive tax credits but do not claim housing benefit. Though to be able to afford the rent when I move I will need it, can anyone tell me how the housing benefit system works? Will I be able to find out how much I can get before I commit to a rental? How do I go about claiming?I've tried looking at the entitled to calculator and it confuses me a bit as to what I will be eligible to receive.
I told the tax credit people my rent is £300 when I first claimed this year, is it simply a matter of telling them my rent has increased and having it adjusted?
TIA

Indie_Kid

How much you get depends on how:
- the going rate (LHA) for the rent in your area
- you're entitled to a certain amount of rooms depending on your situation. If you're single and under 35 for example, you're entitled to the shared room rate. But you can rent as big as house as you want. You just have to make up the shortfall yourself.

You make a claim via your local council. There, you will also find the maximum they will pay your rent.

DWhite

The entitledto website says the 'going rate' is £577 pcm for my area, but on the results page only gave me £200 pcm towards housing benefit, this would leave me very short with my income to cover the rest of the rent.

nannytone_2

yjrtr will be a local housing allowance rate for your area and housing needs ( dependant on how many children, their ages and gender)
yjis LHA rate would be the MAXIMUM amount payable, but will be adjusted to reflect your household income.
search for your local housing allowance rate and then use the calculator at https://www.entitledto.co.uk to work how much you would need to pay.

in general, you are allowed 1 bedroom for ...
each person /couple aged 16 or over
1 bedroom for 2 same sex children unto the age of 16
1 bedroom for 2 different gender children under the age of 10

McKneff

You would be £77 short of what you need, could you find a job on a night, it cant be that hard to find a job for 2 or 3 hours a week.

Indie_Kid

DWhite wrote: »

The entitledto website says the 'going rate' is £577 pcm for my area, but on the results page only gave me £200 pcm towards housing benefit, this would leave me very short with my income to cover the rest of the rent.

It depends on what your income is. For example, as someone on income based ESA, I'm entitled to full HB for my situation.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

McKneff wrote: »

You would be £77 short of what you need, could you find a job on a night, it cant be that hard to find a job for 2 or 3 hours a week.

...and every additional £1 earned will result in the loss of 65p Housing Benefit.

missbiggles1

DWhite wrote: »

The entitledto website says the 'going rate' is £577 pcm for my area, but on the results page only gave me £200 pcm towards housing benefit, this would leave me very short with my income to cover the rest of the rent.

Without wanting to pry, is there a reason that you're moving to a property you can't afford?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

DWhite wrote: »

Hi,
I'm going to be moving into a new home in March when my current rental is up. My rent at the moment is £300, though when I move it will likely be around £650. I currently receive tax credits but do not claim housing benefit. Though to be able to afford the rent when I move I will need it, can anyone tell me how the housing benefit system works? Will I be able to find out how much I can get before I commit to a rental? How do I go about claiming?I've tried looking at the entitled to calculator and it confuses me a bit as to what I will be eligible to receive.
I told the tax credit people my rent is £300 when I first claimed this year, is it simply a matter of telling them my rent has increased and having it adjusted?
TIA

HMRC don't administer the Housing Benefit scheme - you will need to make a claim for Housing Benefit with your Local Authority.