HB question

flightboy

Hi all,

My older brother has been homeless for almost 2 years and for some reason claims that his JSA was stopped ( he wont tell us why ) but we are really trying to get him into a rented room before winter as the stress of him being homeless and having no money or food has caused my mother to become so stressed she has had severe panic attacks and is now off sick herself because of it

My question is most of the rooms around here are £80-£100PW. Can he still claim housing benefit even tho hes not claiming JSA? and if so does anyone know how much he will get so i can work out what the shortfall will be every month

thanks

xylophone

It is impossible for him to live with you or your mother?

Can he claim income support?

Have you tried this

http://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou?gclid=CJnb3fvwhs8CFasK0wodMJQL1Q

An appointment with a Benefits Specialist at CAB might help?

Caz3121

you can check out the maximum figure for the area if you search https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/search.aspx. With no income for shortfall or bills he may struggle finding accommodation..

flightboy

xylophone wrote: »

It is impossible for him to live with you or your mother?

Can he claim income support?

Have you tried this

http://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou?gclid=CJnb3fvwhs8CFasK0wodMJQL1Q

An appointment with a Benefits Specialist at CAB might help?

He cant live with my mother due to a previous altercation with my younger brother who still lives with her that landed him with a short prison sentence so not a option

Income support it seems he may be able to claim ( based just on the link you provided which i had no idea about )

I used the benefit calculator you linked to and put in he was renting private at £85 a week and it says...

Weekly LHA rate for September 2016
Chelmsford BRMA
One Bedroom Rate:£126.00 per week

So does that mean he can get HB to cover the whole £85?

thanks for the speedy reply! :A

flightboy

Caz3121 wrote: »

you can check out the maximum figure for the area if you search https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/search.aspx. With no income for shortfall or bills he may struggle finding accommodation..

We have found 3 rooms that accept DSS that include all bills etc as that seems to be the only chance we have of getting him in somewhere but thanks for the reply

Caz3121

flightboy wrote: »

One Bedroom Rate:£126.00 per week

the one-bedroom rate only applies for over 35s in non-shared accommodation. If he is under 35 or will be renting a room then it is the shared accommodation rate that applies

pmlindyloo

To answer your original question. Your brother can claim HB if he is not receiving JSA based on a low income, i.e. no income. He needs to get a form from the local council. He will doubtless have to fill in forms and show that he has no income - letter saying that he his JSA been sanctioned
plus bank statements.

Whilst he is at the council he should register as homeless (if he hasn't already done so)

I cannot see that he has any entitlement to Income Support.

If he has a room in a shared house then he would only get the shared accommodation rate of HB despite his being over 35. if he could find one bed self contained accommodation then he could be paid the one bed rate. He will need to have a tenancy agreement to show the council.

HB will only pay the rent for the accommodation. They will not pay bills included. The landlord will have to provide the amount the rent is or the council will deduct specific sums for the bills. They will only the pay the amount of rent up to the shared room rate. They do not pay the shared room rate if the actual rent is less than this. So shared room rent is £60 - rent is £55 - they pay £55.

In the circumstances it might be a good idea if your brother asked the council to pay the HB directly to the landlord so that he does not use the money for other things. He may also have to pay Council tax if this is not included in the bills.

He can go to CAB who will help him with food parcels/

i am sorry to say that this may be an uphill struggle. You cannot force your brother to do anything but I wish you all the best.

flightboy

Caz3121 wrote: »

the one-bedroom rate only applies for over 35s in non-shared accommodation. If he is under 35 or will be renting a room then it is the shared accommodation rate that applies

Thanks. the shared rate is £69.04 which means he will need £15-20 a week extra paid by someone to just stay in the room let alone eat...knew this was going to be tricky!

but thanks for your help

flightboy

pmlindyloo wrote: »

To answer your original question. Your brother can claim HB if he is not receiving JSA based on a low income, i.e. no income. He needs to get a form from the local council. He will doubtless have to fill in forms and show that he has no income - letter saying that he his JSA been sanctioned
plus bank statements.

Whilst he is at the council he should register as homeless (if he hasn't already done so)

I cannot see that he has any entitlement to Income Support.

If he has a room in a shared house then he would only get the shared accommodation rate of HB despite his being over 35. if he could find one bed self contained accommodation then he could be paid the one bed rate. He will need to have a tenancy agreement to show the council.

HB will only pay the rent for the accommodation. They will not pay bills included. The landlord will have to provide the amount the rent is or the council will deduct specific sums for the bills. They will only the pay the amount of rent up to the shared room rate. They do not pay the shared room rate if the actual rent is less than this. So shared room rent is £60 - rent is £55 - they pay £55.

In the circumstances it might be a good idea if your brother asked the council to pay the HB directly to the landlord so that he does not use the money for other things. He may also have to pay Council tax if this is not included in the bills.

He can go to CAB who will help him with food parcels/

i am sorry to say that this may be an uphill struggle. You cannot force your brother to do anything but I wish you all the best.

Thanks for your help! and i know it will be hard and what makes it worse is a doctor who saw him some time ago said he had all the signs of Asperger syndrome but when they mentioned getting it diagnosed he walked out and refuses to see any doctor now let alone that helpful one!

Just doing this to try and help my mother who at 57 and sick herself is being made worse by all the stress

I know more now than i did a hour ago tho so many thanks

Alice_Holt

As pmlindyloo has said income support is not an option for your brother.

The benefits available to him (here I am assuming he is unft to work) will be:
Income-based ESa - see https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/before-you-apply-for-esa/eligiblility-for-esa/

PIP - see https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/before-claiming/check-you-are-eligible/

ESa will require a "fit note" from a GP. Both entail completing forms, and undergoing a medical assessment.

HB can be paid when no other income (including ESa & JSa) is coming into the household - if your brother completes a nil income return at the council. But as others have said it is unlikely he could be able to sustain a tenancy with no income (there may be some CT to pay).

It is possible his JSa has been sanctioned - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-sanctions-leaflet/jobseekers-allowance-sanctions-how-to-keep-your-benefit-payment

If he is willing to get help with these benefits, than the CAB may be able to guide him through the process.

xylophone

if your brother does have Asperger's Syndrome then persuading him to "see sense" as one might put it could be very difficult as "sense" from his viewpoint may be very different from that of the average person.

I say this from the experience of an old friend whose AS son is now close on forty - he was diagnosed as a child and lives in sheltered accommodation but when he visits his parents at holiday times can be very difficult to live with - his younger brother who still lives with the parents is particularly affected.

You cannot force your brother to help himself but it is worth trying to get him back to the doctor.

An AS diagnosis or a diagnosis of mental illness in some shape or form would make him a vulnerable person and he might then be in a position to call for more assistance from the LA?

He might also be entitled to claim ESA?

But little can be done until your brother co-operates.