Universal Credit Claim

darklight2

Hi there,

I'm looking to claim Universal Credit for the purpose of housing. The rent is £1343 per month and is a studio flat. I'm wondering what to put down as Savings and Investments. I've taken out a £7000 loan which takes my bank balance to £7893 and I have £4000 on my credit card as well as £2000 in premium bonds. Basically I have a net figure of minus £2893. I'm not sure what figure to include. I have a job where I'm earning £1200 a month which is the reason I managed to get the loan.

Thanks

Sam

calcotti

Capital/savings is money you have.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/618960/admh1.pdf
See para H1020 for full list of what counts as capital

You have £7,893 in the bank and £2,000 of premium bonds so you have £9,893.
You do not deduct money you owe.

The maximum help you can get with the rent will be restricted by the Local Housing Allowance, see here https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/search.aspx

You can do your own calculation of what UC award you may get (if any) by using a benefit calculator https://www.entitledto.co.uk/.

[Deleted User]

How can you be entitled to any housing benefit when your working?

[Deleted User]

MarkN88 wrote: »

How can you be entitled to any housing benefit when your working?

Perfectly possible under UC as it was under the old HB and LHA awards, its all about income v rental.

[Deleted User]

I’m pretty sure if you put the details in above into that calculator it will say 0.

calcotti

MarkN88 wrote: »

I’m pretty sure if you put the details in above into that calculator it will say 0.

You can’t possibly know that.
If OP earns £1,200 per month then £756 falls to be taken into account. S/he has a basic allowance of £317.82 per month (if single) so is expected to pay £438/month towards the rent. Provided the housing allowance is more than this they will be entitled to help and I am guessing, from the rental figure quoted, that s/he is in an expensive area where the LHA will be high (albeit almost certainly less than the rent).

calcotti

Sunny_Intervals wrote: »

Taxpayers really are getting shafted by greedy private landlords and employers paying too little in dear areas.

Agreed. Plus the government have chosen to try and control the Housing Benefit bill by placing restriction on Housing Benefit/UC housing costs element rather than by improving the supply of affordable housing. However this forum is intended to be about benefits and not policy so perhaps we’d better not start that conversation!

darklight2

Thanks for the reply. I have to pay 3 months rent in advance as they wouldn't give me a room with a salary of £1200 a month without having a guarantor.

calcotti

darklight2 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I have to pay 3 months rent in advance as they wouldn't give me a room with a salary of £1200 a month without having a guarantor.

What an awful world the private rental sector is.

huckster

So is the postcode Universal Credit full service or not ? Many parts of London and other parts of UK have not started on UC yet.

Under UC, please remember that they deduct 63p for each £1 of employment earnings.

Rent of £1343 with earnings of just £1200 per month. Repayment of the loan, normal household expenses, other living costs, i would have though would come to at least £400 a month.

Even if there was some help from benefits, I would think that monthly expenses would exceed income, by quite a margin. It might be different, if there were two people in employment sharing these costs, otherwise, I could see a lot of debt being accumulated.

w06

darklight2 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I have to pay 3 months rent in advance as they wouldn't give me a room with a salary of £1200 a month without having a guarantor.

Understandable, rent that's £143/month more than you earn will be ringing alarm bells with the landlord