housing benefits

sazrun

hello,
me and my partner are looking at moving in to our first flat together. due to him having Anklosing Spondylitis making him unable to work and myself being on a 0 hour contract and work and due to return back to uni in january we will require the use of housing benefits.
can anyone explain the housing benefits system to me?
the flat we have looked at asks for no deposit but firsts months rent up front.

can anyone also tell me if there is any grants or anything people can apply for to help them purchase items for there first home? the flat we are looking at is unfurnished so will need to buy all items

calcotti

The first thing you need to do is see if you are in a Universal Credit area https://ucpostcode.entitledto.co.uk/ucdate

If you are then help with rent comes through Universal Credit which is claimed online from the DWP.

If you are not you can apply for Housing Benefit from the local authority.

The maximum help you can get is based on the Local Housing Allowance (if it is a private rental). You can look it up here https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/search.aspx. The rate is based on the number of bedrooms you are allowed, one for a couple, not the actual number of bedrooms in the flat. What you get will be affected by your income.

You may also qualify forCouncil Tax Reduction from your local authority.

You can use a benefits calculator to work out what you might get https://www.entitledto.co.uk/

When you become a student it will become more complicated because the benefits rules are different for students. There are others who post on this forum who know more about students than me so I’m sure one of them will pick this up. I think you will be able to claim because your partner will be eligible but any student loan income you have will be taken into account when calculating UC entitlement.

sazrun

we are on universal credit currently, my partner has been on it a couple of months now and i am on it temporally until i return to uni

calcotti

sazrun wrote: »

we are on universal credit currently, my partner has been on it a couple of months now and i am on it temporally until i return to uni

In that case, when you have a tenancy agreement you will need to update your UC claim and your UC will then include help with the rent subject to the limits I referred to above. The DWP will need to see the tenancy agreement. You can also apply to the local authority for Council Tax Reduction (which is not to say that you will qualify).

If you will still be living together when you restart uni then I believe you will stay on the UC claim and will have to inform DWP of any student income.