Housing benefit questions

essexlass

Hi I am new here and am looking for a bit of advice regarding HB.

I currently live in a 2 bedroom maisonette with my 2 children but am looking to move come 2009 to a 3 bedroom (I am pregnant with my 3rd child).

I have contacted the HB office asking what is the maximum amount they will pay for a 3 bedroom and have been told the MINIMUM is £123 and so many pence however they wouldn't tell me the maximum amount I am entitled to.

So basically what I want to know is as the average rent price in Tendring is £650 per month should I not be entitled to more HB?

I have used one of the calculators on a site and it stated that I am entitled to £163 per week HB so how do the HB office determine whether a property is overpriced or not when all properties i.e flats, houses, bungalows etc are £650 per month for a 3 bedroom.

Thanks in advance.

~Chameleon~

I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say "should I not be entitled to more HB?"

Do you mean now or when you have moved into your new property?

No one can possibly calculate how much HB you will be entitled to until you actually know how much rent you will be charged, and even then you will need to undergo a "Fair Rent Assessment" on the new property to determine the level of rent the LA will pay in HB. Obviously your HB entitlement will also be dependant on whatever your income is too.

Perhaps you could clarify exactly what it is you would like help with.

dmg24

Hi essexlass,

Welcome to MSE!

The Rent Service determine what your eligible rent will be. This is usually done by requesting a Pre Tenancy Determination (you can get the forms through the council).

The Rent Service take in many factors in determining the eligible rent, and unfortunately it rarely covers the full amount (assuming you are looking at renting privately).

More information is available here. This is a local website, but the same details will apply x

essexlass

Hi thanks for the responses.

Apologies for not making myself clear as well.

I am worried about when I move into a new property and the amount of HB that will be paid. I am currently on IS and realise that I will more than likely have to pay a top up for the rent but am concerned about how much it may be!

When a PTD is used does this show the amount that the HB will be willing to pay or just an estimate?

Sorry for asking so many questions.

dmg24

The PTD will show your eligible rent, which is the maximum you can get. The LA will calculate what you would actually get based on this amount and your income.

~Chameleon~

Ahhh right, thanks for explaining further

If your only source of income is IS then you should be entitled to full HB and CT benefits, but you're right to be concerned as to whether the HB would actually cover the full amount of rent on a private property.

Other things to take into consideration are whether the house is partly furnished or include any utility payments, e.g. water, as HB won't cover either of these.

When they do the pre tenancy determination (thanks dmg24 for reminded of the proper name for it ) they usually look at similar properties in the area and take an average of the rents charged to determine the applicable rent allowance, so this is something you could also check yourself to give you an idea and as long as you don't choose an "expensive" property the chances are good that HB would cover it.

Hope that helps

ETA: something to be aware of - I have known of a situation whereby average rents for a property were all of a similar amount, but there were also a couple of low-priced rentals in the area which affected the level of rent the LA were prepared to pay for properties in that area. Having said that, they do take into consideration the decor and general state of the property and the rent charged must reflect that - i.e. they won't pay average rent rates for a dump!

essexlass

Excellent! Thank you so much this has put my mind at rest a lot more.

suelees1

Just to let you know quite a few local authorities are currently pilotting a new way of calculating HB payments as the government say they are trying to simplify things. These payments are called Local Housing Allowances or LHAs. Each one will be based not only on the actual rental costs in any one area but on the size and make up of your family. It will be rolled out nationally from next April. Your LA should be able to supply you with general informaton about it.

Sorry but don't know much more myself until I've been on a training session about it in couple of months.

madmanfree

LHA might even allow yuo to make some money out of claiing benefits as if the rent charged is less than the LHA you get to keep the difference up to a max of £15. Most Councils will have the rates on their websites

Danielle_ODonoghue

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Ahhh right, thanks for explaining further

If your only source of income is IS then you should be entitled to full HB and CT benefits, but you're right to be concerned as to whether the HB would actually cover the full amount of rent on a private property.

A member of my boyfriends family is on IS, HB, CTB, CTC and CB and she still has to pay an amount towards her rent and council tax and she lives in a small 2 bed flat with her two young children (its a council property).

suelees1

If she doesn't have any non dependants living with her then I'd say it's probably because the local authority consider it's above what they consider to be a market rent. She can apply for a discretionary housing payment if she is suffering hardship.

However it doesn't seem to be the case as although a higher than average rent means she'd have to pay towards it, it doesn't usually mean she'd have to pay towards her council tax as well. Perhaps then it is because there's a non dependant living with her or might have been in the past and it's not been amended ?

She needs to ask them the reasons for the shortfall and then she can possibly resolve any issues with it.