HB/ESA and Renting

DJDeluxe

Hi Everyone,


(Originally posted over on the other board but was advised to put in here!)

I need a steer in the right direction on this.

Here are the facts:
I have poor credit, although no CCJ's or Insolvencies
I have not a lot of disposable cash
I have just relocated to a different county to be with my partner
I earn around £30kp.a.
I'm 46.

She suffers with M.E. and is on Income Based ESA.
She still lives at home with her parents (She's 35)
She hasn't yet transferred over to Universal Credit


We both want to move in together, and want to work out a budget of what we can afford so we can start to look properly.

So, here's the questions:


Would she get housing benefit for 50% of the tenancy agreement?
Would she potentially lose any money on transferring to Universal Credit?
Would Landlords accept people on ESA as a general rule of thumb?
Would she lose any benefits due to the amount of money I earn?

We've tried speaking to the CAB and unfortunately, we can't seem to get them when there is either someone there that can advise, or they are actually open.

The pull to move in together is strong, so I'm hoping some of you can help put this into some kind of order so we can move forwards.

Thanks in advance.

Steve

calcotti

If you are now living with her she needs to tell DWP and your income will be taken into account and her ESA recalculated. Whether she has any remaining entitlement will depend on how much you earn and whether her ESA is entirely income based or includes a contribution based element.

No new claim for Housing Benefit can be made so there would be no choice but to claim UC in order to get help with the rent. You would both have to claim (assuming you are living together). Use a benefit calculator to work out your entitlement https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

poppy12345

DJDeluxe wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

Here are the facts:
I have poor credit, although no CCJ's or Insolvencies
I have not a lot of disposable cash
I have just relocated to a different county to be with my partner
I earn around £30kp.a.
I'm 46.

Based on that income, if your partners ESA is all income related then there will be no entitlement to ESA. All changes must be reported. If you're already living together and the changes haven't been reported then your partner will have an overpayment from the time you started living together.



Use the benefit calculator in the link above to see if you're able to claim UC.

Afraid_of_Kittens

For means tested benefits purposes you will be treated as a couple. Your income will be taken into account. As a couple you will take over reponsibility for financially supporting your partner if your income is too high for your partner to qualify for means tested benefits.

Rubyroobs

Your partner's ESA will stop when you start living together unless she still has an entitlement to contributions based ESA. On 30k income you are very unlikely to qualify for Uc or housing benefit.

DJDeluxe

Thanks everyone - we don't live together as of yet. So this is all very good advice. Basically, if I can afford a place for both of us on my wage, any extra she gets would be a bonus.


If she worked 16 hours per week or more, would this change?

Sheepski

Well as stated if you live together she won't be receiving any income related benefits as your income is too high, so if she worked it'd only bring in extra to the household