Housing benefit single person living on own

UKSBD

From what I can gather a single person is only allowed to live in shared accommodation

What happens if they are living alone before making a claim, do they have to move to shared accommodation to receive any help?

Do they receive nothing if they don't move or can they still claim the shared accommodation amount (about £75 a week from what I have seen)

calcotti

Anyone can live in whatever accommodation they choose however there are rules around how much help they can get with the cost of the rent.

If in shared accommodation then on housing benefit any help is limited to the shared bedroom rate of LHA applicable to their post code. https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Search.aspx

For UC, if they are 35 or over they are entitled to the one bedroom rate even if in shared accommodation.

For both HB and UC a single claimant under the age of 35 can only claim the shared room rate unless they are in receipt of a disability benefit (DLA or PIP) in which case they can get the one bedroom rate.

UKSBD

Thank you.

I just tried the calculators on entitledto and turn2us and got completely different results

Entitledto said the LHA was zero
Turn2us said it was closer to £150 a week

The Voa site also says £150

Any idea why entitledto says zero?

He is over 35 currently living in 2 bedroom home on his own
Should he still be entitled to the one bedoom rate even though it is 2 bedroom?

calcotti

You must have entered something incorrectly on entitledto.

UKSBD said:

He is over 35 currently living in 2 bedroom home on his own
Should he still be entitled to the one bedoom rate even though it is 2 bedroom?

Yes

poppy12345

Unless he's of state pension age or living in either supported or temporary houisng then he will not be able to make a new claim for housing benefit. He will need to claim Universal Credit, which will include help with any rent.

UKSBD

I tried to recheck and it says I've exceeded the day limit 

Will try again tomorrow

Thanks for your help, was a shock to see the Zero LHA, then found the £75 for shared which would have left him £300 a month short, but hopefully it looks like he is entitled to the £149.50 which will just about cover it.

Hopefully put his mind at rest a little

calcotti

Should have said, the LHA is only applicable if the rental is a private rental. Different rules apply for social housing.

UKSBD

poppy12345 said:

Unless he's of state pension age or living in either supported or temporary houisng then he will not be able to make a new claim for housing benefit. He will need to claim Universal Credit, which will include help with any rent.

I think he is just starting the process, and I'm trying to help

He recently lost his job, father has had to go in to a home, he has mental health issues and has been burying his head in the sand the past couple of months.

Declaring an interest: I'm his landlord (sort of friend too)

He only paid half his rent in January and February, nothing in March so it is my interest as well as his to help him

I've always charged him well below market rate and the LHA he is entitled too will easily cover it
From what I gather though it isn't backdated though so I will just have to write off the past 3 months missed payments.

poppy12345

He will need a tenancy agreement to be able to claim for help with the rent through UC.

If his health condition limits is capability to work then he should report his health condition and then send in a fit note from his GP.

UKSBD

poppy12345 said:

He will need a tenancy agreement to be able to claim for help with the rent through UC.

If his health condition limits is capability to work then he should report his health condition and then send in a fit note from his GP.

Yeah, he has a full tenancy agreement, It was all set up legally when he 1st moved in (5+ years ago)

No idea if he has a fit note or not but he says NHS is helping him now (don't really know what he means by that though yet)

UKSBD

Just to add, he is currently just on a periodic tenancy
Is that adequate for claiming UC or will he need a new fixed term contact?