Reapplying for housing benefit after a move - is it straightforward?

playlister82

My mum is a state pensioner with savings under £15k, living alone in social housing. She was in receipt of housing benefit + council tax benefit. Recently she has downsized her home as she had a second bedroom that she no longer needed. She has been rehoused within the same borough and has been told she has to reapply for housing benefit, and wait up to two weeks for the result.

I've done the research and I am sure that she will still qualify for housing benefit in her new home, as nothing has changed except the address (and, despite being a smaller place, the rent has somehow gone up). All other circumstances are the same. But mum is worried about having to reapply and the time it will take for them to process the application, as in the meantime she is already being chased for the full rent amount.

I've found this forum very reassuring and helpful in the past with these questions, so I am wondering if anyone can confirm my suspicion that it will be fine and she will be granted housing benefit again? Or are there circumstances that we don't know about in which it would be refused?

nicx83

If your mum is in receipt of housing benefit already and she has stayed in the same local authority area you will just need to complete a change of address form. This could be an electronic form on their website.

playlister82

nicx83 said:

If your mum is in receipt of housing benefit already and she has stayed in the same local authority area you will just need to complete a change of address form. This could be an electronic form on their website.

No she had to fill out a change of circumstance form and provide evidence of her income all over again i.e. recent bank statements. I assume because the rent in the new place is higher. That is what she said she had to do anyway.

Can anyone advise that, having done that, she should be ok to keep receiving housing benefit or could there be anything else to worry about?

Newcad

A change of circumstances is not a new claim, it's a change to her existing claim.

But yes, the C-of-C forms will usually ask for all the relevant information again, just to make sure they have everything up to date, and as it's a different property then they will have to work her new HB payments out.
The new payments will/should get backdated once they have been worked out.

In the meantime simply talk to the Social Housing Association and let them know that she has done the form for a Change of Circumstances to her existing HB and is waiting for the council to sort things out.
Social Housing Associations see it all the time, and are understanding about it as long as they are aware what is happening.
(The HA may already know if the council has contacted them for confirmation of rent, but it's best to phone and tell them herself).

playlister82

Newcad said:

A change of circumstances is not a new claim, it's a change to her existing claim.

But yes, the C-of-C forms will usually ask for all the relevant information again, just to make sure they have everything up to date, and as it's a different property then they will have to work her new HB payments out.
The new payments will/should get backdated once they have been worked out.

In the meantime simply talk to the Social Housing Association and let them know that she has done the form for a Change of Circumstances to her existing HB and is waiting for the council to sort things out.
Social Housing Associations see it all the time, and are understanding about it as long as they are aware what is happening.
(The HA may already know if the council has contacted them for confirmation of rent, but it's best to phone and tell them herself).

Thanks, she is actually a council tenant, so would've thought there'd be some inter-department communication and all the relevant parties would already know that she is moving, and that she wants her HB claim to continue.

However, it seems as if they are treating it as a brand new claim because she has received an invoice for the full rent on the new place. I just wondered if this was unusual and what she can say to them - is it an error or should she just pay up until her new HB amount is calculated and, hopefully, backdated?

playlister82

Hi just checking in with whether there’s any answers or advice to the above.

Newcad

I never expect different departments at the council (or the DWP) to talk to each other anymore, they all seem to exist in their own little boxes these days.

I'd just ring the contact number on that invoice and explain what is happening with waiting for HB.
The computer just spits out letters/invoices on schedule, once you explain the HB situation they will probably tell her to ignore it for now.

PS. Presumably she did pay some rent in advance, they don't usually give you the keys until you have done.
In which case the invoice will be for the next rent-in-advance due.

PPS.If she is paying by Direct Debit (or direct payments) then they may want her to pay a bit extra each month for a year or two to get her rent account 4-weeks or a month in advance when each DD (or direct payment) is paid in so that it never goes into arrears.
(I did that when I moved in here, I paid an extra £18 a month for 2-years and now my rent account is 4 or 5 weeks in advance when my DD goes in, which always covers advance rent until the next DD).