How Do I Claim Housing Benefit?

Cousin_Creditor

Hello,

I am currently claiming universal credit and I have observed on Google that maybe "housing benefit" will cover the service charge on my property? 

Is this true? Is this part of the SMI loan they offer? I must admit the service charge is NOT part of my mortgage, but is a separate charge altogether. It's usually £85-£100 per month. 

marcia_

Cousin_Creditor said:

Hello,

I am currently claiming universal credit and I have observed on Google that maybe "housing benefit" will cover the service charge on my property? 

Is this true? Is this part of the SMI loan they offer? I must admit the service charge is NOT part of my mortgage, but is a separate charge altogether. It's usually £85-£100 per month. 

 I don't believe you can claim housing benefit to pay a service charge because its not rent. That aside most cant claim housing benefit any more it would be universal credit

tacpot12

Eligibility for housing benefit is here: Housing Benefit: Eligibility - GOV.UK

I doubt you are eligible. 

Cousin_Creditor

marcia_ said:

Cousin_Creditor said:

Hello,

I am currently claiming universal credit and I have observed on Google that maybe "housing benefit" will cover the service charge on my property? 

Is this true? Is this part of the SMI loan they offer? I must admit the service charge is NOT part of my mortgage, but is a separate charge altogether. It's usually £85-£100 per month. 

 I don't believe you can claim housing benefit to pay a service charge because its not rent. That aside most cant claim housing benefit any more it would be universal credit

Ok.

The service charge is for communal areas such as lighting, maintenance and waste removal. Will Universal Credit possibly pay the service charge vendor or give me an extra sum as part of my monthly payment? 

marcia_

Cousin_Creditor said:

marcia_ said:

Cousin_Creditor said:

Hello,

I am currently claiming universal credit and I have observed on Google that maybe "housing benefit" will cover the service charge on my property? 

Is this true? Is this part of the SMI loan they offer? I must admit the service charge is NOT part of my mortgage, but is a separate charge altogether. It's usually £85-£100 per month. 

 I don't believe you can claim housing benefit to pay a service charge because its not rent. That aside most cant claim housing benefit any more it would be universal credit

Ok.

The service charge is for communal areas such as lighting, maintenance and waste removal. Will Universal Credit possibly pay the service charge vendor or give me an extra sum as part of my monthly payment? 

 Highly unlikely but someone with in depth knowledge of UC rules will post if they know differently 

Cousin_Creditor

marcia_ said:

Cousin_Creditor said:

marcia_ said:

Cousin_Creditor said:

Hello,

I am currently claiming universal credit and I have observed on Google that maybe "housing benefit" will cover the service charge on my property? 

Is this true? Is this part of the SMI loan they offer? I must admit the service charge is NOT part of my mortgage, but is a separate charge altogether. It's usually £85-£100 per month. 

 I don't believe you can claim housing benefit to pay a service charge because its not rent. That aside most cant claim housing benefit any more it would be universal credit

Ok.

The service charge is for communal areas such as lighting, maintenance and waste removal. Will Universal Credit possibly pay the service charge vendor or give me an extra sum as part of my monthly payment? 

 Highly unlikely but someone with in depth knowledge of UC rules will post if they know differently 

Why is it unlikely?

Google seems to think that it's a possibility?

kaMelo

From the Government website
https://www.gov.uk/housing-and-universal-credit/property-you-own

Help with service charges

You might be able to get help paying for your service charge if you own a leasehold property and have been on Universal Credit for 9 months.

You cannot get help with service charges if you get an income from:

• your job if you’re employed or self-employed
• a tax refund
• Statutory Sick Pay
• Statutory Maternity Pay
• Statutory Paternity Pay
• Statutory Adoption Pay
• Statutory Shared Parental Pay

Newcad

You cannot usually get UC Housing Element for paying utilities included in a Service Charge.

If you are in a Social Rental property then maintenance charges such as grounds maintenance. lift maintenance. etc. can usually be included in your UC-HE, (but not utilities such as water charges AKA ' The Water Rates' which are often included in Social rents).

For Private Rentals it is different, UC-HE is capped by the LHA rate for the area.
If your rent and any service charges are lower than your applicable LHA then it pays the full amount of rent/charges.
If your rent and any service charges are higher than your applicable LHA then it pays the LHA rate and you have to top up the rest from elsewhere.

When you claim UC, in either type of rental, it always asks for a breakdown of any service charges that you pay with your rent, and they sort it out from there.

EDITED after checking:

The lighting (and heating?) Bills for communal areas (both external and internal areas) are utilities but they are not your exclusive utilities so they are still covered by UC-HE and the service charges for them can be included in the UC-HE that you get.

Here is a link to the guidance for Social Landlords regarding Service Charges and UC Housing Element:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-service-charges-guidance-for-landlords/universal-credit-service-charges-guidance-for-landlords

kaMelo

OP is not renting, they own their home.

8dayweek

You may need to check you’ve declared your housing correctly - some people with a mortgage / in an owned property tend to answer no to the question about housing costs (whereas they should answer yes, then select I live in a property I own, with or without a mortgage. Edited to add, then there are supplementary questions about whether you have a mortgage / whether you have Service Charges etc). 

After 9x AP’s with no earnings you should be contacted to provide any Service Charge information and then any eligible Service Charges will be included as Housing Element.  

Newcad

kaMelo said:

OP is not renting, they own their home.

Thanks, but I was aware of that.

I was replying to: "Why is it unlikely? Google seems to think that it's a possibility?" with why what you may read about Service Charges and UC-HE can sometimes be confusing because of the situation with eg. excluded utility charges.

Then having stated that utilities are "usually" excluded I went on to explain why it's "usually" and not 'always'.
ie. They can be included for Private Rentals (up to the LHA cap), or if they are for communal areas.

That was so that others reading this thread in future have a clearer explanation why it's "usually" and are not left wondering.