Renting and housing benefit

pinkshoes

Sya said:

it needs repairs so i cant rent my flat out anytime soon. if the renting position changes later i can come to that. for now, lets assume its left empty 

Why are you looking to move now? You are complicating the situation unnecessarily. 

Focus on finding another job. Spend some of the £8k to divide the bedroom into two spaces so you can both have a room and some privacy.

Once you have a new job then sort the issues out on your flat then put it on the market or rent it out. 

Smalltownhypocrite

You obviously can't get housing benefit to cover your rent if you OWN a house you choose not to live in. That's not how benefits work, we all WANT bigger and better than we have but that doesn't mean you just get given it for free.

You would also be liable for double council tax until you have a tenant in situ and income from rent would be the viewed as income. 

Do you own outright? if you have a mortgage they might not even allow renting plus can you afford all the insurance and maintenance? What about if the tenant stops paying and you need to go to court (very expensive)? Are you going to be managing it yourself or paying professionals?

Honestly the whole idea sound nuts, why don't you sell your flat and buy a bigger flat/house?

Smalltownhypocrite

Sya said:

it needs repairs so i cant rent my flat out anytime soon. if the renting position changes later i can come to that. for now, lets assume its left empty 

if you own and rent its counted as having two homes for tax purposes.

RAS

Sya said: Im struggling to find a job now as i used to work in another city.

i live in a tiny flat with my 7 year old son as a single mum and I own the flat. We HAVE to move.

I also need to buy a car.

thank you in advance!

You face a really difficult situation here. We need more information to provide you with useful help. 

What's the situation with the flat? Do you own it outright, have a mortgage, shared ownership, any service charges etc?

All of which affect you benefits situation.

With retraining, how long before you can start applying for jobs in the new field?

Are jobs available locally, or do you need to be able to get to the city? Are you reliant on a car to get jobs in the city?

Yorkie1

mta999 said:

Just to say when the Renters Rights Bill becomes law (which is imminently) you will not be able to pay any more than one months rent up front

This part of the law will hurt people who want to rent but don't have enough income monthly but have enough capital to pay in advance - that will no longer be possible

Just to manage expectations, although the RRB is likely to get Royal Assent fairly soon as you say, the relevant provisions for up front rent (s.8 / s.9 in the current version of the Bill) do not have commencement dates set within the Bill.

This means that the government (ministers) will have to pass separate regulations which state when those provisions will actually come into force, and at present there is no way of knowing when that will be. So nobody should hold their breath on that one. 

sgthammer

Without making any changes to your circumstances, you're eligible for Universal Credit right now, just not the full amount you'd get if you had no savings.

Your payments will be reduced by £4.35 for every £250 you have between £6,000 and £16,000.

 
With £8000 of capital you’ll lose £34.80 from your first payment.

And as a homeowner, you won't get the housing element, which is intended for renters.

But the basic rate for an adult over 25 is 400.12 a month, and child born after 6/4/2017 means another 292.81, so you should get a total of (692.93 - 34.80) £658.13 - which probably won't cover your monthly outgoings, but every little helps in the short term.

Claims typically take 5 weeks to process, so you'll want to apply asap. You can then assess your housing/work situation from a slightly more stable baseline.

How much work actually needs done on your flat? If it's just a repaint, maybe a bit of plastering etc, could you rent a storage unit for your stuff for a month while you tackle one room at a time? Alternatively, if it's major repairs to make it habitable, you might be eligible to have it disregarded as capital for up to six months while you live elsewhere; but would your savings stretch to that?

How soon do you expect to be employable in your new job field?

Sya

Schwarzwald said:

Asking the obvious: Why dont you sell the flat and use that money to rent?

think about how long it would take to sell. and where do we live inbetween the flat selling and getting cash and moving into the rental?

Sya

Exodi said:

Just my take on it -

Why exasperate an already stressful time by trying to throw a house move into it? I think this can surely wait until you have a new job?

I would remove this part of the issue entirely. You then don't need to find rent and you would be entitled to UC, which should help with your bills and other costs. The 8k won't effect this.

I appreciate your flat is too small, I just think of all moments to decide to move, this is surely the worst (unless you were hoping you could somehow end up with a bigger house out of this? Unfortunately this cannot happen as you would not be entitled to UC if you had the flat but didn't live there, and if you sold the flat you'd not be entitled either as you'd be over the capital limit (aka, you'd be expected to live off the sales proceeds).

Put the house upgrade on the back-burner until you're back in stable employment.

Imagine living in a condition where you are so stressed, uncomfortable etc and then trying to present your best self to interviewers and employers. i want to rent a bigger space, i feel like i could breathe again. but you are right it is not ideal to be moving now. i dont know anything about benefits so i guess i should start with educating myself on that

Sya

gwynlas said:

Good on you for retraining and  understand that things might be stressful at the moment,
Your flat would have to be really tiny for it to be causing such an issue.
You could let your child have the bedroom and you can sleep in the living room.
if you have too much stuff then it is time that you decluttered with a view to making more space.
Any repairs needed should be carried out to make the flat comfortable

decluttering is so difficult as i had intended to rent, sell my flat, buy a house which would be plenty of space for beloved belongings esp toys - then i lost my job which i had for decades. its frustrating. 

Sya

Smalltownhypocrite said:

You obviously can't get housing benefit to cover your rent if you OWN a house you choose not to live in. That's not how benefits work, we all WANT bigger and better than we have but that doesn't mean you just get given it for free.

You would also be liable for double council tax until you have a tenant in situ and income from rent would be the viewed as income. 

Do you own outright? if you have a mortgage they might not even allow renting plus can you afford all the insurance and maintenance? What about if the tenant stops paying and you need to go to court (very expensive)? Are you going to be managing it yourself or paying professionals?

Honestly the whole idea sound nuts, why don't you sell your flat and buy a bigger flat/house?

how do i buy a bigger place with only 8k?? i have not job for a mortgage. the flat isnt worth as much as even a 1 bed house.

"You obviously can't get housing benefit to cover your rent if you OWN a house you choose not to live in. That's not how benefits work, we all WANT bigger and better than we have but that doesn't mean you just get given it for free." if the home i have is barely habitable for the two of us (i.e. ONE bedroom and a lounge that is kitchen-lounge) then surely its not suitable for a child?