Entitled to anything?

lexilex

Have posted here before but this is about something different so I thought I'd start a new thread. Never recieved any benefits before so please bare with me.

Me and my boyfriend are getting a flat together. He currently earns about 9 grand a year, i'm a full time student getting a student loan of about 3 grand.

I know I can't get any types of benefits because I'm recieving a loan, but as my boyfriend is on a low wage can he?

Valley's_girl

Hi I am sure someone will be along shortly who will be able to advise you.
Ally xx

lexilex

Hope so, have found the perfect flat but worrying now that we won't be able to afford it

dmg24

Could I ask how old you both are, and why he only earns £9K? x

(Not meant in a nosy way, just it seems a very low wage)

lexilex

Hi,

Course you can. I'm 18, and he's only just turned 19, so it's only a very basic min wage he is on. I think it's a little over 9k (trying to find out exactly so I can use one of these calculator things but his phone seems to be off :rolleyes:) but still, not a lot at all and def not enough to live on.

dmg24

Due to your age, you are very limited in what you can claim.

You are not eligible for Tax Credits, and your potential Housing Benefit is extremely limited because of your age (and only your partner would be eligible).

Would it not be possible to live at home for a bit longer? I really don't see how you could afford to rent somewhere? x

lexilex

Things at home aren't good, and I need to get out asap!

The flat we're looking at is £275 a month, but obviously with living at home I've no idea how much we can expect to spend on bills so it's hard to come up with a budget to see if we can afford it.

dmg24

Budgets are difficult to work out, as there are so many variables. You need to consider the following:

Council Tax (you will get a 25% discount on this, as you are a student)
Water
Elec/ Gas
Contents Insurance
Phone/ Broadband
Mobile
Travel
Food
Going out

If you go over to the Debt Free Wanabee board, and look at the Statement of Affairs list, this will give you an idea of all your possible outgoings.

Post back if there is anything else you need x

Oldernotwiser

From the figures you give I assume that you're receiving the "at home" amount of the loan; I think that this might go up by about £1,000 when you notify the LEA that you will be living away from home. Your half of the rent will be about £35 per week which is much lower than most students pay so this may well be manageable. If you absolutely have to move out of home you're not going to find anywhere to live that's as cheap as this!

It's possible that your parents may help you as they'll be saving quite a bit when you move out; I imagine this will depend on how they feel about the new arrangement! (Just spotted about bad relationships at home so scrub this idea!) Otherwise you need to do what everybody else does and get a job, full time in the holidays and part time in the term.

lexilex

Yeah, loan entitlement should go up, but i'm not sure how long the reassesment takes, so at the moment am taking the minimum amount of money I may have and working with that, just in case it does take a long time.

Just gone on to the entitled to site and it says my bf could get housing benefits of £1,243 which is better than nothing . Don't know how reliable that is though cos it didn't ask about my loan or anything.

I am trying to get a job but once I'm back at Uni it's difficult to fit something around my timetable, and weekends are normally filled with work. I always work the full summer anyway so should get a bit of money saved up that way.

bestpud

Your student loan will count as income for HB purposes.