Housing Benefit-Plz HELP

jazminkennedy

Hi everyone,

I need help ASAP plz, my sister is being evicted from her council flat (towerhamlets) and we've found her a private rental property in Barking (Essex). The rent for the new property is £1150pcm for a 3 bedroom house. She has 5 children, one is 19 (does he count as a dependent?)

Does anyone know if the housing benefit will cover the rent or most of it? Shes already on income support and gets child benefit and she gets housing benefit for her 2 bedroom flat in towerhamlets. I called Barking council and they said she needs to fill in a PTD form after she moves into the property-but how's she going to afford to pay the rent??? We are going to pay for the deposit but can't afford more than that.

plz plz help, we need a rough idea so that i can look for cheaper properties

Fran

Hi jazmin,

You could try giving her local Shelter a ring as they will be aware of local prices etc. and how other homeless/potentially homeless people have fared in the area.

turkleton

your sister needs to do a PTD before she moves in, if she tries to do one afterwards the Rent Service won't accept it as she's resident at the property. If she is going to move in after next Monday (7th April) she will be subject to Local Housing Allowance and will need to request the rates from Barking Council so she knows what she will receive. I can't find the figures on their web site but they should be up there sooner rather than later.

jazminkennedy

turkleton wrote: »

your sister needs to do a PTD before she moves in, if she tries to do one afterwards the Rent Service won't accept it as she's resident at the property.

Aaaahhhh! The woman from the housing benefit section said she has to fill in the PTD form after she moves in! So do i find a property first, apply for the housing benefit and then sign the contract with the new landlord?

This is a long shot, but someone told me a while ago that if you leave your council/city then they will give you x amount of money to help with buying/renting another place, is that true? I cant seem to find any info on the matter!

thank you all for the help

lil_me

I've never heard of anything to help with moving from another area.

PTD is PRE Tenancy, not POST Tenancy, so would need to be completed before they signed a contract.

From what has been said the new LHA rates, which will probably apply, they are based on the price of council rent prices in the area, so if she found out what size property they would be entitled to from the council, then how much renting a property of that size costs, will give her an idea of what she will need to pay towards the rent.

Fran

lil_me wrote: »

I've never heard of anything to help with moving from another area.

I've heard something like this but years ago and haven't heard anything like it in recent years. It might be that certain councils offer some help in moving to free up local housing, she would need to ask the local authority.

Voyager2002

Is there anything you could do to stop the eviction? Perhaps you could lend her the money for rent arrears?

Anyway, she really does need to speak to Shelter.

Fran

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Is there anything you could do to stop the eviction?

This is an important point, she shouldn't give up until actually evicted. Has she taken advice yet?