housing problems please help

single_mother_needs_help

thank you for that.

i am a little confused about the criteria.

would they pay me the 2bedroom allowance as my son is still young? :S

BobProperty

single_mother_needs_help wrote: »

thank you for that.

i am a little confused about the criteria.

would they pay me the 2bedroom allowance as my son is still young? :S

My reading of it is yes, they should.

single_mother_needs_help

ok thank you. i thought they would. but this is the first ive heard of the new system really. taking abit to get my head around it lol

neverdespairgirl

single_mother_needs_help wrote: »

i need a 2bed place so my son can have his own bedroom.

I'd say - don't rush. A 9 month old doesn't need his own room, I don't to be honest see how it's necessary. Our son was in our bedroom for much longer than that.

I'd hang on, and keep your eyes peeled for a 2 bed, one will come up.

clutton_2

in several areas of the country where i have done extensive research re HB and LHA - LHA is considerably higher than HB.

in one area where i have property, LHA is £50 per month more than i am charging and i thought i was charging a little over middle level rents.

squatnow - you simple cannot generalise in the way you do - each area will have different LHAs - that was the whole point - to pay for expensive areas such as london, and less for cheaper areas such as the north east and some parts of lancashire

RE bond - ask your council if they have a BOND BOARD - this is a way of helping private tenants to get accommodation where landlords want a deposit

Bungarm2001

"Either way, my point is still valid. LHA has slashed the amount people on benefits can pay in rent. it doesn't matter how much the landlord want to charge, if people can't afford it rents will drop or landlords will have long voids."

NOT in my experience Squatnow.

We have just signed new AST's with two tenants in two separate properties and we waited until the LHA came into full force on the 7th April because we now get MORE rent for each of our tenants via the LHA.

Everyone is happy...we get more rent and the tenant gets the house they wanted.

It took a while, but most councils now have to see that what they offer as LHA (or HB as it was called) had to come into line with private rents, or at least some way otherwise there would be more homeless people.

PasturesNew

Bungarm2001 wrote: »

We have just signed new AST's with two tenants in two separate properties and we waited until the LHA came into full force on the 7th April because we now get MORE rent for each of our tenants via the LHA.

Everyone is happy...we get more rent and the tenant gets the house they wanted.

It took a while, but most councils now have to see that what they offer as LHA (or HB as it was called) had to come into line with private rents, or at least some way otherwise there would be more homeless people.

So you waited and increased the rent.. to pocket more cash?
pfft

Tenants, if they choose a property a few quid under the LHA can keep the extra.

Speaking as a single person, JSA would pay out £59/week... those few extra quid pocketed would really mean the difference between having the light on or light off. And hot beans or cold beans.

lil_me

Increasing rents for those on LHA will also make it more difficult for them to get back in to employment affordably. A friend of mine lives in a more expensive area and is strugglin with exactly that, because she gets over £600 rent paid, she's struggling to find employment which makes her 'better off'. In our areas the LHA has reduced a lot for many unless they choose to live in smaller accomodation. More so because it was rooms and now it is bedrooms.....for example we'd have been entitled if on HB to 4 rooms, now only entitled to 2 bedrooms, a drop of £25 week if it applied. Instead of the £175 a month we'd need to top up here (as it's higher rent than the local reference rent) it'd have been closer to £300 a month, pleased we're not in that situation.

Anyway, I have posted the link on the benefits section as many have on here to the LHA website which will tell you how much you can claim regardless of the property size you live in. If you are in much smaller than entitled to and the rent is much lower some have found it an advantage to go onto LHA as they can keep a small amount of the extra, this would depend what your entitlement and rent is. You can negotiate the rent sometimes with landlords, possibly if the property has been empty a while or if you are willing to sign a longer tenancy, a higher deposit will also usually help with the acceptance of pets so it could be worth holding out a little longer and see if either one comes up which accepts pets or save a higher deposit.