Working Tax Credits - Why must single person without children be 25 or over?

gmeikle

Hi.

Could anyone please tell me why a single person working 30+ hours week with no children must be 25 or over?

I know it's the rule as the Benefits Helpline and CAB keep telling me but why?

What is this magical age of 25!

My stepson has recently got a flat with our local council through their housing application process because he was a 23 year old man having to share a bedroom with his 24 year old stepbrother and was sleeping on the top bunk of bunk beds.

He earns just over £10k year before tax (probably less now with the scrapping of the lower 10p rate of income tax), works 38+ hours week and according to the Working Tax Credit table could receive approximately £695 a year in Working Tax Credits if he was 25 or over!

If he could claim this it would pay for 7 months worth of Rent!!!!!!!!!!!

So why MUST you be 25 or over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any advice or help would be much appreciated.

Oldernotwiser

There has to be a cutoff point somewhere and 25 is also used for things like New Deal.

Your stepson sounds as if he's working for less than the minimum wage but on such a low income he might be eligible for HB and CTC.

gmeikle

Hi Oldernotwiser.

I'm assuming by HB & CTC you mean Housing Benefit and Council Tax Credit?

He had applied for HB and CTC but he received a letter from the local council saying that he wasnot entitled to anything as he was earning too much money!!!!!!!

It seems that if you're single and aged under 25 you can only get Housing Benefit for bed-sit accommodation or one room in shared accommodation.

Although he is receiving the usual 25% discount for single occupancy for the Council Tax it still leaves him having to pay nearly £1000 CT for the year as the local listings officer has temporarily banded the property as "B" because the flat is a Housing Association new build and they haven't "valued" the flat for CT purposes.

I understand that there always has to be a cut-off point and at one point was claiming job seekers allowance.

However, they were sending him to such dead end jobs that he decided not to sit on his backside and claim what ever he could but to actively go out looking for work.

After spending a couple of months sending letters to companies, walking around industrial estates knocking on doors, etc. he finally managed to get a temporary 6 month contract with a company.

This company has now employed him on a full-time permanent contract but it seems to me that he's not allowed to claim anything because he use his own initiative to find himself a job?

dmg24

He would be allowed to claim the same things irrespective of who found him the job. The JCP work in conjunction with the claimant to find work, they do not just tell them what to do.

Is there any reason why he has to have his own place? It would no doubt be cheaper for him to live in a shared house.

Oldernotwiser

gmeikle wrote: »

Hi Oldernotwiser.


It seems that if you're single and aged under 25 you can only get Housing Benefit for bed-sit accommodation or one room in shared accommodation.



However, they were sending him to such dead end jobs that he decided not to sit on his backside and claim what ever he could but to actively go out looking for work.



This company has now employed him on a full-time permanent contract but it seems to me that he's not allowed to claim anything because he use his own initiative to find himself a job?

Sorry, I forgot about the shared accommodation rate for under 25s.

As dmg24 says, where he got his job from is irrelevant to the situation although at least they wouldn't have been sending him to jobs where he earns less than the minimum wage! Working 38 hours for just over £10k is a good 10% below minimum wage levels unless my maths have let me down! He really would've been better off taking the more usual path of sharing a house or a flat. Most lads of 23 can't afford a whole flat to themselves and your stepson is no exception!

julesmum23

the NMW for age 23 is 5.52ph hr x 38 = £10,907.52

Oldernotwiser

julesmum23 wrote: »

the NMW for age 23 is 5.52ph hr x 38 = £10,907.52

OK, My maths did let me down!