Confused over Housing Benefit...

saltandvinegar_2

Hi,

I’m using a different screen name to ask this question, as a lot of people know who I am on my normal one, and I’d prefer to be anonymous at the moment.

My partner and I are trying to rent a house. I am unable to work, and am trying to apply for Incapacity Benefit. I don’t know if I should apply for Housing Benefit or not.

My partner has already said that she can pay the rent and bills, and the money I get (if any) will be for food and other necessities. I’m good on a budget, so am not worried about making it stretch.

Obviously, if I was to receive Housing Benefit, it would be beneficial, as would mean that some of the strain was off my partner. We spoke about it, and decided that if I did apply, then she would pay the landlord when s/he wanted, and I would pay her back when the HB came in (I understand it’s paid in arrears?).

Basically, I have a couple of questions, if anyone could help.

• Most landlords say that they don’t accept DSS. The only reason that I can see they would say this is because HB is paid in arrears, so they’d always be paid late. Would it be taken into consideration that my partner is working, and so the rent *would* be on time?

• I saw online that HB can be paid to the landlord or the recipient, unless you were in arrears with the rent. Is this still true? If so, I’d imagine that I could have the HB paid into my account, so it wouldn’t affect the landlord in the slightest?

• As yet, we don’t have a new property to move into. Would it be best to hold off on applying for HB until we’ve actually moved in, as obviously I don’t want them to be paying me when I’m not actually living there (we’re in student accommodation at the moment, all paid up until the end of June).

• As I will be sharing the house with someone else, when I’m quoting rents and council tax on the HB form, am I supposed to put the full rent that the LL receives, or the half rent, as I am one half of the people living there? My partner and I are a same-sex couple, and we’ve not had a civil partnership. The entitledto site said that same-sex couples are now treated the same as heterosexual ones, but I don’t know how being part of a couple would affect my claim (for HB or IB), if at all?

I'm sorry that was so lengthy, well done if you got this far!

Thanks very much in advance

dmg24

Hi saltandvinegar,

Firstly, IB is not means tested, so your partners income will not be taken into account. However, if you do not qualify for IB (usually due to not having paid sufficient NI Contributions), you will have to claim Income Support due to Incapacity, and this is means tested (your partners income will be taken into account).

HB has now been replaced by Local Housing Allowance (LHA). Your claim would be based on your income as a couple (the application form is pretty self explanatory, it gives space to complete details for both of you).

It is really up to you whether you declare to a potential landlord that you will be claiming (if you qualify for any LHA). As the benefit can be paid direct to you, the landlord does not have to find out, unless you choose to tell them.

If you do qualify for LHA, you will not be paid anything until you have proof of tenancy, so you cannot claim until you have found somewhere (though you can submit your claim before you move in).

I would be more concerned as to whether you will actually receive anything (IB, IS or LHA). If you look at the benefits calculator on the website of your local council, this should give you a pretty good estimation for LHA. Alternatively, if you want to post more details, we can let you know what you should be entitled to x

dmg24

Just to add, if you want us to look at your possible entitlement, we need to know the following:

Your age, if you have paid any NI Contributions, and if so for how long? Have you have claimed IB before?

Your partners income?

Am sure I'll think of other things later! x

saltandvinegar_2

Thanks dmg

I'm 21, and I've never claimed any form of benefit before.

I worked in shops when I was at school, for about two years. I don't know whether I would have paid NI though, as I was under 18 and at sixth form. I worked in an office for a year, when I was 19 (20 when I left), and definitely paid NI there. Since then, I've worked for about three months total in the same office.

Is there a way I can work out how much I've paid?

I looked on the entitledto calculator, but got really confused. The whole process is a bit like that!

My partners wages do fluctuate due to unpredictable hours, but she usually sees about £90 - 120 p/w. She's applying for full-time jobs, but plans on taking another part-time one if she can't get one. I would imagine that either way, she'd probably be getting £200-250 max a week.

I'm sorry this is so long and convoluted, the whole process has me so stressed that I don't even know what I'm meant to be doing anymore.

Edit - Re: not telling the landlord about claiming, is this really ok? I thought that maybe the benefit people would tell the landlord, or ask for their details? I don't want them to think that I'm lying to them.

Thanks so much for replying

dmg24

I don't think that you would qualify for IB by virtue of your NI payments, but you may qualify under the youth provisions:

• you were on a course of education or training for at least three months before your 20th birthday and
• the course was one of full time education at any level from secondary school to postgraduate vocational or work based training and
• attendance ceased within the last two complete tax years before the benefit year in which the claim is made.

Did you start your course before you were twenty?

On your partners current income, it is likely that you will get some help with LHA. However, it is possible that you will not (depending on how high rents are in your area) when they are earning a full time salary. The threshold for being able to claim LHA (and other means tested benefits) is very low.

The LA are not allowed to contact your landlord without your consent, so it really is up to you. I claimed HB for a short period a few years ago, and because I knew that I could still pay the rent on time, I chose not to tell my landlord. They would probably have been fine with it anyway as I had lived there for quite a while, but I didn't want to take the chance.

saltandvinegar_2

I turned 20 the month before I started the course

I'd imagine that I wouldn't be allowed to have IB then. I've read the directgov site's section on Income Support, but I must be looking at the wrong part, as I can't see anything about the kind of figures they pay. I'm trying to find out as much as I can online, without having to brave the JobCentre. I need to at least know which forms I want from them!

I'll apply for HLA when we have somewhere to live sorted out. As long as they're not going to inform the landlord, then it should be fine, especially as they shouldn't have any reason to question anything. They'll be paid on time. The jobs she's applying for are in the region of £11,000 to £12,000 p/a, and I think the average 2-bedroom rent in this area is £560 (according to a lettings agent).

Edit - I've put those figures in the calculator, and it comes out that I'd get no income support (should my partner get the job), we'd get half the rent paid, and about 2/3 of the council tax. After tax/N.I, she'd be on about £10,000 a year.

dmg24

Sorry I didn't reply earlier, have been to the pub for football (happy happy!) ...

Be careful about taking on too much rent. As you are a couple, you are only entitled to the LHA rate for a one bedroom property, and then potentially a lot less than that amount due to your partner's income.

If you have a look at this link, you can find out the maximum eligible LHA that you may get. If you have any problems with it, let me know what council you come under and I'll find the right rate for you x

mitchaa

dmg24 wrote: »

It is really up to you whether you declare to a potential landlord that you will be claiming (if you qualify for any LHA). As the benefit can be paid direct to you, the landlord does not have to find out, unless you choose to tell them.

If you let through an estate agent which i would imagine the majority of people do, then its near enough impossible to hide the fact that you are receiving benefits due to the vetting system in place.

Saltandvinegar...There are a whole list of reasons why landlords will not let to people on benefits, along with the reasoning you think.

dmg24

mitchaa wrote: »

If you let through an estate agent which i would imagine the majority of people do, then its near enough impossible to hide the fact that you are receiving benefits due to the vetting system in place.

Saltandvinegar...There are a whole list of reasons why landlords will not let to people on benefits, along with the reasoning you think.

Ignore mitchaa, he has a big (huge) problem with people claiming benefits (makes you wonder why he hangs around on the Benefits board so much!).

There is no reason why the fact that you are claiming LHA would come out through vetting checks. All you need to do is state that you live off the income of your partner. There is nothing unusual in one person in a partnership being a 'homemaker'.

mitchaa

dmg24 wrote: »

Ignore mitchaa, he has a big (huge) problem with people claiming benefits (makes you wonder why he hangs around on the Benefits board so much!).

There is no reason why the fact that you are claiming LHA would come out through vetting checks. All you need to do is state that you live off the income of your partner. There is nothing unusual in one person in a partnership being a 'homemaker'.

Idiot as per usual DMG..Lets spoil another thread shall we:rolleyes:

O.P..Dont listen to the above nonsense.

I have let out 4 properties within the last 5 years, all through estate agents. Every single estate agent asked for proof of income, employment references and bank statements.

Every single estate agent

DMG is obviously too stupid to realise that on a bank statement, it will clearly show incoming money. If you were employed it would say the name of the company that has paid you in the description box of your bank statement. If its from benefits it will clearly show that benefit in the description box.

That is how you would get found out, along with obviously not being able to provide employment details, references, salary details etc etc.

Do not listen to DMG above, she obviously has no experience with working.

On a different note, you may find a landlord (In a local newspaper, on the internet etc) that does not go through the same vetting checks and that will happily accept housing benefit. I for 1 am not saying its impossible through an estate agent, but its highly unlikely. (Some people have successfully went through an estate agent, well so they say anyway)

Chrysalis

Yes that is a problem I agree. If you renting a new property then the primary concern of the estate agent or landlord if direct is where your money is coming from to pay your rent, as such they will ask for details of employment. You wont get away with lying and it would also be fraud so you would have no choice but to say you are unemployed. The alternative is your partner only puts their name on the tenancy agreement and your income isnt then considered but of course you would then not be entitled to LHA as you are legally not renting. So you basically need to find a DSS friendly landlord they do exist but are a rare species

I am amazed that when LHA was introduced they didn't change it so its paid in advance, how much of the rent market is rent paid in arrears? If they changed that they may have found more DSS friendly landlords.