change of circumstance - housing benefit

KILL_BILL

if someone gets housing benefit - say for example they get £800 per month full housing benefit and then they go into work and there take home pay is £1000.00

for the change of circumstance would the housing benefit stop all the benefit being paid whilst they recalculate the new benefit or how does it work.

obv the person could not afford the rent fully out of their take home salary as it would leave them £200 a month to live off for food, travel to work and bills etc

considering also the length of time that it takes benefits to calculate the amount is sometimes a long time

lil_me

Yes the award would usually stop then a new claim would be processed.

https://eservice.rushcliffe.gov.uk/onlineservices/benefit_calculator/index.html

Might give you a rough idea of what you might be entitled to.

KILL_BILL

so they would defenitely process the claim as a NEW claim?

looking on my council website the lha figures are 173 per week, howvere my rent has been £185 for the past 5 years - the landlord has not put it up during that time and so in effect i would have to pick up the shortfall.??

mitchaa

Would you get to keep all your LHA even if you were earning £1000pm?

That doesn't seem fair, i have a younger brother in private rented that earns a similar income but yet he gets absoloutly no help with housing costs.

Scarlett1

the £1000 looks like a full time wage so only minimum HB would be paid (probably 25%), KB make sure that you claim WTC.

KILL_BILL

and i have checked that you cant get any help with council tax so thats £80pm out of your wage and travel is £120 pm to get to work

wtc take ages to be processed i hear

minimadtrix

I'm not sure if you get a 'run on' period when you first start work as the HB people realise you might not get paid until the end of your first month - sort of an 'incentive' to get you back to work I suppose

In the meantime, they will probably suspend your HB clam until all information is gathered - this is to avoid any overpayment which they would then have to recoup from anything you would then be entitled to.

Elle00

KILL_BILL wrote: »

if someone gets housing benefit - say for example they get £800 per month full housing benefit and then they go into work and there take home pay is £1000.00

for the change of circumstance would the housing benefit stop all the benefit being paid whilst they recalculate the new benefit or how does it work.

obv the person could not afford the rent fully out of their take home salary as it would leave them £200 a month to live off for food, travel to work and bills etc

considering also the length of time that it takes benefits to calculate the amount is sometimes a long time

It depends what your entitlement to HB is in the first place. Are you a lone parent? Or have you been on incapacity benefit?

The first time I stopped HB to work part-time I did get my claim shut down and a whole new one was processed. It was an absolute joke as my wage was only around £200 a month and my landlord was charging £650 a month in rent - which I was unable to pay for THREE MONTHS. I nearly got evicted but I couldn't pay what I didn't have.

Eventually this was backdated from the point of application though so at least he was paid in full eventually (minus £100 odd of my wages - can't remember the figures now).

The second time I stopped HB to work full-time, last year, I was told I only had to submit a change of circumstances for a re-assessment as the council recognised the problems that had previously been occurring. So they froze my claim while it was recalculated and then two months later wrote to tell me I wasn't entitled to anything anymore. My wages were about £960pm and I paid out about £750pm in rent and council tax.

I was a lone parent so I got tax credits but these were spent on childcare and my son's clothes, toys, food etc. For household stuff, my clothes, commuting costs and my bills I lived off the remainder of my salary - about £50pw. Before you ask how it's possible - it wasn't!!

I don't want to say HB won't help you because they might be able to offer some small assistance, I don't know. I would say it's a good idea to think about your circumstances in their entirety and see if there's anything else you're able to claim to help you manage though as that rent is really high. This is what I was saying about just the other day - they just don't take rent into account where the majority of benefits are concerned and HB only have to leave you with the national minimum to live off (about £60pw for everything).

A four week run on may apply depending on why you've been claiming HB in the first place.

KILL_BILL

yes i do know about the 4 week run on after you start a job but as a few people have mentioned on this thread and elsewhere it seems that the goverments initiative to get people back into work and fend for themselves continually fails

in southwark in central london they rekon that the private market rent for a 1 bed is £175 per week - thats not correct - rent in the area varies form £200 per week to £320 per week.- for a posh flat

i guess they may have found 1 flat that was being offered at £175.00 but was surrrounded by crack dens, high crime neighbourhood ect.

travel expenses are extortiante and not eveyone works in the area that they live and a travel card for the bus costs £50 a month here- they should take at least where you work into account, and allow the cheapest travel cost at least to be fair

Elle00

KILL_BILL wrote: »

yes i do know about the 4 week run on after you start a job but as a few people have mentioned on this thread and elsewhere it seems that the goverments initiative to get people back into work and fend for themselves continually fails

in southwark in central london they rekon that the private market rent for a 1 bed is £175 per week - thats not correct - rent in the area varies form £200 per week to £320 per week.- for a posh flat

i guess they may have found 1 flat that was being offered at £175.00 but was surrrounded by crack dens, high crime neighbourhood ect.

travel expenses are extortiante and not eveyone works in the area that they live and a travel card for the bus costs £50 a month here- they should take at least where you work into account, and allow the cheapest travel cost at least to be fair

As I explained in the post above, I'm well aware of what the situation can be as I was in the same predicament a year ago. So I don't understand why you've posted this rant instead of answering the questions posed to you in an effort to try solve your problem.

The government and council aren't going to make any kind of allowance, so the best thing you can do is to explore other avenues like I suggested before.

You can't really do that without answering the questions about your circumstances though as people need that information in order to tell you what you may be entitled to.

real1314

OP, you've been given what seems to be some vague and possibly inaccurate advice. No-one can tell you thet you will or will not get HB, or how much, without knowing your full income details and your circumstances.

Try entitledto.co.uk for an estimate.

Or post details of:

all income
all capital/savings
partner - yes/no
kids? how many.
anyone else living in your home

only then can people give you help/advice