Help with housing benefit

yulz4500 wrote: »

Housing benefit
Hi there! I'm looking for some help on applying for housing benefit please!

Me and my husband and our two young daughters have been staying with family for the last few months however we now need to find rented accommodation. We are both self employed and started a new business and have a very low income between us. The other benefits that we get are child benefit, working tax credit and child tax credit. Are we eligible for housing benefit if we rent from a private landlord through an estate agency?
Do we have to be living in a property before applying and will the landlord be notified about us receiving housing benefit?

All info and help will be much appreciated!!!
We are currently in London borough of Ealing

Hi yulz45
Yes -in principle you are entitled to housing benefit and council tax benefit, dependent on your joint income and any capital you have.
You can apply for HB/CTB with your local authority(LA) once you have somewhere to live and have the details including rent and some proof that you are the tenant. Any HB entitlement is restricted to your local housing allowance that takes local rents into account as well as your family circumstances -you can find this out from the LA right away (some publish this online).
You should be able to have your benefit paid to you and not directly to the landlord
Hope this helps you

Hello J1987

Firstly you can only claim Housing benefit if you are legally liable to pay for your housing cots. if you are paying board to a parent or family member then you would not be able to claim. If you are not a tenant but were for instance in lodgings and you would be evicted if you did not pay for your accommodation and the landlord was not related to you then you would be eligible to claim housing benefit. Your status a a licensee and eligibility would depend on these factors

With regard to your internship much will depend on whether or not you are still a student. If you have a valid student card and are claiming exemption from council tax then you are a student and will not be able to claim housing benefit unless you fall into one of the special categories ( carer, lone parent with child under 5, disabled etc)

If you have finished college or you are doing a work placement eg sandwich course and are liable for council tax then you can claim both housing and council tax benefits.

Alysonsallsorts wrote: »

Hi,

Thank you for your reply, I have tried the turn2us website but they can't do anything on line apparently because I am a student and therefore I'm not a straightforward case. I was trying to avoid going direct to the housing benefit people initially as they were a nightmare to deal with last year when I first approached them. I really wanted to know whether it seemed that the £13 every two weeks sounded correct or whether it was worth going through all the stress of dealing with the benefits people again. (This is the first time I've ever had to ask for any money in my life).
Thanks again for your help.

Dear Alysonallsorts
Benefits entitlememnts for students is complex and depends on the type of course you are following and what fees you have to pay and what grants/loans you get. There doesn't seem to be a better alternative than to get personal expert advice that takes into account all your circumstances. So I would advise you to get to your local CAB who can give you this service. You can find your nearest bureau on www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Good luck

Hello bencroft2810

If your income is less then you should be entitled to more help with your rent. You will not be penalised for reducing your hours. You may find that your working Tax Credit is also reduced as you will be doing less than 30 hours

A good place to look to balance all the different options is https://www.turn2us.org.uk where you can put in all the different figures to calculate the best option for you