Husband with 1yo, wife leaving but I'm living in 2 bedroom rented house. What happens to benefits?

Pottere · 23 January 2020 at 2:50PM

The situation I'm in is a bit complicated and I don't think it's going to meld well with society and the benefit rules.

My and my wife have been living together in our 2 bedroom rented house with our 1yo. We've not long been moved into the area and neither of us our working yet. We're in receipt of UC as a joint claimant and get housing benefit (we get £60 short of what our rent actually is but we've been alright covering the excess).

My wife has decided that she doesn't want to be with me and has left to stay with a friend, we're just agreeing between ourselves shifts of who is taking care of our 1yo. She can't stay at her friends for much longer through so she's applied for emergency accommodation which she will likely get.

She will be looking to move into her own place though, which may be a 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom, I don't know yet. What I need to know is what on earth happens to my bedroom entitlement? She is the one that's left so I have been the one left in this 2 bedroom house which isn't usually what happens - normally the husband leaves the house.

So when my wife gets a new place, or even before this when she gets into emergency accommodation, will my bedroom entitlement go down from 2 bedrooms to 1 bedroom - even though I still need the bedroom myself for our 1yo?? Will it make a difference if she moves into a 1 bedroom rather than a 2 bedroom?? Will I even lose housing benefit altogether and she will only get it because we're still married and she will need to pay rent for the emergency accommodation??

If my bedroom entitlement goes down to a 1 bedroom there's no possible way I'm going to be able to afford the rent here. We were using a guarantor from her side of the family right now and I don't have one available to just me, as I'm not working I'm not even going to be able to move somewhere else as no landlord is going to take me without a guarantor.

So I really need to know what on earth is going to happen here.

Thanks a lot for any help.

KatrinaWaves · 23 January 2020 at 2:55PM

Only one of you can claim an entitlement to a room for the child, you cant both do it, so, it depends who is having the most care.

(I also think you probably arent getting housing benefit but a housing payment under UC, its different to housing benefit)

If you are not working then it is likely you will be entitled to UC and CTR on your own even as a single claimant, but the amount for a single person vs a couple vs a couple with children is obviously different. You cant both claim for the child.

poppy12345 · 23 January 2020 at 3:42PM

Pottere wrote: »

The situation I'm in is a bit complicated and I don't think it's going to meld well with society and the benefit rules.

My and my wife have been living together in our 2 bedroom rented house with our 1yo. We've not long been moved into the area and neither of us our working yet. We're in receipt of UC as a joint claimant and get housing benefit (we get £60 short of what our rent actually is but we've been alright covering the excess).

My wife has decided that she doesn't want to be with me and has left to stay with a friend, we're just agreeing between ourselves shifts of who is taking care of our 1yo. She can't stay at her friends for much longer through so she's applied for emergency accommodation which she will likely get.

She will be looking to move into her own place though, which may be a 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom, I don't know yet. What I need to know is what on earth happens to my bedroom entitlement? She is the one that's left so I have been the one left in this 2 bedroom house which isn't usually what happens - normally the husband leaves the house.

So when my wife gets a new place, or even before this when she gets into emergency accommodation, will my bedroom entitlement go down from 2 bedrooms to 1 bedroom - even though I still need the bedroom myself for our 1yo?? Will it make a difference if she moves into a 1 bedroom rather than a 2 bedroom?? Will I even lose housing benefit altogether and she will only get it because we're still married and she will need to pay rent for the emergency accommodation??

If my bedroom entitlement goes down to a 1 bedroom there's no possible way I'm going to be able to afford the rent here. We were using a guarantor from her side of the family right now and I don't have one available to just me, as I'm not working I'm not even going to be able to move somewhere else as no landlord is going to take me without a guarantor.

So I really need to know what on earth is going to happen here.

Thanks a lot for any help.

As she's no longer living with you have you reported the changes to UC? If you haven't then you will need to do this and you're payments will change, depending on age. If you're under 35 and privately renting then you will only be entitled to shared accommodation rate, if you're over 35 then you'll be entitled to the 1 bedroom rate.

The standard allowance will also drop from couples to single person, which is £251 if under 25 or £317 if over 25.

You will be entitled to the single person discount for your council tax reduction.

calcotti · 23 January 2020 at 5:35PM

poppy12345 wrote: »

As she's no longer living with you have you reported the changes to UC? If you haven't then you will need to do this and you're payments will change, depending on age. If you're under 35 and privately renting then you will only be entitled to shared accommodation rate, if you're over 35 then you'll be entitled to the 1 bedroom rate.

For the avoidance of doubt, the above is true if OP is not primary carer for child. If they are the primary carer then OP remains entitled to two bedrooms

pmlindyloo · 23 January 2020 at 5:49PM

What kind of tenancy agreement do you have? Joint tenancy? Tenancy in your name only? Are you in a fixed term or a periodic tenancy?

Pottere · 23 January 2020 at 8:02PM

Thanks a lot for the replies, they are very helpful.

pmlindyloo wrote: »

What kind of tenancy agreement do you have? Joint tenancy? Tenancy in your name only? Are you in a fixed term or a periodic tenancy?

It's a 6 month joint tenancy.

calcotti wrote: »

For the avoidance of doubt, the above is true if OP is not primary carer for child. If they are the primary carer then OP remains entitled to two bedrooms

I am actually down as the primary carer because she's had mental health issues in the past but that no longer really needs to be the case so I presume she will want to be put down as the primary carer now but then again she might also just leave it so I don't know. We've agreed to a 1-way contact at the minute so I can't really ask her.

My wife sent me a message though saying "I've been advised by the health visitor to go to the job center to see if the money for me and our 1yo can go in my single account, that has been sorted.". I don't know exactly what that means but I presume if she's getting our 1yo's part of the UC money then she will have had to have been made the primary carer to get it?

elsien · 23 January 2020 at 8:09PM

While the joint tenancy is still in place, your wife is equally liable for the rent, so if the worst comes to the worst, the landlord can chase the guarantor for any shortfall.

You don't need another bedroom for your one year old in housing terms if you're not the primary carer. . When with you, you can share a room or sleep in the sitting room if you move to a smaller place when the tenancy ends.

Pottere · 25 January 2020 at 2:06AM

I can't move to a smaller place or any other place because nobody will take me.

I've been asking around everywhere - every estate agent, every shared house accommodation. Nobody wants to rent to a single man on the lowest level of UC, with no guarantor and a barely turned 1yo who's going to be crying a load of the time. I can hardly blame them to be honest.

I've done all the math from Poppy's reply and I'm going to be £180 short of the rent each month. I have roughly £160 in savings to myself so this really isn't going to end well. Is there literally nothing I can do in this situation other than screwing over our guarantor or self-evicting myself homeless?

How ridiclous it is that I can no longer get a 2 bedroom allowance, which I was previously entitled to, even though my personal situation hasn't changed and someone else has put me in this situation, I still have joint responsibility of our 1yo to look after.

WhenIam64 · 25 January 2020 at 8:08AM

Talk to your local Housing Options team. Though the housing element will come out of UC, there are local schemes which may loan you the deposit to move. I've also seen some schemes where the council will be guarantor in certain circumstances. But it will all come down to local policies / individual cases.

Not everything that is available will be known about online.

pmlindyloo · 25 January 2020 at 11:08AM

Since you have a joint tenancy then you may be treated as having an 'untidy tenancy'. This would mean that for the duration of your contractual tenancy agreement you would be allowed the same amount of housing element (i.e a two bed allowance) until you can leave the tenancy.

Read this:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-landlord-engagement-newsletters/february-2019-universal-credit-landlord-engagement-newsletter

Scroll down for 'Untidy tenancies'.

This would, at least, give you some time to find new rented accommodation.

If this is refused then you can enquire about a Discretionary Housing Payment.

You need to speak to the DWP about your situation and ask for some advice.

Probably the quickest solution to your situation is to find a job - any job - so that you are financially more secure and be in a better position to secure new accommodation.

It is likely that it will be better for your wife to have primary custody of your child. She will probably wish to claim benefits (at the moment) for the child herself so you will only claim benefits for yourself. On the plus side this will mean that you can work full time.

Have you considered mediation with your wife? Is there a chance that you can be reconciled?

There is no easy answer to the situation and unfortunately many people face these problems.

Good luck!

Mojisola · 25 January 2020 at 2:05PM

Pottere wrote: »

My and my wife have been living together in our 2 bedroom rented house with our 1yo.

My wife has decided that she doesn't want to be with me and has left to stay with a friend. She can't stay at her friends for much longer through so she's applied for emergency accommodation which she will likely get.

She will be looking to move into her own place though

If my bedroom entitlement goes down to a 1 bedroom there's no possible way I'm going to be able to afford the rent here.

Have you considered moving out and letting your wife and child stay in the two-bed house?

If she does get emergency accommodation, it's likely not to be a very nice place for your child to be living in.

The alternative is for you to stay as the parent with care in the current house.

Husband with 1yo, wife leaving but I'm living in 2 bedroom rented house. What happens to benefits?

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