UK housing question
 

ok, I have posted this in general as I dont actually want support just advice.

I cant go on living at home, its hell. It causes half of my mental health problems.
I am on income support at the moment and not working. How would I go about getting a place of my own? And what am I entitled to? How much money would i need myself?

I have no idea, but your citizens advice beureu (sp?) would know.

MY local council has a housing advice centre where they run drop in sessions, look them up and give them a try or yeag cb are good for that kind of thing

Can you get in touch with your council? They are likely to have a housing office and can put you on their waiting list for re-housing. I hope you manage to sort something out. Take care.

Hey Kim,

If you're on Income Support i would think that you would be entitled to full housing and council tax benefit. As long as the rent isn't excessive which it won't be with the exception of some greedy private landlords then that shuld cover your whole rent. You could try your local council/housing association, in fact even some private landlords will accept housing benefit payments

I agree with the other poistings though, that you should contact your local citizens advice bureau because they know benefits law inside out and will ensure that you get all that you are entitled2!

Best Wishes,

Craig

Yep, if you get income support you should get help with rent and council tax. We do, we get all our rent and council tax paid. Try your local council offices, they can often give advice, or citizens advice is always a useful place to go.

This is for if you would rent privately, cos trying to get a council house is like pulling teeth! It helps you work out how much help you would be entitled to. Also, see if your local council has a list of accredited landlords. That's how we found our house, from a list of accredited landlords on the Stoke-on-Trent council housing website. PM me if you want any more help, I've only just been through this process myself :-)

https://lha-direct.therentservice.go...e/Default.aspx

Are you still a student as moving in to student accomodation may be an idea. There are some one/two bed places and they aren't all bad and they do tend to be cheaper.

wow thank you. That website was helpful.
By the looks of things I can only get a bedsit or room in shared accomodation because im under 25. They will also pay upto £55. so now i need to start loking.

Do you have to find the place first? Can I not apply for the housing and then look for a place?

Im going to try brooching the subject with my mum tomorrow. that should be fun.

Are you looking for council or private accommodation?

If you need more info, I work with housing stuff, so drop me a PM with what you're looking for and where you are and I may be able to offer some further advice

from experience, my bf is on income support-gets £65 a week and is about to move into a flatshare....works for him because it works out much less and he is very social.x

I think i need to go private as councill would take forever

You can not get paid benefit for a porperty you do not have a rental agreeement on. however you can make an application for a property providing there is a contract that states you are going to move in.

Basically you have to find a place first.

On IS you are entiteld to full HB and CTAX benefit. HB and Ctax benefit are means tested benefits and therefore take into account your income and savings etc. But you need to have quite alot of savings for that to be taken into account so dont worry bout it.

10 Years ago i could have told you everytihng you needed to know cus i worked for the benefit service. However alot has changed and also i cant remember half of it.

Good luck

according to housing officers we have talked to, you can get a benefit forecast that could tell you how much you are likely to get - however no-one here seems to know where you actually go for it, maybe someone at your end will be able to help with that.

also, not all councils operate a waiting list as such. our council processes all applications within 14 days and you are awarded a 'band status' (bronze, silver, gold, platinum, platinum plus) depending on the urgency of the situation. we are on silver band because there are 4 bedrooms with 7 people living here, once i am past 12weeks of another pregnancy we jump to platinum because we are classed as overcrowded then.

you then get your claim number, and the local newspaper, look up the housing advert and all council property available to rent is in this huge advert, it says who they would consider for each house/flat (ie single 1 or more child, couple with one child, smoker/non smoking, pets/no pets, elderly accomodation, sheltered housing etc) then you bid for upto 4 properties, the properties are awarded in order of band and where there are 2 in the highest band - the person who has been in that band for longest gets the house. see if oyur council runs anything similar.
mand x

^^ aye - a lot, though not all, councils are going for "choice based letting" - where you bid for properties rather than being placed on a list.

What Matthew is saying about benefits is pretty bang on. But as you pointed out earlier there is a capped benefit for folk under 25 which can make accessing a private let one bed flat pretty difficult.

There are also places around that guarantee deposits to help you access private lets, if you can't afford a deposit, these may be available for rooms in flats as well, depending on the particular organisation.

Some councils also manage privately owned flats - in my area this is known as the Private Sector Letting Scheme (PSL). These are flats that are owned and let privately but run through the council. They typically have a very high rate of rent (well above market rate) but this would be completely covered by the council if you a re on benefits, and I undertsand if you were to start to work they apply a sliding scale, rather than you becoming responsible for the entire rent. These are usually accessed very quickly - it's the quick fix to homelessness, however usually only a temp lease (3-5 years). You can also access PSL's even if you do not have priority status.

I don't know where you are, it does vary from council to council, and there are different housing laws in Scotland and England, so I can't really make specific suggestions for your situation.

also - for deposits - if you have been on income support for six months +, you would be eligible to apply for a budgeting loan for a deposit.

neighbourhood office staff are trained to assess all kinds of benefit. they are your best bet by far as they link directly to HB and CTB offices.

MOST landlords are 110% clued up about the benefit system if they are used to dealing with tenant who claim benefit so their rents will be exactly at the maximum level they can get paid at. They know every goddam trick in the book and most know the system better than all the staff.

Its not in most l'lords interest to charge over the indicative rent levels. Usually thats the ones who take working people only and if you blag it you may have to cough up the remainder.

Kim, You may be able to be assessed as needing to live on your own. Things would have been quite different for me cos I was in care, but I had an assessment/talk with some housing placement officer from the council before they placed me on the housing list, and because I was assessed as being 'unsuitable for shared accomodation because of my problems' I got the amount for over 25's. However, i re-iterate that i was in care at the time so things may have been different. But it could be worth trying to play the system a bit.

Yeah you do need a tenancy agreement to send off to the local council to get the housing benefit, which means you need to have picked the house/flat already. It does take a while for the money to come through, so it might be helpful to save for the first month's rent, unless you have a very understanding landlord. For example, ours let us pay a week late on our first rent as the money hadnt come through yet.

Also, some councils run a scheme where they will pay your deposit etc and you pay it back to them later on, so it's worth asking about that too.

wow thank you for all the information.

I have looked around and I think given the money i have and given my mental health status, perhaps i might be best in a shared house so im not alone too much. These mostly seem to be student places so im enquiring as to if they accept benefit, i know a lot of places around here dont.

The bit im stuck on is where i should go to now.Should i go to a jobcentre plus or something like that? Where do I get the forms to apply for benefit and such? And are they going to turn around and say you have a perfectly good room in your mums house stay there.

I don't know much about it but I don't think there is any harm in asking at studenty type places.

I also think if you can make a good case as to why living at your mums would do more harm then good then they will take it into consideration
xoxox

I strongly advise Neighbourhood Office for the form filling. They will take note of your claim, date stamp it and log it onto the system. The benefit service have access to this information and therefore it puts a tick against you showing them you are making a cliam and this can help with any possible backdating issues that could occur. TRUST ME, things can get lost even in a paperless office which many councils now run (I helped set up the one for Birmingham and trained them all on how to use it *nods*).

You will need original proofs of identification (2 i think) and rental agreement. Passport or something like that. National insurance number. Proof of income. The NO can verify all these documents for you and make a statement that they have seen originals and you can have them all right back again. They will usually either photocopy them and stamp the copy or scan them directly into the paparless office system. (you cannot get paid benefit until you provide proofs and they are verified originals. Councils have their own verification networks set up: Teams of people who verify that details are correct and genuine.)

The benefit service are not the housing department and therefore dont or wont tell you where to live. Its entirely up to you. The only requirement for a dwelling is that its genuine (they inspect properties to make sure they are real) and habitable and rateable. So you wont be told by anyone not to move somewhere.

I dont know where you find lists of private landlords but i would try calling the council and seeing if there is a list or something or if not where best to look next.

Also, I can't remember if you are still at uni-but if so there should be a person in student support with magical lists of landlords etc.

Im kinda in college so landlords dont really apply that way.

urgh this is harder than it should be. Most places aroudn here dont take benefit and those that do are in really rough areaas. Mum has since started being a bit like "you cant afford it" "you will be miles away from college" blah blah. just urgh. why cant it be simple

argh whats this mean? Do what happens if i find a place where bills are included. urgh im so dumb with all this stuff.

With regards to not taking benefit - The details on the house we're in said "no benefits, no pets" and we live here using housing benefit and have a dog! A lot of landlords are willing to negotiate because of the current financial climate so don't despair.

My partner says - the other option is to have benefit paid straight to you, rather than to the landlord (I have mine paid into my bank account) and the landlord won't know where the money's coming from.

Okay, if it is a place where all bills are included, then definitely mention it on your claim form (they can potentially get arsey if you don't and stop benefit/make you repay it etc). If at all possible get your landlord to make some sort of written thing (pref. on tenency agreement if not then just a letter) stating how much of your rent goes towards bills - the council where i am likes it to be separate for electri, gas, water etc but i just wrote it as overall.

never ever ever try to decieve a landlord by not telling them about housing benefit-the council can write to your landlord about your benefit, so you could get found out and the landlord could get a but arsey....however....even if advertisements say no DSS, a lot of landlords will accept it if you clearly state your case as why you are claiming it - mention that you are a student and have 'personal' reasons why you can't live at home (or just claim your parents want you to move out). My landlord was quite explicit that he would not accept DSS, but when my (ex)foster mother called and explained the situation, he asked to meet me and has now taken me on (and is very protective of me-bless him).
The reason most private landlords tend to refuse DSS is because of the stigma that goes with it(which is often totally untrue...but hey....their generation i guess)

Sorry this has turned out to be so long, hope some of it is helpful.

Just remember to always be honest, dress smart if you are going to meet a landlord/view a place and (although i hate to say this) it may be 'best' to cover your arms to avoid the stigma and discrimination that can occur surrounding s/i.

Good Luck,

Ruth
xxxx

*sniggers at the thought of Kim dressing smart* :P

oi shut it pengy! Just coz im a scouser dont mean i dont know how to dress!

Thank you. But if they dont pay the bills only rent i dont think i could afford to move out. Im only on basic money as it is and im also paying off a huge debt at the same time. urgh.

depends how old you are , how much money you get , how much your rent is , if your under 25 you get less , and some councils only give you enough for a room in a house and usually you stil have to pay some, but it really depends,

It would be hard but possible. I'm only on basic money-the amount i earn from working part-time is roughly eqivalent(sp?) to income support in my area.
If it is somewhere that bills aren't included, then make sure you won't have to pay top-up on the rent and try to find out what the average bills are before you move in. I never thought I would be able to manage, but I do so long as I budget myself strictly, and still manage to have fun.

Everyone is different-if you managed to get into student accomodation/shared accomodation then it would probably be easier(money-wise) then living in your own flat.

Have you looked at any house-share websites to check out prices etc?