# housing benefit notification



## isil

I got my housing benefit award notification in the post today. There are 2 nice things: 
1. My benefit is £141.92 per week. It is paid every fortnight (£283.82) which means if we say a month is roughly 4 weeks long I'm getting £567.64 and my rent is only £550 per calendar month. WTF?! That's more than £17 over my actual rent? is that right?!
2. I'm getting £425.76 as a backpayment. Woohoo! Don't know what I'm going to do with it, save it for a rainy day or buy a freezer? what does everyone think?!


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## leanneh

hey!! housing benefit will only pay how much your rent is, you wont get overpaid... or they shouldnt cause they could make you pay it back when they realise theyve overpaid you...


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## isil

Ok, I might contact them then, just incase. I guess if they do overpay me it's less than £20 a month I'd have to pay back. It just seems silly if they've worked it out wrong as it's all there in black and white on the same printed out piece of paper iykwim!


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## welshcakes79

can i be nosey and ask how long yours took to come through hun? from giving in te form to it being approved?


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## leanneh

yea... you might be able to keep the rest but my childs father had to pay loads back cause they said he should have reported it :s


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## mumtobe25

i applied for housing benefit and got told that if the over payment was £15 i could keep it, dont know if its the same in your area...maybe give them a ring??

as for your payment buy a freezer because you can pick up one quite cheap..and keep the rwst of treat yourself mums deserve it lol x


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## starbucks101

Yer its fine its worked out on the LHA system now if your in private rental, you can keep upto £15 a week extra on top of your rent so £17 a month is a nice bonus for you! Enjoy it. It wont affect any of your other benefits or child maintenece.


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## isil

thanks everyone! 

Welshcakes, I put the form in late last month (26th maybe?) and it's taken that long to come through however that was because I had to wait to get my tenancy changed. I only actually gave my new tenancy agreement in on Tuesday and it's Friday today, so not long at all!


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## sezzlebum

my mate gets paid extra too, its changed now for new claims,

*If the rent of the property you have negotiated with your landlord is lower than the LHA rate you will be able to keep any excess benefit upto a maximum of £15 per week. This excess will not normally be taken into account when deciding other benefits. If the rent is higher than the LHA rate you will be required to pay the difference or look for alternative accommodation within the LHA rates.

Entitlement to the LHA is means-tested and you will need to provide a valid tenancy agreement as proof.
*

https://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018928


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## AppleBlossom

I gave mine in nearly 3 weeks ago and not heard anything but I know I am definately entitled to it, as a single non working mother etc. Should I contact them? I don't have a number. My next lot of rent is due out on tuesday :s


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## isil

I'd go in and see them Bexy. They were really nice to me, I actually borrowed money to pay my rent (which went out midnight last night!). Not ideal, obviously. 

Thanks for the information Sezzlebum and clearing that up! I think now that might have seen something similar written in all the documentation that came with the claim but you know what it's like, you focus on the numbers that come after the £s!!


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## vegan_mama

you can be in credit with housing benefit, they have set ammounts to cover rent, and if your under the ammount you can keep the extra.

i gained about £12 a week with mine, and it was supported accomodation and deffinatly correct, i used it for gas :)


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