Housing benefit

[emyandpotato]

Quick question for those in the know! My OH graduates soon and we were planning on moving back in with my parents until he had a job lined up but one is looking hopeful. It's in his desired field- Graphic Design- and he'd be able to work his way up, but it's minimum wage. I'm still a student (OU, no loan) so going on that alone, we would be eligible for a housing benefit top up. A lot of the houses in the area, however, are three bedroom terraces. That just seems to be all there is. They're very cheap, that isn't the issue, but I'm worried that we won't be eligible for housing benefit with three bedrooms when we only have one child. Does it work like this? Or does it not matter and you just get a certain amount of HB depending on wage?

 

[chell5544]

As far as I'm aware (if it hasn't changed)
You can get HB on a three bedroom (depending on wage) but will only pay the max alowed for a two bedroom when you have 1 child.

For example max allowed to be given for 2 bedroom £450 a month
The 3 bedroom is £550 you will have to put at least £100 a month towards rent maybe more depending on how much they reckon your eligible for depending on income (HB take tax credits WTC and child benifit as income)

 

[emyandpotato]

As far as I'm aware (if it hasn't changed)
You can get HB on a three bedroom (depending on wage) but will only pay the max alowed for a two bedroom when you have 1 child.

For example max allowed to be given for 2 bedroom £450 a month
The 3 bedroom is £550 you will have to put at least £100 a month towards rent maybe more depending on how much they reckon your eligible for depending on income (HB take tax credits WTC and child benifit as income)

Thank you!

 

[mummylove]

U have to pay room tax on a extra room now. Think u get 14% off the housing benefit and u have to pay the difference

 

[Piggywinkle]

The new 'bedroom tax' coming in just affects people in council/housing authority properties. In private rentals, there has been a system in place for some time (which is pretty similar) but this is termed as local housing allowance (you'll see it called LHA). The amount is different for every council but should be easily found on your council's website. There's basically a ceiling on the amount that they give you depending on how many bedrooms you have, compared to how many you need. DH and I live in a 3 bed with LO at the moment, but because we only need a 2 bed, this is what they'll assess you on. In other words, you choose to have the extra room, then you need to pay for it yourself.

If you can find out the LHA for your area, you can then go to one of the benefits entitlement websites (Entitled To and Turn To Us immediately spring to mind) and they should give you a fairly good idea of what you can receive.

Hope this helps!

 

[Elizax]

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