anyone claim or know about LHA / housing benefit ?

[Gem & Leland]

were just talking into worse case scenria if brian does loose his job / hearing perminatly etc and as we private rent its says about Local housing allowance / housing benefit . well our LHA is 924 a month ! well our rent is high but not that high lol does that mean they pay our whole rent ??

 

[fran_23]

the rent officer will have a look at your situation and how much you can afford to pay and they decide what the average rent should be on your property (they may visit to decide or may not) and they decide how much allowance you are entitled to..they'll want to see everything bank statements the letters that state about child benefits and working tax credits etc and probably payslips/doctors letter etc..also they may advise that Brian claims incapacity benefits to supplement wage say if hes put on a lower wage on lighter duties or if he cannot work at all.
Go in the civic centre and ask for the forms fill them out and they tell you what proof/documents they need and it all takes about 3 weeks..(thats my experience with Harrow council it may be different from Hillingdon) xxx

 

[Manda&Thomas]

we were told that you get the allowance that it set for you area on the type of home you live in and if its more then your rent you get to keep the rest if its less then your rent you have to cover the rest,
xx

 

[Gem & Leland]

all i can work out is if its less they pay and you get £15 a week on top to keep ! but you have to only have enough space for you ( like they wouldnt pay for us to live in a 3 bed when we only need 2 , and weve only got 2 ) and its only a flat so they cant possibly make us go smaller !

were not sure on what other benefits , she told me a bit on the phone but with not knowing what is happening yet reg his hearing and if its perminant its all a bit confusing ! as far as they said , it would be incapacity for him , which would then lead to council tax and housing , and a increase in child tax ? then income support possibly , all this benefit stuff is well confusing !!!! i should surely then get working tax , we dont get it at min but with my wages alone i think its takes it under the earn to much bracket . Rah i hope it doesnt come to this at all !!!!

 

[fran_23]

I havent heard this £15 thing..since stewart doesn't live with me now i just had my claim done.. i'm on income support it is £59 a week i think..i get my child benefit and child tax credit..my rent is 190 a week..the council pay some of that and some of my council tax but not by any means all of it so i get just enough to cover the rent and then i have my shopping, gas/electric, water and tv license plus my mobile and internet bill..its a good job Stewart gives me money other wise i wouldn't be able to live..what about single mums with no dad in the picture, i'm going back to work as soon as Hayden gets some days paid at nursery because the woman at the job centre worked out that even with there help on childcare i would be worse off in employment atm..and i'd just be paying for someone else to have Hayden and still struggling the same. So thats why i choose to stay at home..and when stew lived here we were paying the whole rent and council tax and were about the same...I cannot wait for Hayden to get some days at nursery so i can go back to work!

 

[Manda&Thomas]

yes they wont pay for more rooms then you need this is to stop single people trying to rent 3/4 bed places that they dont need,
as for benifits he should get disability allowance i think its still called that, income suport, child tax credits at a good rate, child benifit plus your rent and counsil tax paid, you will also get milk tockens you can get milk/fruit and veg on these i think you will get 2 £2.80 ones a week,
i think thats it hun
hope it doesnt come to this though
xx

 

[Gem & Leland]

cheers girls
fran this is what it says about the !15 thing

Q. What if my rent is less than the Local Housing Allowance that applies to me?
Top

If the rent of the property you have negotiated with your landlord is lower than the LHA rate you may be able to keep any excess up to a maximum of £15 per week.

i really hope it doesnt come to this either, especially at the moment brian couldnt take care of leland all day , his crying and even his toys hurts what hearing he has got , and you trying telling a baby not to cry cos it hurts daddy and his a right cry baby too

 

[aramintalovegrove]

Lots of useful info here girls on housing benefits/LHA

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advic ... _allowance

LHA has the applicable £15 over payment rule but housing benefit doesnt (you get LHA for private rented and HB for local authority (or their ALMO) and housing association properties)

Remember that LHA is a fixed amount based on average rent on the amount of rooms you need not the actual property you rent so you can always get a cheaper 3 bed house if thats what you really want.

I reccommend you look at the discretionary housing payment information too, its worth an application if you suppliment a shortfall on your rent.

CLS direct does really good advice on entitlement, employment, disability issues etc that may help you work out whats likely to happen Gem, their number is 0845 345 4 345

Hope that helps

 

[Gem & Leland]

tanks for that info , yes we are in private rent at mo and no council hence why i was looking at the LHA thing ! shall give that website a look

 

[fran_23]

i rent privately too..but you can still qualify for council help even if you are not in a council property.