How do I go about claiming Housing Benefit?

[TiffanyJaynexo]

I'm 26 weeks now and I feel like I'm leaving things too late
My parents house isn't big enough for a baby and whenever I'm here I share a room with my sister (one reason why I'm in OH's a lot).

In OH's house.. we have our own bed and breakfast type room downstairs and his mother and step dad live upstairs. It's very big but again, not big enough nor suitable for a baby. The room is also infested with mould and although it gets treated with a certain liquid every few months, it isn't cured for good and the mould is still inside the walls. As much as I am grateful of OH's mum for putting us up, It's just not suitable for Grace.

I'm on job seekers benefit but should be going onto income support soon.
My OH works about 15 hours a week, he's still eligible for job seekers but there's really no point for him to go on it and he sometimes gets extra shifts anyway.

I really want some help but I'm dumb when it comes to all this stuff!
My sister in law said that if I find a 2 bedroom house and contact my local social office and tell them I want to claim housing benefit for that particular house, I can get the house like a shot (as long as it's 2 bedrooms as that is all we need). Is that correct? And do I claim with my OH? Really tempted to call my local office and ask for some help/advice, I really don't want to leave things last minute

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

I'm not 100% but I think you can't get a 2 bed until the babies born as your not classed as over crowed yet.
Pop down your council and see what they say x.

 

[TiffanyJaynexo]

Eeeeek that would suck big time.
But If I'm going to live in either my parents or OH's when Grace is here I'd much rather live in my parents, despite there being no room :/ Will definitely pop there as I really want some help xxx

 

[littlemiss83]

You can get an estimate of housing benefit, its your council that works out how much you will get ect & most councils have a housing benefit calculator on their website - best way to find out is to google housing benefit calculator then your area. You will have to know how much the rent is first, best thing to do is look about at different properties online & do a dummy calculation based on one of the properties - you can also get a housing benefit estimate over the phone to your council or actually in your local council. They will be able to tell you how much HB you'd get for the property.

Only downside is that you will have to pay the first months rent & the deposit for the property upfront before you move in. So if rent is £800 you'd need to pay £1,600 - you may be able to get back dated HB but would still have to pay the rent/deposit by yourself. Second thing is that you cannot apply for HB for a 2 bedroom house untill baby is actually born & you can provide birth cert (you can still move into the property but not get any HB) - same goes for if you apply for a council house. You may be eligable to move into a 1 bed council & apply to move to a bigger one when baby is born.

Sorry that was so long couldn't think of a way to shorten it!

 

[Lulu_Laroo]

Get yourself down citizens advice, they're brilliant and will give you all the information you need; what you're entitled to and when etc. x

 

[bearsmummy]

If your doing it by finding the houser yourself, you have to fork out alot for th edeposit and a months rent in advance, cost me just over a grand.

 

[kay126]

me and oh are both working but we have looked into what help we can get with council housing, in our county we would not be considered for a 2 bed automatically until LO is 2 as they believe they can share with u until the age of 2, so u may want to check if ur eligible for a 2 bed in ur area first of all just a thought xx

 

[Squeakz]

Well my oh and I claimed for a two bed place before baba was here and got it (we were in north yorkshire at the time!) HOWEVER we had to front a deposit AND first months rent with the possibility of 2nd months rent depending on the speed of processing the claim. Saying that you're entitled to 24 hour processing IF you get every shred of evidence in and the form in one go! You can get it back dated if you have a good reason although we found a good reason was only just moved ina dnt his was the soonest we could hand the form in etc.....

Sorry if that's not much help!!!!

 

[Squeakz]

Ok if you get a 2 bed place pre graces birth you and OH, the hb ppl look at you and say well they are a couple they only NEED 1 bedroom so we give them hb based upon that. When grace comes along tell them straight away you have a LO and they say well a couple plus baby they can claim for two rooms (that's what happened with us in the area I said) also make sure you pre prepare as much evidence as poss! 3 months bank statements for anyone in house, I'd -passport and driving license (different for each of you) bill with the adress on, proof of rent, proof of outgoings and income (anything) ...... Erm....

Its better to apply as you are/would be you and dan and then the second baby grace is born take in birth certificate! You'll prob not feel like it but its just something that needs to be done. And do it as a change of circs. They photocopy all info there and then so they don't keep any first copies (iykwim). If you want more info from me (we did the exact same and had to jump thru the hoops a couple months before J) then pm me or fb me x