rahhh!!! - help needed re housing benefit :(

[mum2A&L]

firstly - Tuesday evening, it takes me AGES to get Alice asleep. she ends up finally in her cot about 10 ish. Well shortly after that the door bell goes. Turns out our neighbours have no electric and they want us to move our car as they have no where to park the vans to try and fix the cables. Well about 11pm, they start tearing up the road!!! my bedroom is at the front of the property!! so much for me and Alice sleeping. Then the next day, i get home from work to find another hole in the road in front of my flat - gas this time have to jump over muddy pavements to get in my home.


toady, i had an ok day at work (first for a while!) and me and oh where meant to be going out, but he got a call from our landlord and they want to sell the property (they have just sold the flat above us, so we have been kinda expecting it), and they ideally want us out within 3 weeks!!!! problem is we never signed a new contract (they kept messing it up!!! ) so we both agreed to base the contract on a monthly basis.

if we arn;t out in 3 weeks (or at least have a date), then they will start organising to get us out.

The problem is, we are struggling at the moment. OH's business is going through a slow patch. we have enough money to pay a bit more on rent, but we really can't afford deposits and months rent up front and fees and stuff (one company we called wants £575 deposit, £575 rent in advance, and £250 fee!! we paid £25 for this one!). I think we are entitled to housing benefit (ive never organised it). we are hopefully going to go to CAB tomorrow - i seem to remember an old friend getting help for the deposit etc from the housing benefit people... is that right?

anyone any advise on if cab are going to be able to help us? we will be pretty much homeless if they can't! will they be able to help us with such short notice?


I could really do without all this!

 

[sam96031]

no advice sorry but wanted to give you these

 

[lulu]

Hi, even though you dont have a contract you still have rights so def go to CAB. The council do a bond scheme now where they pay the bond and first months rent for you. I dont know if you have to be eligible in certain ways but if you give them a call they may be able to help on that as well as advice you and even help on your housing situation.

Not all estate agents accept the bond scheme but the council should give you a list of those who do and dont, along with a list of housing asociations and hostels in your area.

I remember being desperate for somewhere to live once, I was on my own at the time though (no kids), but I actually found a caravan/mobile home park that had a 2 bed static home to rent. It was actually great living there, ok, not ideal but may be worth a try if things get desperate.

 

[A&J]

Sorry no advice just wanted to give you lots of

Hope the CAB help you out.

 

[foxymum]

Sam i'm sorry all this is happening for you all i can't give any advise hun but wanted to give you these

also i think you're doing great for what you've just been through

 

[mum2A&L]

thanks ladies.

i don't feel great at the moment. im hardly keeping myself together. i feel sorry for my poor girl, she has hardly had a settled life over the last few months. i know she will be ok, but i feel so guilty!


im so scared they won't be able to help us until we are declared homeless. Im worried i earn to much, but every spare penny i have goes towards paying back money we owe.


im not worried what i live in as long as it is suitable for alice! she doesn't deserve any of this.

 

[trixipaws]

im really sorry im completely useless with this one but sound like u need some hugs

 

[mrs h]

Housing benefit can take 3 weeks to assess and you need loads of things for your claim like 3 months bank statements and wage slips, proof of nat ins no so i would start trying to find all these as if your not organised like me then they wont assess claim until you have all this info and it took me ages for my claim as i had lost one of my wageslips so they had to write to my employer.
Id also book an appt with cab asap as there can be quite a wait for an appt (near me 1 month!!!)
I want to wish you luck as i have been there and its hard to move so quickly with no money

 

[Jade&Evie]

hi Sam, might see you down CAB today cause I'm off there too!

Hope everything gets sorted soon- drop me a PM and let me know

x

 

[greendayrock]

hi there hun we had exactly the same problem last year in june our landlord told us he was selling his property. we went straight to the council and they put us on the waiting list.in october he got a sale so we went back down with the date he wanted us out. we had a lot of trouble at first cause they told us not to move out untill he evictes us otherwise we are making ourselves homeless . so we went to the cab and spoke to them and told them our situation and what the cpuncil were dind about it (not a lot ) and they was not happy. the cab got straight onto the council and they turned it all around and they put us straight into band 1 as top priorty. we moved into oh parents for 3 weeks and was housed after that in a brand new 3 bed house. Defo go to the cab they will help.


good luckxxx

 

[aramintalovegrove]

Hi make sure you ask CAB about the notice, as it is invalid. Hopefully they will be able to advocate for you with the landlord to ensure you get a valid notice. If they are not able to advsie check out where your local Shelter housing advice centre is as they certainly will

if you want to read something before you get advice have a look on the shelter website for lots of info.

Also ask CAB about social fund loans for rent in advance and any bond/depoist schemes and/or homeless prevention services in your area (which could give you a grant or loan to pay the deposit/rent in advance) Its the Local authority Homeless and housing dep not housing benefit dep that do this.

Housing benefit is changing now too, to housing allowance, ask CAB for more info

 

[mum2A&L]

Thanks for you replies ladies

hi Sam, might see you down CAB today cause I'm off there too!

Hope everything gets sorted soon- drop me a PM and let me know

x

did you manage to get seen?! i was told i would be lucky if i could be seen before tuesday!!!! i hope you where luckier than me huni!!!


so, we ended up going to the councl offices who told us we where not intitled to houseing benefit. fair enough, i do earn a fair bit (that goes all on bills, alice and paying back money that we owe to different companies).

then we where referred to the job center re a crisis loan, so we hop back in the car and drive down the other end of the high street, just to be told to phone a number


so, i sit in the car on hold for close to 30 mins, just to be told ive been given the wrong number?!

i call the right number, and everytime i call, instead of doing the handy thing and putting me on hold, it says all the lines are busy and to call back later!!

well..... evently i managed to get through to someone, who sid they would send us out a form in the post. Ive got NO further and spent ages running around for what feels like nothing!!


Has anyone got a crisis loan in the past? how soon did it come through.... the lady said i need a copy of a letter saying how much the deposit is - is that all they are going to need?


oh, and another kinda good piece of news... my AF arrived last night. means my body must be getting its self sorted. could do without it at the mo though!

 

[Dinski]

I doubt that your landlord can just chuck you out with 3 weeks notice, especially as you have signed a contract and you have a small child.

You should put a query on the Moneysavingexpert forum as there is a special part for housing and there are always people who know about housing law etc;

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/for ... .html?f=16

if you don't get help on the above forum try the benefits one;

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/for ... html?f=139

Good luck hon

 

[mrs h]

Hi sam i think crisis loans are only for people on really low wages, i tried to get one whilst i was on mat pay and husband unemployed and they refused

 

[mum2A&L]

thats what im worried about, but the impression ive been given so far is they can help.


we went to see a flat today, that was ok. it wasn't fantastic, on the edge of being too expensive. we walk around it all, i work out where everything would go in the kitchen (which was really the only thing to let it down). then, as we are walking out, the estate agent says that when he left the office an hour before someone had just put a deposit down! why show us around without telling us that!!!

im reluctant to look too much, as if we can't get this crisis loan, then we can't afford the deposits etc, then we will just have to stay here and hope we have enough time to save before they go to court to get us kicked out...