Universal credit payment confusion..

[cheryyydd]

Hi can anyone help please.
I'm a single person aged over 25.
I currently live in a 1 bed flat
I unfortunately had to make a claim for universal credit
I rent my flat through council.
I just received my first statement and it says
Housing £283.96 monthly
Is that what I pay for rent or do I need to add extra money to it ?
I'm confused as my letter from council says £70.99 a week rent but the lady who rang from council said your rent will be £330 a month.
Yet when universal credit did the calculations they said I pay £283.96 a month

Do universal credit pay full rent ?

Does UC not pay an amount towards your rent and then you actually make the payment. UC may not cover the full amount

Council rents often include ineligible charges like water rates tat won’t be covered by UC. These will be shown in your rent break down.
To convert weekly to monthly you need to multiply your weekly rent by 52weeks then divide by 12. I got £307pm for your rent.
Do you have any rent arrears that you could be paying off as this also won’t be covered by Universal credit.

How much rent were you paying before you made your claim? You must know that

Although £70.99 × 4 = £283.96

It looks like you're not getting the full rent. UC will only pay up to a certain amount. It may be worth checking whether your local authority provides any discretionary assistance.

You can ask for your rent to be paid direct to your landlord if that helps.

How much is your actual rent? You should know that from your tenancy agreement.
Do you have a spare bedroom? You won't get paid the rent for that. Could the extra money be a service charge that isn't covered by universal credit? Have you checked your universal credit rent information against your tenancy agreement to make sure you're claiming the right amount?

It's your rent x 52 ÷ 12. There are 12 monthly payments. Calendar monthly.

Using the UC figured they are paying £65.53 pw towards your rent leaving a shortfall of £5ish based on your rent being £70.99pw this does sound like the £70 includes ineligible charges.

Where the £330 that the housing gave you you would need to ask them for the their calculations.

What is included in your rent will all be listed on your tenancy and any rent increase letters you have had. But you must know how much you were paying before you claimed?

I don't have a spare bedroom just 1 bedroom.
when I made the universal credit application it said we are checking rent with council and then came back with that figure.

I don't as I was previously claiming ESA
So my housing benefit was paid direct
Now I've had to switch to universal credit
I don't have a clue what I'm paying
The letter I received from council a couple of weeks ago with my new April rent was £65 (ish ) rent and £6 water rates.

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/benefits/benefits_for_under_35s_in_shared_housing

You'll only get a weekly rate for a room in shared house if you are under 35. Doesn't matter that you're not in shared accommodation, that's the rate you will given. Over 35s get the full rate paid. And even the full rate doesn't mean that all the rent is covered. Rates are based on age, eg. Under 25, over 25, and over 35. How many people live in the house, how many bedrooms and the rates cover the bottom 30% of the average rental market for the area.

Universal credit won't cover the water rates

@Peegreenlie12

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/benefits/benefits_for_under_35s_in_shared_housing

You'll only get a weekly rate for a room in shared house if you are under 35. Doesn't matter that you're not in shared accommodation, that's the rate you will given. Over 35s get the full rate paid. And even the full rate doesn't mean that all the rent is covered. Rates are based on age, eg. Under 25, over 25, and over 35. How many people live in the house, how many bedrooms and the rates cover the bottom 30% of the average rental market for the area.

That doesn't apply to council tenants, the single room rate is only for private tenants

It is the water rates. They don't cover those so they are paying your rent portion and you will pay the water rates portion.

They will have paid you your old rent amount (£65) until the assessment period that includes 1st April when your rent increases. You need to pay your water rates out of your standards allowance.

IME private rent is never fully covered by UC because Private rent is more than the UC maximum, and council rents always have a small amount of ineligible charges (even if it's £3 or something). I have never seen UC cover people's full rent, and when people have though that they usually end up getting into arrears down the line.

@Potpourriandpennysweets

IME private rent is never fully covered by UC because Private rent is more than the UC maximum, and council rents always have a small amount of ineligible charges (even if it's £3 or something). I have never seen UC cover people's full rent, and when people have though that they usually end up getting into arrears down the line.

She's not in private rent

@cheryyydd HB wouldn’t have paid your water rates either so you should have been paying a top of then. If you weren’t then there is every chance the figure housing gave you includes repayment of arrears.

Based on your rent being £65 plus £6 for service charges then the UC figure seems correct

As far as I am aware, even if you rent through the council or a housing association, the housing element of universal credit that you are entitled to will only be the amount specified by the local housing allowance. You can check how much this is online. lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/

Universal credit is paid directly to you, and then you pay your rent to your landlord, whether you live in private/council/social housing. If there is a shortfall between your rent and what universal credit pays, then you have to make it up. Depending on your age, you may only be entitled to the local
Housing allowance for a room in a shared house and not the amount for a 1-bedroom property.

You will only be entitled to your LHA shared rate if you are under 35 with no kids.

For my area I've just checked and my one bed rate is £89.75 per week

@hotchocdrinker

As far as I am aware, even if you rent through the council or a housing association, the housing element of universal credit that you are entitled to will only be the amount specified by the local housing allowance. You can check how much this is online. lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/

Universal credit is paid directly to you, and then you pay your rent to your landlord, whether you live in private/council/social housing. If there is a shortfall between your rent and what universal credit pays, then you have to make it up. Depending on your age, you may only be entitled to the local
Housing allowance for a room in a shared house and not the amount for a 1-bedroom property.

Local housing allowance doesn't apply to council and housing association properties, it's for private rents

@Teenangels

You will only be entitled to your LHA shared rate if you are under 35 with no kids.

No, because she isn't in private rental

THERES NO LHA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING TENANTS.

If you are appropriately housed and don't have any ineligible service charges (check with your housing officer) then your Housing Allowance should match your monthly rental charge.

I'm going to ring up at 9am and just ask them to give me a figure I need to pay.
It's really confusing me,I was paid up to date with my rent before my UC application

LOCAL HOUSING ALLOWANCE DOESNT APPLY TO SOCIAL HOUSING
www.entitledto.co.uk/help/local-housing-allowance