Housing benefit question from first time claimant

[Flawedperfection]

Evening all!

I currently work as a live-in carer so have free accommodation for now but really want to change jobs and then rent a small place on my own soon. I am somewhere on the a spectrum and really need to live alone. Although I could pay a few months upfront if I had to (out of my deposit), I’d like to know how to claim housing benefit.
I’ve never claimed anything before so genuinely don’t know. Do I get the hb agreed first, then find a flat? Or do I find a flat and then claim hb? If I rented an expensive one bedroom (I live in an expensive area) for say £1500 a month, would they be happy with that and let me have a contribution? Would
I be allowed to do that? My local website says I could get up to £196 or similar per week- does anyone actually get this?
Also, I know about the £16000 threshold in savings (which I’m under sadly anyway atm!), am single and no kids. So again, I’d be low priority for council housing so not even thinking about attempting to go on their list currently. I’ve asked many people and possibly even here, but still don’t really get how to do it.
Thanks!

I dont believe anyone can make a new claim for housing benefit now, it would be universal credit you would get if eligible.
You would start off with a single persons element, housing element, if you are under 35 this will be capped lha rate for a room in a shared accomodation.
You might get a work allowance which is about £300.
Then they deduct 63p from every pound you earn.
If you use facebook join the universal credit essentails group they will be able to calculate any entitlement for you.

Also any savings over 6k will reduce your claim, they take a certain amount for every £250 sorry I cant remember how much.

Thanks @PanicPrevention, any financial help would be something. And yes, am defo over 35!

Good luck, I have never managed to claim it without transgressing some arcane policy and ending up owing them money. Bane of my life. I think you need to find a landlord amenable to benefits, then claim when you move in.
It might have changed though with uc.

Happy to help, the system can be a bit of a minefield but on the whole I've found universal credit much easier and more transparent than tax credits and housing benefits.
Im also financially better off with uc but obviously that will vary depending on circumstances.

You can play around with this calculator to see if you might qualify:
www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/

* If I rented an expensive one bedroom (I live in an expensive area) for say £1500 a month, would they be happy with that and let me have a contribution? *

Technically yes, you could pay the difference. But the difficulty would be finding a landlord that would allow you to do so. Each council has a local authority allowance for how much they will pay towards a flat. It is unlikely that you would pass the affordability criteria for a landlord for a £1.5K flat while claiming the housing allowance of £200 per week or whatever it is in your area. If you earn enough to pay the difference it is unlikely you would be able to claim UC.

Do you know what your wage would be in the new job?

This would be the starting point to see if you are able to claim any other help.

You can put in a claim for universal credit, once you’ve signed a rental agreement then they will add the housing element which will be a maximum of the local housing allowance for your age in your area.

Whether you will actually get any help will be dependent on your salary. Your standard assessment amount is about £325 per month, the housing of £849ish. So total of £1174, this will then be reduced £ for £ from your salary. So if you earn £1000 per month then you’d get £174 per month from universal credit.

To give you an idea, I earned £1150 a month and didn't qualify for any help at all (over 35) as my DD's are at university.

Thanks all, doesn’t seem as easy as I thought it would be at all 😔
Btw, I really wouldn’t aim for a £1500 pcm place- it’d be more around £850-900, which is still a lot for a small flat.
Lastly, say you earn £1500 and get £300 help, if you chose to cut your hour down to earn around £1000 per month, would you get more financial help or would you be penalised for cutting your hours down?

• hours, not hour

Op you would need to check your LHA (local housing allowance ) it should come up if you put it in Google. That will tell you the amount you get for the LHA as long as the rent is within that it should be covered.

Then go on to entitled to. Answer all the questions that apply to you . And it should tell you what you will get.

There are certain hours you have to work or rather a certain amount you have to earn.
Different for different circumstances but as a single person you would need to be earning equivalent of 35hrs a week at minimum wage.
They deduct from your earnings at 63p per £, the system is designed so that the more you work and earn the better off you will be.

It doesn’t get deducted £ for £, you would be deducted 63p per £ of universal credit per £ that you earn. You may also find that if you are diagnosed as ASD you will be assessed as having limited capability to work which will give you a work allowance before any deductions are made.

Hi OP,

If you claim UC, you would usually be expected to earn £1351.35/month (gross), a random amount but it's based on the expectation that you would work 35h/w on minimum wage. So if your hourly wage is higher you could work fewer hours without being expected to increase your hours and earnings.

As you're over 35, you would be entitled to the LHA for a one bedroom property. You can look up the amount here lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/search.aspx
As an example, I live in an expensive city (not London) and the LHA for a 1 bed is about £775/month.

You would get the standard allowance, which will be £325/month very soon, plus housing allowance, let's say £775 as an example. That's £1100 in total. But 63% of your net earnings would be deducted, so if you earned £1200/month (net), £756 would be deducted, leaving £344.

Are your savings more or less than £6000? That will affect your entitlement, too.

You will need to find a flat first and then claim Universal Credit, you will need to show your tenancy agreement as proof of the rent you pay.

If you want to check how much you would get, use an online benefits calculator (entitledto or Turn2Us) or contact citizens advice and ask them:
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/claiming/helptoclaim/

I assume you don't get PIP? Have you ever considered whether you might be eligible?

As others have said you can't get housing benefit anymore unless in exempt accommodation like supported housing/nursing homes etc.
You would need to apply for universal credit which would give you a housing element if you are eligible.
There are loads of great websites where you can plug in your earnings, expected rent etc and they will tell you how much, if any, UC you will recieve.
The issue will then be finding a private landlord that will accept income boosted by UC.
You can register on your local authorities housing list but there are a variety of criteria that will boost you to the top. If you don't fit those criteria you will not be a priority.

Your biggest issue wont be claiming benefits etc or working out eligibility, there are lots of calculators etc online.

It will be more of a problem to find a landlord who will accept a tenant claiming benefits,particularly in an expensive area.

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/how_to_find_landlords_who_accept_benefits

Thanks everyone, particularly @AnotherEmma for all your advice and help. I know that much more than before, thanks to all of you.

Hi OP. I'm sorry, yes, people are right. Gordon Brown cut the housing benefit amount and that opened the door for David Cameron and George Osborne to cut it further, and then replace it with the too often insufficient Local Housing Allowance.
That has made more private landlords turn away tenants on benefits. (Private renting is now a system with inherent disability and sex discrimination).

You mentioned that you could pay a few months upfront? Some landlords will accept low income/benefts if you're able to pay 3-6 months rent upfront.

Or do you have anyone who could be your guarantor?

I hope you manage to find somewhere decent for yourself.