Advice about housing benefits

[Meworried]

Hi, i am newly on universal credit and also looking for a private let to rent for myself and young son. I am not sure how it works what i would be entitled to rent wise per month ect or how i even go about claiming housing benefit or how long/ difficult the process is? Any advice appreciated. Thank you :)

You won't get Housing Benefit through your local council but you can claim housing costs through Universal Credit. This amount will be based on the Local Housing Allowance for your area and you will be entitled to the two bed rate, google the rates. When you find somewhere to rent, you need to advise UC by reporting a change in circumstances.

As @Catlover1705 says if you're on UC housing costs are paid via that benefit.

Local Housing Allowance is explained here

Thank you for advise. Do you know How long it takes for universal credit to pay towards rent , i worry i wont have enough money of my own to cover first month never mind deposit ect.

As long as you can satisfy UC you meet the conditions for liability occupation etc the Housing Costs Element will be paid in full for the Assessment Period in which you tell UC of the change of circumstances for housing.

If you need help with rent in advance and deposit via a Discretionary Housing Payment:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/claiming-discretionary-housing-payments/claiming-discretionary-housing-payments

The cost of your rent needs to be within the lha

https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/

Uc will psy then housing element..

Depending on your situation ie dv homeless /eviction etc you may get help with yoir deposit

You may get help with rent over the LHA via Discretionary Housing Payment but, as the name implies it's not a right and every Council has their own funding pot and allocations policy.

Yeah you have to be careful my one asks questions such as was your home affordable when you moved in. Has there been a change, etc most places are above the LHA now so they may have allowed for that

You can't actually apply for it until you've moved in the property

is the LHR from current house or the new area/ house i dont understand? How long after i move in can i apply and does it take long for them to make payment do you know? Thank you.

The lha will be for the new property your moving into . My understanding is housing element is paid In arrears. Assuming your paying 1 month in advance for your rent . This should give time for housing element to kick in. As soon as you have your tenancy agreement send that over to UC.

You need to claim UC first for you and your DC. Then once you have secured a house I think you have to show a signed house contract stating the house address, how much rent is charged each week and you as tenant plus signatures of either housing association person/LL. The local housing allowance will probably not cover all of the rent unless social housing.

LHA rates can be found here. The page also has a facility to check how many rooms you're allowed.

Universal Credit is always paid in arrears as part of its design; it's meant to be like salary. However, even if you get the change of circs done late in your AP it'll be paid for the whole month; nothing in UC gets apportioned.

@caringcarer I think OP says she's 'new to UC' so hopefully has already claimed. If you're paying Housing Costs when you claim they can be paid ab initio but for a private let they'll want to see the tenancy agreement.

Strictly speaking it's not required as a tenancy is created by the offer and acceptance of rent. If you were to actually have an 'informal' tenancy (they're a 'thing' in some parts of the country) you'll have some heavy lifting to do to get UC to accept proof.