Leaving my husband and rented property for another rented property. I know uc calculators are off so don't know what I can afford.

[PennyWhistleSweet]

I work full time. Earn 30,000 and take home about £2000 per month after pension and tax.

I have absolutely no assets.

2 children under 13.

The calculator suggested £1000 which would be lovely but I fear unlikely.

Can anyone advise please?

How much rent and, assuming a private let whats the LHA limit for your household?

@PennyWhistleSweet

Bump!!

Rough and ready check says £1k is in the right ballpark but (obvs) it depends on rent charged and LHA in your area.

Thank you for replying . The rent is £1050 per month.

I'm worried as I work full time and was told by a friend that about £700 would be dedected as I bring in a wage .

About £700 would be deducted, ballpark calculation is single adult plus two kids plus rent ( up to local limit). Then take your wage minus work allowance times remainder by 55% and that is the amount they will deduct. 1k still sounds sbout right though.

@Tiredofwhataboutery

Sorry to clarify but do you mean I would still end up with about 1k into my account?

It would be close to that. When I was on 28000 I was getting £950 odd a month, same circumstances, 2 kids under 13. I earn more now so I don’t get nearly as much.

Using the rent above, if it's equal to or less than LHA, would pay approx £1200. That takes account of your pay of which you keep £411 as a work allowance with 55p for every £1 over that deducted from your theoretical Max possible UC of £2081.96.

The variable is the LHA rate, see my post above. That will depend in the age/sex of your children which decides whether you get the two or three bed rate and the actual LHA rate for your area.

LHA is based on market rates at the bottom 30% of the market price wise which means it rarely covers rent where people really want to live. Also governments of both stripes monkey around by freezing instead of actually letting it track reality.

Gaps can be big, in outer SW London the market rate for a room in a shared house is around £950 but LHA is about £650.00.

If you're not already on UC try calling Help to Claim

I mean when they add up your entitlements it’ll probably be around £1800 ish (guesstimate) then they will work out how much to take off due to earnings. Wage - work allowance times 55% £800 ish (guesstimate) so you’ll get around £1k UC on top of your earnings.

I know its not what you asked but if you are on the contract with your H on a property have you made proper arrangements with the landlord to end your contract?

the turn2us benefits calculator is pretty accurate - you could try that?