Low income and high rent holding me back from leaving.

[Cherryrainbow]

We aren't married, we have a 5 year old and I have a son from another relationship. Things haven't been good for a long time. Before I even had my kid if I'm honest. When we argue he threatens to kick me out of his house (mortgage is in his name, i signed a form when he got it to say I have no claim to anything)

I am on a low wage. Around 1170 a month, plus child benefits. I'm £900 into an overdraft. The cheapest rent around here is about 8/900 a month. I have a plan to pay off the overdraft by new year.

I haven't left him yet as I feel I cant afford it. My parents have offered to pay a deposit and 1 or 2 months on a house until I get universal credit which in theory I'd be entitled to.

But if he kicks me out I won't have a choice anyway. Does anyone know what my options are? In theory could I find a place to rent on my wage and UC?

I wonder if I should just accept this is the way it is and try and try and make the best of things until he kicks me out one day and deal with it then.

UC let me claim as single when I was living with but not a relationship with my ex. He was contributing to nothing financially and the relationship had become volatile and abusive. We had separate rooms and did not cook or clean for one another.

It might be worth speaking to UC if this sounds similar

I rent at £800 a month and receive UC for one child. I was on a similar wage for a few months and UC topped it up to just shy of £2000. I think if you have two dependent children you will get more. So I think you can do it, but it'll be tight. Can you change jobs? I was working 22 hours per week but found a full time role which has made things much more comfortable. I'm earning £2000 after tax now and get a top up from UC to about £2400.

Thanks for the advice ladies.

Currently I work 3 x 7.5 days a week (22.5 hrs) personally I can't see being able to change it to more hours due to not being able to afford childcare for 2 extra days and I cut from 5 to 3 due to fibromyalgia and mental health.

I'm definitely worried that a landlord may not take me on based on my wages or needing UC top up. But it sounds like it's doable. I wasn't sure whether to speak to CAB.

If I were you I’d take control and move out and get a place with your parents help - perhaps they can be guarantor.
if you wait to be kicked out that sounds a terrible life. Not worth it.

You should get help towards your rent with 2 children? Have you tried a universal credit calculator?

To get an idea on what you’d be eligible to, look up potential rental properties of an area you would likely be moving to, get a rough monthly rental price and use the benefits calculator using that properties postcode and rental to see what you’d receive. It will give you an idea of what is in your reach once you have left.
You can also check postcodes on this website to see the maximum help you’d get with housing in each area, but the benefits calculator will give you a better overall idea of what you’d receive each month depending on your earnings also etc
https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/

Have a look here for a benefits calculator x
https://www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/information-about-benefits/using-the-benefits-calculator

Don't forget you should also get child maintenance from him for the child you have together.

She will do - it's included in the total amount. They'll pay £575 per month towards rent. There's a standard allowance (£400), an allowance per child, which is £339 for the first child, I'm not sure if it would be the same amount, for the second child, and then they deduct 55p in the pound for every pound of your salary (apart from the first £411 of the salary). What's left is the total amount you're paid.

The child element is not always higher for the first child, it depends when they were born. The rent element depends on the local housing allowance for op's area and will be different for everyone. There is also the work allowance which is disregarded from earnings before deductions of 55p in the pound start . Op please use a reliable online calculator or speak to Citizens advice for an accurate benefit check.

Online benefit calculators are pretty accurate (or have been for me) They can be completed fairly quickly if you have all your information on earnings etc

I didn't say the child element is higher for the first child, I specifically said I didn't know whether it was or not. And I mentioned the work allowance in my post. I wasn't pretending I knew exactly how much the OP will be entitled to, it's pretty clear I was giving my own experience (as a UC claimant).

You said child element was £339 for a first child. It isn't for all first children, it depends what year they were born in.

OK, thanks for the correction.

Thanks everyone. The online checkers seem to be in line with the figures mentioned above. I'm going to see if I can chat to someone from CAB or dwp next week just to get some more in depth info but I will say I'm not feeling as hopeless as I have the past few years x

Don’t forget if you get child maintenance from him - that’s not deducted as things stand - I think more the issue is getting somewhere, if you aren’t on local social housing waiting list get yourself on it - you can tick not to receive correspondence by mail etc