Letter From Housing Benefit office - Benefit protection period ending

[moomoo1967]

Morning, has anyone else had one of these letters. It's saying that I was sent a letter advising that I would have 9 months to either get my landlord to reduce my rent or find a cheaper property to rent(errrm no didn't receive one of those).

I know I have a habit of going into full panic mode which I have done, under so much stress at present.

I knew the benefits were being reduce, I do after all read the news and have made cuts accordingly.
Surely they cannot MAKE you move house ?

It does have a paragraph which begins " If you cannot afford to pay the shortfall, then you urgently need to contact your landlord" so have I gone into full panic mode unnecessarily ?

and I would receive the damn letter on a weekend when their offices are closed until Monday

I think the whole country is doing this. How much is your rent?

£705 per month which is the going rate for the area. If I was to move to a cheaper area then I would incurr public transport costs for DD to get the buss to school and I wouldnt be able to get a lift to work. It doesn't make it clear that if I don't move that my HB would stop ?

I don't think your hb will stop but you will have to make up the short fall. They can't force you to move but they can make you pay more of the rent yourself IYSWIM?

Try not to worry and talk to them on Monday.

I may have completely the wrong end of the stick (very likely, my brain is broken today!) but Im sure you would just make the short fall up yourself.

Do you rent privately? I am in a private rent and I top up my housing benefit out of my own money - that's obviously my decision, but the HB is a fixed amount for my area and circumstances, I just choose to live somewhere not a shit hole more expensive.

For most of the country (outside London) the maximum HB is being cut by a fairly small amount - do you know whether you were up to the limit previously? If so, it's likely to be no more than £10-£15 a week shortfall - not necessarily easy to find, but you're not going to be thrown out in a hurry. If you landlord is one who specialises in taking people on HB, and knows all the rules around it (and would almost be certainly be charging precisely the current limit) then it might be worth asking if he will reduce the rent in line with the new limit, esp if you're otherwise a good tenant. But if he could easily rent it to someone else not on HB for the same or more, then that's probably a waste of time.

It's not really urgent though - they're just trying to put pressure on people who ignore their letters and don't do anything to sort things out until they're about to be evicted. 9 months is a long time if you do need to look for somewhere new.

Agree with sillymilly's post.

Do you currently get the full rent amount paid in HB? I private rent and pay the little extra myself that the HB doesn't meet. It isn't much though and I'd rather pay a little extra to live in a nice street with a garden near DS's school, even then though my rent is £395 pcm. Can't believe the huge differences across the country.

Try not to panic and get all the facts and figures on Monday. It WILL be a case of either make up the shortfall yourself or move somewhere cheaper, but without knowing how much you will be paying there is no point getting all stressed.

Contact your local anti-cuts group; they might be able to contact others in the same position so you could start a campaign. That's not solving your immediate problem; try CAB, Shelter etc who should be able to advise.
You have my sympathy
Good luck!

Don't forget our own dear Frothers!

Thanks for your comments everyone. It was the way it was worded, it seemed to say either get your landlord to reduce the rent or move ! I doubt very much that the rent will get reduced as there would be plenty of people who would pay the full rent.
It is a fair rent for the area but as I don't drive living in the town centre is a necessity, I would only pay more on buses and taxi's if I lived in a cheaper property. Plus DD wouldn't be able to walk to school and I wouldn't be able to get a lift to work. i just hope that this is the last of the cuts