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Lone parents

Use our Single Parent forum to speak to other parents raising a child alone.

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Original poster

does anyone privately rent and get housing benefit????

17 replies

Tottie32 · 07/09/2007 18:59

i am looking to move....

my house makes me feel very down..

it is housing association so rent is low and if i move rent would be double... i get a small ammount of benefit at moment... but wondering if they would increase this ammount?

or will they not except HB as part payment?

OP posts:

pirategirl · 07/09/2007 19:10

landlords are all different, many private rentals wil not accpet it. but if you are working some hours a landlord might not mind.

You can ring up your local hben office and they can give you a figure of how much they will pay on a property.

OriginalUglyBetty · 07/09/2007 19:12

Cant you put in for a transfer to a different property or a mutual exchange?

Original poster

Tottie32 · 07/09/2007 19:15

i have tried but no luck, plus if i privately rent i can get a 3 bed house which the housing assoc would never give me as my kids are the same sex.....

OP posts:

OriginalUglyBetty · 07/09/2007 19:28

It some areas they give deposit schemes to those seeking private rentals.

What district do you live in?

Tinkerbel5 · 07/09/2007 19:34

Tottie the council will only give you benefit for a 2 bedroomed house as that will be suited to your needs, so if you go for a larger house you will have a shorful in your housing benefit which you will have to make up, if you have seen a property you want ask the council to do you a calculation.

Original poster

Tottie32 · 07/09/2007 19:57

oh ok thanks

i was hoping to get 3 bed and i have the box room, and kids can have a nice room each...

ok will do the council bit

OP posts:

chickenmama · 09/09/2007 13:59

I rent my flat privately and get HB for the full amount (I'm not working atm).

I have been thinking about renting a bigger house - I had a pretenancy determination done on a 3 bed property by the council and basically, any place I rent they will pay £675 (the maximum they will pay for a 2 bedroom place) and I will have to top up the difference.

Hope that helps

AMAZINWOMAN · 09/09/2007 17:53

the maximum my council will pay is £390 per month!! Its so low the figure, and everybody has to pay something. So you need to check with your council first

Original poster

Tottie32 · 10/09/2007 13:45

great thanks...

so if i ring and ask them the max they will pay for a property?

would i have to save for the depoist? is it normally one month?

i didnt think all councils would be different but i guess all the rents are different in different parts of the country?

OP posts:

Tinkerbel5 · 10/09/2007 19:46

Tottie ring the housing benefit section or go down there in person and ask for a calculation, some councils do a rent deposit scheme, but they might not if you leave one property for another, otherwise its usually 1 months bond and 1 months rent in advance, and now you have to have a credit check done aswell.

Original poster

Tottie32 · 10/09/2007 19:51

oh flip credit check wouldnt be good,, might have to do it in my mums name or would that be fraud?

OP posts:

ScoobyDooooo · 10/09/2007 19:55

If your credit is not great you can not do it in someones elses name but you can havr your mum or someone to be a guarantor (sp?) this means that if you do not pay your rent your mum or whoever you choose will be liable to pay for you.

Original poster

Tottie32 · 10/09/2007 21:09

thanks for the info that would be no prob think my mum has been a garuntor (sp) on my brothers place for years

OP posts:

chickenmama · 12/09/2007 09:26

Tottie -

So if i ring and ask them the max they will pay for a property? They're unlikely to tell you. When I called about this when I was first looking to rent privately they said they calculate an average. I looked on rightmove and found a flat from the cheaper end of the 2bed price range. What they will probably ask you to do is find the property you want and submit a pre-tenancy determination form on it (which they can give you) - this gets sent off to the rent service and they come back to you with the figure that they will pay towards the property. I did this for a 3bed place at £795, they said they would pay £675 (more than my current place is) and I would have to make up the £120 difference

Would i have to save for the deposit? is it normally one month? yes you'd need a deposit and normally it is a month or a month and a half's rent. You'd also need to pay the first month's rent in advance, and as the council can take a while to pay HB to you (if you move in before they've sorted your claim) it's a good idea to budget for more than that (if you haven't got the cash, maybe borrow and pay back once you get your HB thru??)

I didnt think all councils would be different but i guess all the rents are different in different parts of the country? you can check this on rightmove or another renting website (I've been using rightmove for years and it's a good website for finding properties)

Re: guarantor my dad acts as a guarantor for me and it's always worked out fine that way. Although a lot of properties say no HB, you'll probably find they might consider you if you can offer a guarantor.

Good luck!!!

Original poster

Tottie32 · 12/09/2007 11:45

thankyou so much for taking the time to write out that is is very very helpful.....

i am hoping they will accept me as HB beacause i do work so will only get some HB as i do now...

they other thing is will HB cause a fuss beacause i have moved from a low rent Housing assoc place to a high rent private place? ie caused the prob myself?

the pre tenency thing sounds useful...

thanks again

OP posts:

Tinkerbel5 · 12/09/2007 12:17

Tottie you shouldnt really have a problem as you work, but will be getting a top up of HB which many people get these days, I think as long as you have the money upfront for rent for a couple of months to keep the landlord happy he/she wont care where the rent comes from as long as its paid, im finding now that many properties come with a dss approval as the government are encouraging landlords to take benefit claimants because of the housing shortage.

chickenmama · 12/09/2007 12:22

the other thing is will HB cause a fuss because i have moved from a low rent Housing assoc place to a high rent private place? ie caused the prob myself?

I doubt this will be a problem as you will probably find they will still give you a similar amount in HB and you will be paying the extra, so whatever property you move to, it won't make much difference to them. At the end of the day, it's your choice where you want to live, and as private rentals are an option it should be fine.

Have you called your local council's HB dept for advice? I'm sure they'll be able to help (I've called mine several times with similar qs and they've always been quite helpful)

I think your biggest problem (which hopefully wont be one at all!) is finding a suitable property where the landlord is happy to accept HB (tho as it's only part HB, it might be helpful to stress the fact that you're working - you can even get the council to pay the HB straight to you without the landlord knowing, so you might not even have to mention it).

Fingers crossed that you find your perfect place

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