HELP ! Less HB paid from January 2013 ??? What's going on !?

[LePatissier]

Hi

I've been a single mum and in receipt of HB since Aug 2012.
I pay £550 rent for a 4 bed terrace and my LHA for 2 bedrooms
(I have 2 children under 12) is £484.60 which is what
was being paid to my (private) landlord up until December.

I just got a letter from my landlord saying that I owe
£180+ for this month because apparently, the council have only
paid them £369 instead of £484 ?!
I never received a letter from the council telling me HB would be reduced!

Could they have made a mistake or should I expect to be paying the £180 a month from now on ???
Can't find out what's going on until Monday now as they're obviously closed over the weekend :S

Any advice ?
Thanks !

Try the council website it may say if rates have fallen.

Have already done that !

All I found was that LHA rates have been frozen since April '12
and that the calculated LHA I'm entitled to will be paid at the same rate for 12 months at which point the claim will be reassessed.
From April 2013 LHA will be increased by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

It doesn't sound like it should have been reduced at all !
Will be onto them first thing in the morning !
You'd think the idiot landlord would have done the same when they weren't paid the expected amount at the beginning of the month...

From previous experience the council will not discuss your HB amounts with your landlord.
Is it possible they have switched from paying monthly to paying every 4 weeks?

The council won't tell the ll anything. Its up to you to find out. Our la pays four weekly. Did any of your other benefits change? Did your children change ages?

Depends where you live who pays ct/rates?

Would it not have something to do with this new system where if you have extra bedrooms that they don't feel you need, they will pay a lower percentage of your rent. There were a few threads about this a month or so ago.

Vivienne the op is in private rent not social housing the extra room charge will not effect her she is exempt

Sorry, I just assumed it applied to all people renting but I certainly didn't know for sure. Shelter gives some information on their website and a helpline so maybe the OP could ring that if she hasn't sorted it out yet.

england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/local_housing_allowance

Good link. There advice line is very good

How old and how many kids do you have? Occupancy rate will be1 room for you (and partner) one for each child over 16. Kids between 10&16can share with a same sex sibling. Chidren under 10 can share with a sibling regardless of sex. If you have more rooms than you need then your HB /LHA will only pay to cover the required rooms.