Would I get HB whilst on SMP?

[JesterJaffacake]

Please don't flame me - I'm not trying to fiddle or rinse the system, just know my options really.

About to sell our home (zero equity, we'll be lucky to have £200 left at the end of it) and will be renting while we save for a deposit on another place.

We desperately want a baby (3yo DC at the moment) and not getting any younger so want to start trying now, my company's mat policy is standard Maternity pay, 6 weeks at 90% then down to £133 or whatever it is. DH earns circa £19k p.a. I usually earn £25k.

If we were renting, would I be able to claim Housing Benefit for the period my wages dropped to SMP? I went back to work very early after DC1, ideally don't want to do that again but will if no other options. Just wondering if there's any claim we could make to support us a little.

TIA

It depends on the threshold in your local area - we don't qualify on an income of £20k however rents are relatively low here.

You will get tax credits depending on what you expect your income to be for the full tax year, and obviously child benefit will go up.

Wouldn't renting plus saving for another deposit cost more than your current mortgage??

thanks Rockchick I'll check with our local authority

floggingmolly yes it would, but we can rent a larger property (and have space for our family to grow) for a small amount more than our current mortgage. So we can afford to save the same as we would if we stayed put.

I very much doubt it , but you could try one of the benefit calculaters such as Turn2Us which will tell you any help you would get. It would allow you to put in details as if you were on mat leave.