Moving to london- Would I get housing benefit?

[Manet]

Hello everyone,

I have a question regarding housing benefit- I'll try to be as succinct as possible!

I'm a single mother with a toddler living in rural Scotland- I moved when I was pregnant to be closer to family because I had been in london previously and couldn't have supported myself there (I had just quit my job with the intention to travel- baby was a surprise). I'm currently on housing benefit. However, I've not been asked to leave my house, and tbh I'm miserable here. I have no friends or real support from my family since my mother is ill and I can't find work I want to do (my background is in the arts). I think I'm suffering from PPD (I finally have a docs appointment next week) and being here really just makes me feel so much worse.

I don't have a job lined up but I'd want to get back into work at least part time initially.

I would love to move back to london and have found another single mum who owns a property and would let me lodge with her, in a borough I've never lived.

Do you think I would be granted housing benefit? Does anyone have any relevant experiences that might give me a clue?

The other thing is, my son's father lives in Sweden and has said he would visit more if I was in london. He has a good friend he could stay with for free in another borough. So I would be getting some more support from him, and from my wider support network of friends. Would I be more likely to get it if he moved to london to or would it only make a difference if it was the same borough?

Sorry, I know this probably impossible to answer, I'm just looking for clues as to whether it's a lost cause or I might have some chance. Thank u for reading, if u got this far!!

If ex is staying occasionally with a friend on another borough, that isnt much in the way of support!

If you get benefit, is it enough to pay the higher rental cost in London? And the childcare cost?

Perhaps do the sums first to see if it is even worth enquiring.

Hope it all works out for you.

When you say your friend owns her own home, do you mean owns outright or is paying a mortgage.

If your friend is paying a mortgage she will have to let her mortgage provider know, if her house is a leasehold not a freehold she will also have to let the landlord know, it would be best if your friend gets some advice before agreeing to let you lodge with her

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-a-home/subletting-and-lodging/lodging/lodging/

If your intention is to lodge with someone for a bit then apply for council housing once resident in the borough then you will need to be aware that most councils will have local connection rules for some its 5 years and can even be up to 10 years in some boroughs, which means that if you leave the house where you are lodging there will be no statutory duty for that council to rehouse you and your DC may end up in temporary accommodation.

As for finding work you 'want' to do, yes there will be more jobs in the 'Arts' in London but there will also be 1000s of other people vying for the same jobs so in the end you may not get the job that you really want and will have to settle for what you can get.

The only thing that i would focus on is can you afford to live in london. Housing, bills, food, childcare etc

Thanks everyone.

I can afford the living costs if I get housing benefit. And as for support- yes it's not much, but it's more than I get now. And I have many friends who can help out here and there. I'll manage in that respect.

As for the job- thanks for the 'encouragement' oldsu, but I've never had problems in the past and I don't anticipate I will now :) The other mother isn't a friend, she's someone I met for the purposes of buddying up to live together. I assume it's fine with her mortgage provider seeing as how she offered to rent me the room.

Just to reiterate, I'm asking if people think I would get housing benefit, not whether people think ill be able to live in london.

I don't see why you won't get HB but best to ring the the council in the morning and ask them outright.

Housing benefit rates in recent years has gone down a lot in London and rarely covers the full amount as it used to do. You can look up the local housing reference rate for the borough and so know how much you would get.

lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/search.aspx

Thanks Sleepyowl! That was really helpful.

Yeah, I'll call them tomorrow and try to get the ball rolling :)

Very glad it was helpful. Good luck!