Housing benefits and working parttime

[NewMammaOfOne]

Im a single mum with a daughter a who is 10 months.. I’m abit confused. I’m currently on universal credit and have been accepted for the housing benefits I want to take a part-time job can someone tell me if this is correct does my income for my part-time job included in these calculations on entitled to I put in I will earn 1000 a month

Or is my wages on top of that.

Thanks

How much is your rent ?

Your deductions for £1000 take home pay would be £445.41. (£1000 - £293 work allowance x 0.63)
Is your rent right, it seems very high. Are you private or social housing?

Yes you will have your wages on top of the £1564.78 figure as long as your rent is that high. You should be exempt form benefit cap once you are earning as long as above £603 ( I think ) which it will be.

@Babyroobs it won’t be quite as high as that as the deduction for wages is not correct

@Costalatte

That's my mums rent, I was just using as a template, but I'm looking at private renting with housing benefits, but all the places I've came across are 1350 plus, so I was planning on just topping up if it's more.

I wanted to know if I was better off working or not.

I can't survive on the 650 I get now

If you are looking at private renting you will need to check the LHA for your area as this will be what your housing amount is based on. Your will be entitled to a 2 bedroom rate for you and your daughter. In most cases you will find the LHA is lower than your actual rent.

You are always better off working as without earning the benefit cap would apply. As long as you earn £617 a month you will not be capped.

@Babyroobs oh I have to earn a certain amont.

@Costalatte

Does it matter that I don't have a job yet, or haven't found my house yet?

But I'm looking for both. X

You definitely need to look at the local housing allowance for the area you want to rent in as housing benefit is a capped amount by area.
For example the rent is 900, but the LHA is 775, that's all you will get and you'd be expected to make up the shortfall.
You can't get housing allowance until you get a tenancy agreement, so you have to pay your first month's rent and deposit in advance.. Universal credit would contact your landlord.
I would look for a job first as that opens up your horizons a bit more, renting with housing benefits limits your options a bit more as not a lot of landlords like to accept housing benefits.. If you're employed you can use your income as a guarantee for rent but supplement with the housing benefit if that makes sense. I've recently come off universal credit as I've found a job that pays enough for me to pay rent independently, I'm a working parent and when I was looking for places to rent I was able to rent with an agent as I work, the universal credit wasn't taken into consideration at all and my landlord doesn't even know about it.

[quote NewMammaOfOne]@Babyroobs oh I have to earn a certain amont. [/quote]
To lift the benefit cap you need to earn a certain amount yes.

[quote NewMammaOfOne]@Costalatte

Does it matter that I don't have a job yet, or haven't found my house yet?

But I'm looking for both. X[/quote]
If you claim rent element of Uc with a high rent then you could be hit by the benefit cap which is a maximum amount you can receive in benefits. probably best to get a job first in my opinion then at least you will have wages coming in as well as UC. If you get a job and are not yet renting then the first £513 of wages would be disregarded before wages reduce your Uc amount by 63p for each pound you earn.

Agree with what @Pebbledashery is saying. Definitely find a job first as it will make finding someone to rent to you easier but it was also give you a chance to save the deposit and first month rent as without housing you can earn £500 and something before any deductions.