Benefits entitlement - can anyone help please?

[candles5]

I'm a single mum to two children (12 and 5) and currently live in a two bed flat that I rent through the council. We have been here 4 years. I split from my ex 3 years ago and I don't receive any financial help or support from him. I have tried through CM's but as he changes his job every few months and works away a lot, it's been difficult to get any money from him. He has paid odd amounts over the years but no where near enough to raise a child. I manage, just about, with help from family and friends so that I don't have to pay for childcare. I work part time two days a week and I am currently receiving help from universal credit. They pay the rent directly to the council which is £500 pcm (they cover £475 and I pay £25). I receive around £600 on top of my wages of £600-£700 (it changes sometimes depending on if I help cover staff shortages in work).

I've wanted to move for a long time now as this area just isn't very nice at all - mess and rubbish everywhere, lots of drug dealing and crime going on. Police are always being called. I was grateful at the time to have just been given a place by the council but it's time to move on. I really want my girls to live in a nicer area and hopefully have their own rooms too.
I'm thinking of going into a private rental and have looked at some on right move. The prices vary from anywhere between £650-£1,000. I'm struggling to work out how much universal credit would pay towards the rent if I did indeed move somewhere more expensive, and I wondered if someone could help please. I've tried the benefits calculator but can't make sense of it all. I'm also going to college in September so will need a child minder to look after my youngest 3 afternoons a week as my family won't be able to commit to that many days. I have no idea the cost of this yet though.

TIA

In a private rental, you'd be entitled to the local housing allowance for your entitled number of bedrooms in your area. Use lha-direct.voa.gov.uk

As above. Your Uc rent element will only be up to what the bedroom entitlement is for you. This will depend on your childrens ages and whether boys or girls. With council rent all of your rent will have been covered unless you have more bedrooms than entitled to but many people on Uc find that the local housing allowance no where near covers the actual rent they pay.

If you're happy to share where you live it might be possible to figure this out for you.

Regarding childcare, you should be entitled to 85% of the costs if you're working, just be warned it's paid in arrears but as long as you can afford the first month outlay and the childminder is ofsted registered it should be relatively straightforward

any chance you could "house swap"?

Could you not do a mutual exchange or get a transfer?

Giving up a secure tenancy for a private rental where there's no guarantee of renewal is risky imo, as is the fact that the rent may be above the amount UC will include in your calculation. And, of course, the rent could increase significantly each year and LHA rates are often frozen for 2-3 years at a time.