Housing benefit

[EwwwwwwDavid]

Asking for a very worried client

She is in council housing, in receipt of UC and LCWRA, her housing benefit goes straight to the council

Due to a variety of reasons including health and harassment (all documented by professionals) she is looking to move. She is moving to the area her fiance lives in. A different local authority. She will be moving to private rented as there is no social housing available and she is very low on the list.

There is a lot of confusion around what help she can get. She is insistent that she has to move to the same level of property (2 bed) otherwise she will be classed as making herself intentionally cramped and will lose all HB.

Google (and i do not know much about this) says that she will potentially lose around 14% if she moves to a 1 bed when she is eligible for a 2 bed, but i can't find anywhere saying she would no longer get any HB. As I understand it, she will need to do a new UC claim in the new area and they will give HB.

Can anyone advise? Has anyone got any other advice about moving local authority and still claiming benefits? Will the new area backdate the HB?

If she's on Universal Credit then unless she's in temporary/emergency accommodation or a place with significant support (like a supported group home) then housing costs are met through Universal Credit.

Is she in one of those types of accom she might still be getting Housing Benefit.

If she's moving to a private sector let then rent is limited by Local Housing Allowance:

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housingadvice/benefits/localhousingallowancelhaforprivaterenters

If she's already on UC, whatever current situation, it would just be a change of circumstances to deal with the move.

Moving to a smaller property would reduce her housing benefit but wouldn’t stop it altogether, but the main thing to note is that if she moves to private rent then her housing benefit (depending on the area) is very unlikely to cover the entirety of her rate because it is limited by the LHA.

So as an example where I am, LHA is 126.58 per week for a 2 bed property or 112.97 a week for a 1 bed property- if your rent costs more than that (which it would round here) then you have to cover that cost yourself.

She can also only claim LHA for the amount of bedrooms she is entitled to, so if she lives on her own then she would only be entitled to the 1 bed funding. She can of course choose to live in a 2 or 3 bed if she wants to but she will only receive the 112.97 (1 bed rate) towards her rent.

It would be a new UC claim as a change in circumstance, moving to new area & needing help to pay rent.

I would advise her that leaving her local authority or housing association place could be the worst thing she ever does. She will have no security of tenure, possibly a bad landlord, unlikely to get full rent covered and may even struggle to get a place to rent as it's very tough at present.

Why does she require a 2 bed? Is she moving with dc?

Can she swap or apply for another property within her own area?

If she moves to where the fiancé is and they fall out shes stuck in a private rental paying high rates in an area away from her friends etc. And a lot of private rentals are being sold off now so she could end up homeless.

She will need to look at the lha rate for the area she is moving to.
What LHA rate she's entitled to will depend on the number of bedrooms she's considered to need - which depends on who is in the household.
One bedroom for her/her and her partner
Any children are expected to share two to a bedroom, with some exceptions if this would lead to opposite sex teens sharing.
She may be entitled to an extra bedroom if she needs an overnight carer.

The LHA rate is unlikely to pay her full rent, so she will need to use some of her other income to pay that.

It sounds like at the moment her housing element of UC is paid direct to the landlord. That's less likely to be workable in private rent. She'll need to learn to budget and keep her money for rent separate.

It sounds like a very bad idea. She's losing security and putting herself in a more financially precarious situation.

Could she look at doing a mutual exchange instead?

i thought it wasn’t a change of circumstances if it was a new council area? She has been advised it’s a new claim?

She will live with her 2 children but the query is, will she only get housing benefit for a one bed if she moves to a one bed, because she is entitled to a two bed?

she has been told she will lose it entirely if she makes herself intentionally overcrowded. Is that not the case?

I did think it would be a new claim, thank you

She has to leave the area where she is experiencing daily harassment and abuse. It makes sense for her to be with her fiancé.

she is basically suicidal where she is. I think staying could be the worst thing.

Yes 2 children

She has no one in her current area other than people who abuse her, no friends, no one to help. Point taken if she falls out with her partner but that’s an if. They wouldn’t be moving in together

I believe she has been attempting an exchange for a year but nothing comes up - no one wants to move to where she is!

How old are the dc and how far are they moving? Do they still have contact with dad?

Both primary age and very limited contact, Dad cba and both kids beg to not be around him. He is fine with the move as then he “won’t have to do childcare”

move is about three hours

does that affect her housing benefit?

She does not need to make a new Uc claim, just inform them of the new rent and send in tenancy agreement etc. They will pay up to the local housing allowance for the number of bedrooms she is eligible to claim for.

It’s a new council…

That makes no difference. No new UC claim needed.

She'll get the LHA rate she's entitled to for her household size, even if she's living in a smaller property
So if she's entitled to the two bedroom rate she'd be able to get up to that amount even in a one bedroom property.

It's still a really really bad idea to leave social housing and move into the private sector

It doesn't matter how far she's moving.

And if she's already getting UC all she'd need to do is update them on the new address and new rent details.

Thank you, have you any links for this because she has been advised otherwise and I will need evidence to reassure her and the council!

But unless it's a very limited set of circumstances, she's not getting Housing Benefit (council managed) but Housing element on UC(managed by uc/dwp) ,so changing areas doesn't matter

Who wrongly advised her? When people were still on legacy benefits and moved to a new area they then had to claim UC and come off legacy benefits but once you are on UC you don't have to make a new claim. There may be information on the citizens advice website or she could call them.

That’s good that will make it much faster

Yes very simple just to update details and upload new tenancy agreement if they want to see it which they likely will.

Citizens advice
Current council
new council

BUT she is not doing well mentally and I suspect she is either not asking the right questions or isn’t processing the answers correctly. Hence her asking me to go get clarification.

next step, find out the potential LHA as the calculator isn’t working!

Is there a definite answer around will she get LHA for one or two bedrooms? As she is thinking to move to a one bed and give the kids the bedroom and she sleeps in living room, as it makes the move more affordable

She is definitely on UC so it must be housing element, thank you