Husband living elsewhere 5 days a week - entitled to any benefits?

[terramum]

DH has been unemployed since last July. Has a possibility of a job via a mate but it would mean he would have to rent a room near there and come back here on his days off as it's too far to commute. We are tied to this house until June so can't all move near the job until then....but after doing a LOT of number crunching can't see any way we can afford this house and even the cheapest shared house room (with all the bills included), even for a couple of months....let alone save to hire a van & a house deposit for moving

Are there any benefits we might be able to get if he's not living at home full time?

Well they must have changed it because 13 years ago I was on income support and housing benefit and my boyfriend came to stay at weekends (and they knew about that).

The counsil guy who came to check the flat for a rent check also knew that some of his clothes and football kit were in the spare room (ex-boyfriend played footie with my mates)

council

If he's on income-based JSA he should be getting full HB. Do you live in a home that the council has assessed as too large for your needs and so that is why your rent isn't fully covered by HB?

expat - yes we live in a 3 bed house & we're only entitled to a 2 bed. Doesn't help that our LHA is woefully inadequate for the area. They've lumped this village in with the next town that has lower rents. Thought we could manage the extra £40 a week by scrimping...but it's getting harder the longer DH is out of work.

Have you asked to get your CTC reassessed for your current income to start in the new tax year ie April?

Yes, definitely get to your local CAB so they can check things for you. In some (very limited) circumstances it is possible to claim Housing Benefit for two homes at the same time, so get the CAB to check if you can meet the criteria for doing that. There are also various extra payments / run-ons that can sometimes be paid when someone returns to work after being on JSA or Income Support.

If you can present your case in the right way you may be able to get a Community Care Grant, Budgeting Loan or Crisis Loan (loan more likely than a grant).

And in response to the other posts above, it's definitely not true that you can't even have a one-night stand if you're on benefits. If it's a casual relationship and the bf has his main home elsewhere, it is quite possible for him to stay over several nights a week without anything being affected, although obviously people do need to be careful because this could lead to investigation of their circumstances. There is no set number of nights a bf can stay over; a wide range of factors are considered including whether the people involved regard themselves as a couple, whether they have children together, whether they eat together, whether they have joint finances.

Thanks for those suggestions melpomene. The community care grant & crisis loans don't look very likely looking at the criteria...but the budgeting loan looks quite promising, assuming we can actually get it. Our credit rating is rock bottom & we can't even get a cheque book let alone credit atm . Shall add them to the list of things for DH to ask at the JC on thursday.

Small update...have checked on the council website where the new job is & we should qualify for some housing benefit if we move there so that will help with things.

Also remembered that we should get an extra month's housing benefit at our current address when DH gets a job so that will hopefully cover the shortfall while we are paying for 2 properties.

You could also apply for discretionary housing payments this could make up the shortfall in your rent, you need to be able to show hardship to qualify. I was a fraud officer and they have powers to watch you and look at bank accounts etc-its not worth the risk

Well that's just terrific - its fine to have a one night stand on benefits but not a boyfriend?

It's absolutely shocking that you are unable to get any help. Are you sure that you can't get help with relocation costs because if not that is frankly ridiculous. It is much cheaper in the long run than someone being unemployed. Is there any chance his new employer might help?

His new employer is a mate & he's doing us a favour by offering the job to DH. He's happy for DH to stay with him for a couple of weeks until he find a place of his own so I think he's been more than generous.

Has he tried asking the job centre if he is entitled to anything? They definitely offer some relocation help to people who have been long term unemployed.

ha ha ha ha ha ha the job centre couldn't be more unhelpful if they tried. He had his appt today and mentioned he might have a job but it would mean relocating & they hadn't got a clue. He then mentioned the grants & loans melpomene suggested & the person didn't have a clue about them & had to go & ask someone else. They had to look it up on their computer system & even then started contradicting what was written on the screen

Thank gawd for the mumsnet