is anyone a single mum and gets housing benefit?

[nappyaddict]

if so how much or what percentage of your rent do they pay?

depends on your income, i have had varying amounts paid depending on what i was earning/getting in maintenance

was advised that if i returned to studying full time i wouldn't get it at all and would be expected to take the full stdent loan to cover housing costs, but that was 2 years ago and may have changed (i bloody well hope it has )

I was a single mum and they paid all of mine. I think it depends on your rent whether it's hight etc. have a look on line you might be able to find a calculator thingy.

HB will pay the regular amount for the size house/flat you are entitled to. For example if you are a one parent one baby household you are entitled to a two bed house or flat.

If you find an area you want to rent in and get an address of a property advertised phone the Rent Service on 01245 266861 and they will give you a rough guideline for how much you will be entiteld to then you can go from there. If you want a larger property you can pay the extra which will probably only cost you £50 a month for an extra bedroom. The Rent Service have a website on www.therentservice.gov.uk

If its HB for a council property they will probably pay it all, if its for Private rental you can calculate it as above.

H. x

i don't get any maintenenace of ds' father. get a student loan, grant and parents learning allowance. oh and 85% of childcare paid for. i work 1 or 2 nights a week at the moment but won't be able to once i start 2nd year.

oh and obviously child benefit and child tax credit.

well i have seen 2 flats i like. both are 2 bedrooms, but one is more conveninet as it is ground floor. the ground floor is £660 a month, the first floor only £550.

aloveheart how much was yours a month?

Ground floors good but you won't be able to leave your windows open at night.

Where abouts are you? have a look at rental prices sounds a bit pricy to me.

If your rent is according to your needs and you don't have a job, they will pay most or all of it.

get out of there NA

Sending you supportive stoic handshakes

so would i have to stop doing the 2 nights a week before i apply?

nappyaddict. i dont know how much housing benefit you will get but i'm assuming from where you live you may be under the same council as me.

im telling you this now: buy a day to page diary. every time you receive correspondence from them, write it down, write what you did in response, what you sent them, what they sent you. really, im not kidding. im having hell from them now trying to claim back money from me because i was overpaid, which wasnt my fault. keep everything. they will send you reams and reams of paper and fair play to you if you can understand it. keep them all. keep everything. for years. they bite you later if not now, seriously.

i'm under dudley is that the same as you?

my lone parent advisor worked out all the calculations for me and told me what i'd get in HB and CTB if i went back to work.

Citizens Advice can do the same

most councils have an online calculator to help you, just google - on line housing benefit calculator if this link doesn't work !

hope this helps

www.medway.gov.uk/index/community/benefits/webbencalc.htm

so they might be able to tell you if you'd be better to quit work before you applied

it is nappyaddict. lone parent advisors are great elliek. in theory all the help you need is there. in reality it bloody isnt. ive been stung numerous times over the last couple of years by budgeting on the basis of what i am entitled to recieve, then being arsed about by...csa, inland rev, council and income support. and when they all make mistakes at the same time you have no hope of understanding how much you have to spend each week, what's coming in or going out, what you are liable to pay back etc etc.....really need to prevent myself from diverting this thread to a huge rant!

unfortunately i think it's one of those things that just depends who you get
my first lpa was cr*p, the next one was wonderful

did the calculator thingy. it said the applicable amount figure = £119.28 and net income = -£-50.02

then it said " If the Total Applicable Amount is higher than Net Weekly Income, Maximum Benefit is awarded. But if Net Weekly Income is higher than the Total Applicable Amount, 65% of the "excess income" is deducted from Maximum HB to find the award. For Council Tax Benefit, 20% of the "excess income" taper is deducted from the maximum award. NB Non-dependant deductions are also taken off at this stage. "

according to that statement i should get maximum benefit.

however it then said:

Final Calculation is £0 Weekly Housing Benefit Award
Final Calculation is £0 Weekly "Main" Council Tax Benefit

so am a little confused ...

nappy, you need to phone them up. online calculators are notoriously shite.

lol just realised it was cos i hadn't filled in how much the rent was!!

still wouldnt rely on it nappyaddict. call them and make notes of what they say. you may think im daft, but you'll thank me if they come after you for arrears!! ok that sounded smug, is really not, just looking out for you.

no, no not smug at all. i always do that anyway. something my dad always told me to do. i do think he is a little extreme with it though!

btw nightowl did you get my email about which days you were free for the meet up? are you free fridays?

fridays im not unfortunatly, but carry on and do whats easiest for everyone else, i can catch up next time! ps, your dad isnt extreme, just sensible

is it only mondays you can do? after easter holidays i can only do mondays too so maybe we can arrange another for then.

yes, no problem. will look forward to it