Have been offered a bursary by the university-will I still get Housing Benefit?

[mummyvontummy]

Am a single parent and have had my Housing Benefit calculated on my maintenance grant, student loan etc. My university have now offered me a bursary-will it be disregarded by the housing benefit people as it is meant to be there to help us financially? If they do use it in their calculations it then I don't want to take it, as we will be in the same situation monetarily but will have another 2 months of no housing benefit while they do all the paperwork and calculate everything-it's a standard degree, not an NHS one, help!!! xx

What is it for exactly? To buy books/childcare/?

If you can prove it isn't just to live off - in that your ACTUAL income is still low, regardless of this grant and that, you will still get HB and Income Support.

You will not pay any council tax as students are exempt - you need a letter to state you are a student at the uni though to send to the council.

Be prepared for a rocky ride. In my 3 yr degree, I was given 3 eviction notices and my money (benefits) was stopped altogether because "you have £10 000 income". No, I didn't - I had childcare grants (nearly 6k) and single parent student grant of 1k; these were NOT for living off - they were for books/childcare etc. I had to kick off BIG style for them to pay attention, but hold fast - it is their mistake and it will all be sorted if you make enough noise.

I don't get income support because my "income is too high" (I only get a student loan and childcare grant!) but do get HB and council tax exemption.
It's just to live off, it's not for books, but I had to pay £700 for my textbooks last term, alongside £700 to move from Bradford to Cambridge, plus childcare, £2k bond, had to get clothes for dd, shoes, all sorts, so my loan was gone by the end of the first month, and they only dis-regarded £10 of my income for "extra living expenses"-i.e. books. It's just so confusing-I wish they would just say "this is a list of things that will reduce your housing benefit, this is a list of things that won't"

Tell me about it - the whole system is screwed up.

Could you go to the CAB - their benefits person should know once and for all

Am really worried that if I do that and they say it will reduce it then my HB will get stopped until I can prove that I HAVEN'T taken the thing! They only pay 2/3rds of the rent, but there is no way I could pay the full £900 on my own! xx

I would speak to student advise at your uni. They will have experience of the council at cambridge and be able to tell you whether you are better off accepting the bursary or not. - it might be that the uni has a policy of offering it as book vouchers or some other benefit in kind that would not affect your entitlement to benefit.