Council Housing Benefits

[Megan000]

I’m feeling rather stressed at the moment…I’m viewing a council property Monday and getting the keys etc and I was told in my email from the landlords that I have to pay £158 towards rent on the day…the landlords went on to say that if you need to claim housing benefits then to do it in advance so you can pay the rent the day of the sign over otherwise it’ll come out of your own pocket. I get universal credit so I’ll also get housing benefits to help cover the rent but I don’t get how the landlords are expecting me to apply for this in advance as you can’t apply for housing benefits until you’ve signed the tenancy and got the house so in other words I can’t apply for it until Monday after the viewing and I have no idea how it works but I’ve heard it could take a few weeks for housing benefits to get back to you and start helping with payments so what am I supposed to do in this time as like I said I’ve got to pay £158 on Monday and then the first rent is due 1st February which isn’t too long so I need help covering rent asap I can’t afford to pay it myself. Was feeling excited about viewing the house Monday but now I’m rather stressed can anyone tell me how housing benefits works etc.

You could apply to the Council for DHP (Discretionary Housing Payment) to cover this shortfall

You won’t be eligible to claim housing benefit if you already get UC, you will have to update your UC claim to include the housing element by letting them know how much your new rent is.
You may be able to get an advance to help you cover any legitimate moving costs and advance rent payments but you’llhave to pay it back.

If they are council they should know full well you can’t claim housing costs through your universal credit claim until you have a signed tenancy agreement . And even then it’s always paid in arrears.
I’m wondering if the information they have given you about paying upfront is out of date.

When you say 'landlord' what do you mean? The property manager from the council?

That’s what I was thinking as I don’t know how they expect me to ‘apply for housing benefits in advance’ as you can’t do so until you’ve signed the tenancy…just worried I won’t be able to pay the first payments as I’ve heard housing benefits take a few weeks to set up although not sure if that’s true.

By landlord I mean the housing association that owns the property…mine is ‘Clarion Housing’.

www.myclarionhousing.com/help-and-guidance/money-guidance/help-with-benefits