Affordable rent social housing assessment?

[ForMauveHedgehog]

Hi all.

does anyone live in an affordable rent house from a housing association? We had to provide income details. I don’t work but get UC - standard rate and also LWRCA allowance too. I also get PIP. This equals about 1.1k. I also get housing element which would cover most of it and I would have to make up around £200 shortfall of the rent so overall would be left with around 8-900£ a month. Does this sound like I could afford the property?

daughter also works part time.

thanks.

Would the £800/900 be all you have to cover the rest of your bills/food etc? What size is the house, is a new build or an older build? Do you have a car? Does your daughter contribute to the household?

As an example we live in a 3 bed semi, it’s a new build so very rarely need the heating on as it heats quick and stays hot for ages (compared to an older house which might need 4/5 hours of heating for the same result), and our other household bills not including our mortgage but including food shopping for a month are around £900.

It’s a 2 bed flat. Spend around £200 a month on my own shopping as my daughter pays her own shopping etc. my daughter would be giving me £150 to help cover rent/council tax.

Oh - also, no car. WiFi is 20£ per month, phone is 12£ per month. I don’t drink or smoke.

Depends where you live you if you get benefits or are on a low income you might get council tax reduction/support payment up to the full amount. Check the local council website.

Is your daughter an adult ? will you be joint tenants ?
as i would expect them to take into your daughter's income too if so.

did you bid on this property ?
as down here, I notice that ' affordable ' rent is higher than ' social ' rent for social housing.

If I was you OP I’d go through a “worst case scenario” budget plan type thing to see what you could be left with and then decide if you’d be comfortable with that.

E.g.

Rent to top up- £200
Food shop- £250 (assume higher even if typically £200, everything is constantly going up)
Wifi- £20
Phone- £13
TV License- £14
Council Tax- say e.g. £150 could be less
TV Package like Sky maybe??- £30-35
Netflix? £10
Gas and Electric- £100
Water- £30
Insurances ?? £20
No car but do you use buses/taxis/public transport ? How much do you pay each month for that?
No alcohol or smoking but what about takeaways maybe or treats? How much do you spend on that?
Do you put the lottery on, how much on that?

I would literally go through everything and go for a worst case scenario, see how much it all adds up to and go from there. There is the argument that takeaways, sweets, Netflix etc can be cut out to save budget but the reality is that long term it doesn’t work out like that as it really would make for a miserable life and so it’s best to see what you can afford as it is.

I have just applied via homelink for houseung as my husband has just been made redundant after 25 yrs and we live in tied houseung and he has got another job but pays much less. We have a notice to quit in 2 mths, we have been put in band c what are the chances if us getting a house? We also have 2 children HELP!!!!!

It totally depends on your area but where we are band C would be around 2 years at the moment, possibly longer. Band C is non urgent and there are always going to be people in the 2 bands above you who get priority.