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Original poster

Benefits advice needed please

18 replies

stupidgirl · 19/01/2004 23:53

I'm currently living in a small 2 bed flat, with my 2 children in a town I hate. I have been on benefits (income support and housing/council tax benefit) since my ds was born. I wanted (and still do) to be a sahm, and I am now HEing them.

I really want to get off benefit, and the plan is to start childminding (and doing some chatline work or something in the evening). There are too many problems with the flat I'm in for me to be able to do it here, so I need to move before I can start. But, property in the areas I would like to live in are ridiculously expensive. The council are currently refusing to pay my full rent (which is well below the going rate) and even though I would be moving to a different council area, I'm not convinced they will pay.

So, the problem is, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to move until I have another income, but I can't have the income until I move.

Is there any help I can get to move to enable me to get off the benefit.

TIA

OP posts:

mammya · 19/01/2004 23:58

Hello Stupidgirl, I don't know of any help but just wanted to let you know I can understand how you feel as I am in a similar position. Hope someone can come up with something!

Original poster

stupidgirl · 20/01/2004 00:51

Thanks Mammaya. Frustrating, isn't it? I really want to get off benefits but it seems everything is against me

OP posts:

marialuisa · 20/01/2004 08:40

Stupidgirl, if you ring the council in the area you will be moving to they will usually give you an idea of the weekly rent they will pay. when looking for houses check that there isn't a a limit on the amount of rent they will pay; for e.g. ig a housing officer decided that the most they would pay for a place was £350 pcm for a previous tenant (or even potential tenant) within the past 12 months they will not budge.

They do have to take into account "market rate" if you are renting privately. One of the mums I know had a cap of £325 pcm on a 3 bed place she was renting (rent due £475)because the housing officer thought the agents were taking the p**s but when she moved to a better area she got £465 towards a rent of £500. She still has to pay some as she has chosen to be in a 3 bed when council say she only needs 2 beds (boy and girl 8 and 1) because otherwise she will have to move again when her DS is 10.

Have you tried the job centre/one-stop shop places at all?

Original poster

stupidgirl · 20/01/2004 11:11

MariaLuisa,I'm planning to make some calls this morning (or what's left of it - I don't usually come on the pc at this time of day...).

I spent ages looking through the paper this morning for ammunition for the housing people. My rent was £550 and has just gone up to £575 per month. This is a 2 bed flat (with 2 kids - boy and girl). The cheapest 2 bed flat in the paper is £600, but most of them are more than £700 a month - and they are refusing to pay more than £548. It is well below the going rate, I have no other income and they expect me to find another £25 a month to pay the rest.

Anyway. I will make some phonecalls and see what they will tell me (although they don't always seem to be particularly forthcoming, and last time I phoned they quoted me an amount for a 2 bed place which I wouldn't have got a one bed place for...)

I just find this incredibly frustrating. I am trying to help myself, but there only seems to be help available if I am prepared to go out to work

I haven't tried the jobcentre - I could do that. I don't know what a one-stop shop is??

Thanks for the advice

OP posts:

Twinkie · 20/01/2004 11:14

Can you HE and childmind att he same time??

nutcracker · 20/01/2004 11:20

I can really understand your problem. We also live in 2 bed flat but with 3 kids. We aren't having any luck getting moved and have considered private renting but have been told that we wouldn't get any help with the rent because my dp works full time. The fact that his wages are low don't seem to matter. At the mo our rent is 265 a month, if we rented a house around here privatley it could be between 500 and 700 a month.

Original poster

stupidgirl · 20/01/2004 20:59

Course you can Twinkie

Nutcracker, sympathy. It seems so stupid doesn't it?

I phoned the two local councils this morning. The indicative rents they quoted were waaaaay below any of the rents available. Not sure quite what I can do

OP posts:

Bozza · 20/01/2004 21:40

I'm like Twinkie I'm not sure how you would combine the two. Would you be doing the home edding sort of "out of hours" - evenings and weekends? Or would you actually combine the two at the same time?

Original poster

stupidgirl · 20/01/2004 21:58

Trust me, Bozza and Twinkie, the two things are perfectly possible and compatable. I know plently of people who do it.

The HE isn't doesn't happen in school hours, specifically, nor does it involve sitting at a table studying. We 'work' as and when, and most of what we do is stuff which can be tailored to fit several children at a time. We do lots of arts and crafts, which can be adapted to younger ones. I am not 'teaching' ds, so he doesn't require constant attention.

OP posts:

fairydust · 21/01/2004 08:54

not many councils allow businesses to be run from home so you might not be able to childmind from there

marialuisa · 21/01/2004 09:11

One stop shop is a council office/benefit office etc. all in one.

Good luck

mergle · 28/01/2004 18:23

hi.

typing with baby in one hand-excuse spelings.

sorry if this has been covered.

you can get a pre-tenancy determination re how much the council will pay. they should then stick to that.
you can appeal if the amount isn't enough.
they have to take into account average rental price in the area you're living in. what is the area is the tricky point open to debate. cos schools are taken into account you might have some probs-get advice as i think you could have arguement re ammenities for he'd kids (well done there btw, we want to do that)
pretty sure they will not give you hb for extra space for childminding
they will take your PROFIT as income for hb purposes. this is 1/3 of your actual income from childminding.
you'll get hb for 2 beds only if your kids are under 10.

hope this helps.

mergle · 28/01/2004 18:25

nutcracker

thats wrong-income only is what matters-in fact full time hours entitle you to a bit extra.

mergle · 28/01/2004 18:27

Also-they CAN'T do blanket amounts of hb-they must look at each place on its merits (unless the rules have changed spectacularly since I went on maternity leave).

I really think you should get advice here eg from a housing help centre or a CAB.

Original poster

stupidgirl · 28/01/2004 22:52

Hi Mergle (are you new, btw? I don't recognise the name)

I am still looking, but there is nothing in anything like the region they are proposing to pay. I have written and asked for my current amount to be reviewed, not heard anything yet.

What do you mean about having an argument re the amenities for HE'd kids? (Also bearing in mind that I don't want to make an issue out of the fact that they are HE'd - we are (as yet) undiscovered by the authorities, and I would like to keep it that way) (Also, any advice or info you want about HE, let me know )

I don't expect extra space for the childminding - I think we could cope in 2 beds. This flat isn't suitable because of exposed pipes, uneven floors and things like that, rather than just the size.

Thanks for the advice and information

OP posts:

mergle · 13/02/2004 17:38

Sorry-forgot all about this thread.

Re HE'd kids-they have to take eg distance from school into account. With HE'd kids you're going to have a problem, obviously, but if say you don't have a car and you're close to the museams, libraries etc-I'd make the case but seriouly, go see someone whose spent boring hours on training courses for this reason.

i know you can get hb for a house in which you're childminding incidentally, don't let them tell you otherwise.

Where I am (S Wales), HB takes ages to sort out but there are limits on how long these things are MEANT to take.

HE is legal isn't it? Why stay undisdiscovered? Just curious-no criticism.

chloeb2002 · 15/02/2004 20:13

Great sympathies stupid girl! however a few possible leads, as a fellow student, well a nurse student so no time left for additional employment! maybe this may help...
any chance you have a citizens advice bureu near by? worth the posible wait as they will realy help you get sorted.
Any cahnce of moving well away to a cheaper area! I know im lucky but my rent is £350 a month on a two bed cottage and my local council pay it all on HB. I know of a friend in a three bed house who also gets hers all paid for £450.
Last resort and as they say it depends where you live and how dire the move is, but if you are declared homeless the council will have to rehome you.
I do some work with the CAB and the advisors are all fab, so give it a whirl!
Good Luck!!!
what about the uni giving you a contribution through their learning access fund? dont know if they do it but mine does in the form of a non re payable loan.

Original poster

stupidgirl · 15/02/2004 20:37

Hi Mergle, thanks for the clarification. I do have a car, so that's not a huge issue, not that there are many attractions to go to locally.

About the HE. It is completely legal, but it is just much simpler to be undiscovered. Some LEAs are very hostile towards HE, and they often try to tell you that you are obliged to recieve visits, which isn't true. They can make life quite uncomfortable, with letters and phonecalls and unexpected visits, etc. And, once they know you exist, if you don't willingly co-operate (even though you are entitled not to), you risk them getting suspicious and ending up in court. There is a family in Wales going through just that at the moment. Anyway, longwinded reply, but that's why it's easier if we remain unnoticed as long as posible.

Chloe, I have thought of moving away. We are in the South East, so the one of the most expensive areas we could be. But my parents are down here, and as a single mum, they are an important support network. I also grew up hardly knowing my grandparents until close to the end of their lives and I want my kids to grow up close to theirs. I've spent hours weighing up the pros and cons.

I will go and speak to the Cab or someone about it and see what I can work out. Thanks for your help everyone

OP posts:

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