Hi Is it for only under 25's, what about people on ESA with illness & over 30's? Why don't the tax millionaires & the very wealthy as opposed to the young?, i agree that people doing nothing as regards work is bad if they just don't want to do anything, but it will surely make more people homeless!

So I am single with a 2 year old son I have been renting my 2 bed flat privatley from a landlord for 2 years using housing benefit/dss to pay the majority of my rent, he has recently put the rent up so I am planning on leaving this flat and looking for a new one when my tenancy ends in feburary. So my brother is a landlord who has 2 other one bed flats and a 2 bed house which would be perfect for me to move into, its been rented out constantly for the last few years, i belive also with tenants claiming dss and it will be free for a new tenant around febuary. So he said why dont i move into his flat that he would prefer someone he knows to live in it, and told me it would be no problem the fact that we were related. I just wanted some advice on this I'm living in Brent and I feel they can be quite suspicious and strict on dss, so I'm wanting to know would renting from him be possible I would be paying a deposit, a reasonable rent for the area and he would be advertising the flat fairly

Hello there , Hopefully in the right place ? I would really appreciate any advice re: Eviction. I assume the property I am renting is not privately owned, and is owned by a HA..... I did a mutual exchange from a Council property to HA and was only given a sparsely worded Tennancy Agreement and known as the Assignee. Any way cut a long story short, I was taken to court in 2009 for rent arrears £1,000. approx and ordered to pay £20. wk on top of rent. Subsequently, I managed to lower the arrears owed to £84. in 2 yrs, despite recieving £10.17 mth HB, on part-time wages, and £700. per calendar mth rent charges! I was refused HB and an AOE was placed on my wages as I worked for the Local Authority. The Bursar failed for 4 mths to deduct this & to inform me that I had been on BR Tax for the previous 2 yrs. She had also been underpaying P/T staff for the 7 yrs she was there !! She disappeared off shortly after. This left me with even more debt owed to the Local Authority and HA. I was then sacked from my job with the Local Authority (school) in May this yr, have not received my P45 and have been unable to claim benefits, or HB. I have been in touch with CAB, Legal Advisors, Legal Aid Solictors and the Council to understand why so many problems....but to no avail. Went to Court and had it set aside for evidence....These being repairs.... a) 20 yr old Gas Boiler with obsolete parts, b) 6 yrs of requests for kitchen repairs, c) Substantial cracks to ceiling running through to next door from 4 yrs ago, d) Cracks to outside of property walls, e) Uneven and dangerous patio slabs in garden above 3 inches, My current arrears seem to be £3,400 approx now, although this is disputed with my own calculations and differing rent statements recieved from HA....(have ALL receipts and logged payments since 2010), including photos of repairs.... Unfortunately, have to represent myself as I cannot get any Legal help whatsoever, and was asked if I had "upset" anyone in Council....NO not that I know of, but have an uncomfortable history with them.... Ideally I would like the repairs carried out and the arrears reduced or cancelled, on the grounds that I have been constantly badgered with calls, texts, threatening letters (re court and Judge not denying eviction) sarcasm of "austere times", all of which have been logged in my diary.....can anyone advise or suggest my chances of succeeding ? Thankyou.

Where do I start.. I am a sub tenant of a Housing Association property?? I have been letting a 2 bedroom flat from my landlord for about the last 14 months and then I had to put in a claim for Housing Benefit about 5 weeks ago but unbeknown to me he didn’t have permission to sub let it to me as the housing officer turned up and said I have a month to get out. I then get a letter through from housing benefit saying they are declining my claim I HAVE ASKED CORNWALL COUNCIL 7 TIMES SO FAR why they awarded me Council Tax Benefit but not Housing Benefit? I still haven’t got a straight answer from him but this is his reply. Dear Mr , In regard to “it has been interpreted that your tenancy is not enforceable or would be difficult to enforce by the landlord if terms were breached”, this can refer to a tenancy not being set up in a way in which the landlord is able to enforce. Examples of this are such as: Arrears of rent are not pursued or the tenancy agreement has been drawn up or come about whereby it would be difficult for the landlord to legally pursue for arrears. The landlord could be a tenant themself and subletting and not have the permission of the actual landlord to sublet. It has been demonstrated that terms in the tenancy are not enforced and change with out notice and there is not a consistency of rent changing hands on a regular basis between tenant and landlord. As per previous emails on the 26th September 2012, you have a right to ask that any decision we make is re-considered and you can also follow on from this and Appeal. Any re-consideration request and Appeal must be in writing within a calendar month of the date on the decision notice that you do not agree with and you must give clear reasons why you do not agree. In the first instance, the case will be re-considered by a member of our staff who has not dealt with your case before. I strongly advise you do this if you are unhappy with the decision made I have also been paying Cornwall Housing direct each Friday by debit card and they still wont me let me stay here as Housing Officers argument is this should of been allocated to someone else even though I am on Band D but hopefully soon to be Band B due to sleep apnoea that I suffer severely from. I am on Employment Support Allowance for my illness and have actually got an assessment by ATOS on Wednesday, so no doubt they will kick me off ESA as they are incentivised to get people off the sick so to speak. I sent the owner of this flat called Cornwall Housing an email after he hand delivered a letter to Steve (the chap I rent this flat from, However Steve the Landlord doesn’t occupy here and therefore I was wondering if this will be considered served? You cannot be allowed to stay as you have not been allocated the property through the Local Authority and are illegal occupants. Any payments you have made are considered mesne profit and not rent, as the rent is due from Mr Frazer. I reiterate that you are not able to stay and will not become tenants of Cornwall Housing in these circumstances. If you speak to Housing Options on 0300 1234 161 then they will make an appointment to see you and assess your situation regarding homeless status. I realise how this situation is disappointing for you, but I urge you to take productive steps to remedy it, and not try and remain in the property as an illegal occupant. HOUSING OFFICERS REPLY when I told him that I was declined Housing Benefit but accepted for full Council Tax benefit? You cannot be allowed to stay as you have not been allocated the property through the Local Authority and are illegal occupants. Any payments you have made are considered mesne profit and not rent, as the rent is due from Mr Frazer. I reiterate that you are not able to stay and will not become tenants of Cornwall Housing in these circumstances. If you speak to Housing Options on 0300 1234 161 then they will make an appointment to see you and assess your situation regarding homeless status. I realise how this situation is disappointing for you, but I urge you to take productive steps to remedy it, and not try and remain in the property as an illegal occupant.

My partner had to leave her job in mid-March this year, due to family illness and childcare issues. I wrote to my local authority benefits section to advise of our change of circumstances, and to ask what documentation was required for reassessing our benefits claim. A good 6 weeks later, after chasing it up, I received a letter stating I had to provide "bank statements, etc", very vague. As we were waiting for my partner's p45, we did not send documentation in. In May I received a letter stating our benefits were being suspended pending receipt of p45, bank statements, etc. In June I received a letter to say our benefits were cancelled. Now I know I should've taken action sooner, but I've been burying my head in the sand, and have actually been off work through stress, and that's the vicious cycle of debt and poverty. Despite contacting her old employer several times, and them trying to blame it on their accountant, my partner still hasn't received her p45. What can we do?

I received, at the end of last week, a letter from my local council requesting that I attend an 'Interview under Caution' tomorrow (tuesday). After phoning the CAB for advice I managed to contact a solicitor who has agreed to represent me. He has also changed the date of the interview so I have more time to prepare and see him first. I am absolutely terrified! I have spent all weekend on the internet and looking at the various forums and I realise now that the chances are very high that I am not entitled to any of the money I have received. Its around 3500 over a 12 month period. I can't quite believe how naive I have been and why on earth I didn't check my facts before I started to claim - I'm so ashamed of myself. Can anyone please advise me what will happen - will I definitely be prosecuted and have a criminal record? Will it be published in the local papers? Will I have to go to court? Do you think I should just hold my hands up and say I'm very sorry I mis-understood the regulations and offer straight away to pay all the money back. I could ask my parents to loan me and then pay them back over time (if they could ever bring themselves to speak to me again). Or is it worth trying to explain and trying to convince the officials that circumstances and stress and a whole other load of horrible stuff going on in my life contributed to me making a mistake. Any advice would be very much appreciated. I'm going to see my solicitor at the end of this week. Thank you

hi, so basically, me and my wife have 4 children, 2 adults and 2 under 16. we are a happy family. we are receiving child tax credit for my 2 younger kids, housing benefit due to my low salary and my wife not working, as well as working tax credit for me. In june 2011, my 2 adult children and wife went back home for a holiday. due to unforeseen circumstances, my daughter now has to get married there, so my wife and daughter were still there while my son came back. i did not inform any of the benefit companies about this, as it was just meant to be a small holiday. unexpectedly, my wife and daughter were still there until feb 2012, when me and my other 2 young kids went abroad too. since they had school, they came back with my wife now in 3 weeks (feb 2012). so now i was there with my daughter (to be married soon) until may 2012 when i came back home. we let the daughter handle everything from then. suddenly my mother who lives abroad, went really ill due to old age in july 2012 and i had to go see her, as would any son. my wife had to come with me too as she had not seen my mother in a very long time. so now my 2 younger kids and 1 adult son are alone in the uk. they have managed so far but school is about to begin and me or my wife need to be there now. so my wife is leaving to UK on the 22nd september, and i will be making my way soon. by october hopefully. during this period, we received a letter saying our housing benefit and working tax credit has been suspended due to change in circumstance, so i sent all the required documents to them before i went to see my mother (july 2012). it was a while since we got any reply from them and our landlord bugging us about not receiving his rent in time. so my son while alone with his siblings called the department asking for progress. he told them he was our son and that the parents went abroad for a couple of weeks. they told him to contact them when they are back. out of stupidity, he called in again the next day posing as me just to get things going (as me and my wife left in emergency, and would be back soon), but the person on the telephone got suspicious and passed the case to the fraud department thinking someone else is living in the house or whatsoever. now that the landlord is bugging us about the rent and i cannot just leave my mom here. my wife would be coming back soon on the 22 sept 2012. ( its too expensive to amend the flight date). now they are asking to check my passport when my son posed as me (which i was unaware of until he told me) did we commit any fraud? because the only thing wrong we did was not informing them about leaving the country in between. we have not left the country for more than 13 weeks except for the time when my wife was with my daughter about the marriage situation, while i was still in the UK with my kids. what will happen now? will they ask for the housing benefit back from when my wife was away? or will they backtrack the housing benefit from this past month since they have suspended it? (as my wife will be back on the 22nd sept, no more than 13 weeks since she left). please help me, my kids are alone in the UK and need some help on this. if you are confused about anything. please reply back.

Hi I hope someone may be able to answer a couple of questions. I've never had to claim any benefits before but my circumstances have changed dramatically in the last few years that I have no other option for the time being. I am currently waiting to have my home repossessed as I can no longer afford to live there. I also went bankrupt a few years back so have been saving up and will be lent some money from family to pay the 6 months rent up front to a landlord for a private rental. I am down on the council list as a high priority but have been told I could be waiting for up to a year. My son is disabled and I am scared of being on the street. I have two questions the first is will Housing benefit be paid whilst my resposession goes through? I have found somewhere that is close to schools (I have no car) and mentally I'm struggling being in our home knowing I'm going to lose it. And secondly I've part filled in the Housing benefit form and it states the first payment is made in a cheque to the landlord, as I've said I will be paying the rent upfront is there anyway round this? Could I have the cheque paid out to me? I also was hoping the landlord wouldn't have to know I was claiming benefits as I have yet to find one that would accept us. We live in a small town and rentals are limited. Thank you

Hi everyone, I have been a total pleb and due to various circumstances left it rather late to inform the council that I had a wage rise last year. I know I should have done it immediately later but at the time of the rise I was under incredible pressure with debt worries after separating from my husband who left me in huge financial difficulty together with the fact that i was undergoing various medical tests which at the hospital as I was (an still am) showing symptoms of MS. This ommission came about because I was sorting through this years paperwork and unusually for me have left the tax credit renewal rather late. I rang the council to tell them about my wage rise in April 2012 and that I think I had forgotten to tell them about my rise last year. The lady on the phone said that due to my 2012 rise I would not be entitled to which I said that I expected that. This meant that I would have been overpaid by 3 months. Whilst talking to her I explained that I could not remember if I had told about last years rise, and when I confirmed my normal pay, she said no. Today I have realised that my tax credits figure has reduced from the original one I gave when claiming and Have tried to call them back about this but was on hold for over 45 minutes during my lunch hour then had to hang up. SO, I know I have been overpaid by 3 months for defo and am sure that for the majority of last year I was also overpaid by some and I have tried to create a spreadsheet to work it out which includes the rise in salary and drop in tax credits. I make it approx £1000 overpaid. In addition, I think I am currently being investigated as my employer explained that he had received a request for an Employers statement wanting details of my pay and pay dates. I am totally worried sick that I am about to be called in for investigation and wonder what is going to happen next. Shall keep trying to ring them to explain or has it gone too far?? Any help would be really appreciated. I know have been totally stupid for not telling them last year but I genuinely did forget due to over-rising circumstances......

Is Esa contribution based used for determining housing benefit. I understand that once you have been put into a group either WRAG or Support you get extra money. Will I lose this money to housing benefit?

i have discovered today that i have been overpaid housing benefit since February this year. i only just realised this today when a letter came asking about a re calculation. so i checked my statements and there they were 5 monthly payments since february at different times each month amking them hard to take note of. it's a lesson to check my statements more carefully and regularly to be sure but i am now worried stiff about any action they may take as this has been a complete and honest oversight i have no trouble paying it back in one go straight away, but i'm still worried they may take it further. what is likely to happen, i'm terrified after reading some stories on here. advice on next steps needed, please i

Please could somebody give me some advice? I have recently made an application for housing benefit. This is my first claim,due to a change in my circumstances. In this claim I advised them that my son had received DLA but due to the DWPnot sending the renewals pack out in time I am currently not receiving paymentwhile they process the claim. He had previously received DLA at higher ratecare and lower rate mobility for six years and his conditions had not decreasedin fact they had got worse, so I am confident (and so is his consultant) thathe will continue to get it again at the same level. My LC have now calculated my award for Housing benefit and refused toacknowledge that my son as a disability and will not make an award to includethe extra premium for having a child with a disability. Without this premium,the Housing Benefit claim is minimal and I can no way pay my rent. My wageseach month are about £900 and my rent £830. They are offering me £23.39 pwtowards my rent. If they were to include the premium for my son we wouldreceive around £100 pw. What can I do? I really can't afford to pay my rent. Last time I made an application for DLA for my son it took 9 months to sortas I took it to tribunal. Thanks N

I need some advice. I owe rent to my landlord and she has failed to undergo repairs to the property. She has given me 14 days notice to pay the rent or be taken to court. She has sent me a letter saying that she will be attending the property next week with the workmen to assess the repairs needed and any repairs needed will be carried out over the remainder of the week and possibly the following week. Can she do this? I have various hospital appointments and a young child and the repairs have been necessary for well over a year now. I feel that she should wait until we vacate the property. Would like to know where I stand with this and any advice would be appreciated as she is becoming quite stroppy and intimidating. I know the repairs need to be done but she hasn't bothered for months and now suddenly she wants access every day. Surely I can say no to this? My tenancy agreement expired in June so I know she has to give me two months notice to vacate also as its classed as a periodic tenancy. Help please anyone??

I had been receiving both JSA and Housing Benefit for over 12 months. My landlord is private and I actually pay much more than I receive in Housing Allowance (£55 a week). My council has stopped paying HB on the 4th of May. I have received so far no written notification about it. Two weeks later I called the HB centre helpline (in Birmingham you can't just drop in, you have to call the call centre) and a lady told me that payment had been suspended because the DWP had notified a change of address, which by the way has never happened. So I assumed the fault was on the DWP side and the Council did what they had to do and suspended payments. I then sent them a letter with all documents showing I still live there. They replied to me a couple of days later saying they had acknowledged receipt and they would let me know of the outcome, anyway without confirming the suspension nor mentioning any reason for it. Now, 5 five weeks later, I still have no written explanation and no money coming in. Next week I'm going to call them again but I would like to know from you if the Council behaved correctly and if it is better to write to them and complain. Did they have to notify me in writing? How long have they got before reinstating payments? Thank you for your attention. San_d

i moved in to a house with a 6mth short hold lease and wasrushed in to it saying it had 3 people after it so payed deposit and waspromised all work and house wouldhing be done up before i moved in when theypurcused it had been emtey for years and and just paint walls did no cleaningect was a mess said i was responable for windows if broke and report anythingelse well when got there could believe it and as time went on never did repairswas at times left with no water and had no heating in the freeze of dec2010 andso on loads of things mold everywhere washing mechine water ran in to yard werekids went all time left down stairs toilet not working for about a year andwhen i moved out as had no choice with him and his staff bulling and if moanedwas told would be kicked out hada break down and when left the was somecealrance and repainting butall the other stuff he added on was like that wheni moved in was caught out lying at court charging for things twice lied aboutwhen i moved out for extra rent chagred for repairs not done as i had pics andcan prove all even the judge knew he was lying and didnt have right recipts ieonly just inside the law still as he took the case and my parents as guartoreven when seen to been lying was still given 3 times what it would of cost torepaint and remove thing so my mum and dad got a 2800 bill which am paying andthat was the judge nearly knock 1000 off i want him to not get away withtreating my mum when ill me and others in this way i can prove most things but things like going with out heating and water is a couple of old letters i wrote complaining to him which is when he started getting really nasty and every time i tried to do anything about it he threatened to kick me out and as i was was have really bad mental health issue at the time just hide away and never did anything and in the end i was forced to move out for fear of being made homeless with 3 children:mad2: please any help or advice would be geatly accepted and used thanks very much in advance

Firstly, Im a full-time Master student who currently in a dissertation period. The whole thing is about the tenancy I singed with a letting agent is coming to an end by 25th August 2012. I intended to have a rolling contract after the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement with a 12 month fixed term. But I havent receive any information from the agency or the landlord so I emailed them first on 6th July, and the agency reply me on 9th July that I can't stay after the contract ends because the landlord decided to rent it to someone else. I was asking them why I'm the last person to know and they even didnt contact me before they re-marketing the flat on Rightmove.com on 5th July 2012. I emailed them about my difficult situation that I'm doing the dissertation and its almost impossible for me to find a new 5month contract flat and arrange a move before the dissertation deadline next month. I dont know if they actually inform that to the landlord. And My visa is running out on the end of Jan 2013 which means If I move out on 25th August 2012 I might not be able to find a new flat which allow 5 month contract. And as I feel intense about the short notice to move out and I emailed them to have a explanation and possibly arrange something to sort out the situation. They explained that they did attempt to call me but cannot contact me at the beginning of July. Firstly, I usually use email to contact them with same email address which written in the information form. Secondly, I checked my phone record, there isn't any missed call or voice mail from the number they said they were calling from. I asked them to provide a phone record but they ignored my request. I started to thinking aren't they gunna say nothing to me if I didnt email them first. Because normally the landlord or agent will contact me about the rolling contract or any change as my previous experience. Then I found the information about the landlord should provide the Section 21 Notice of Housing Act 1988 with a minimum 2 month time. Clearly I didnt not get any Notice around 25th June that 2month prior to the contract ends. Therefore I emailed them again and ask why they didnt sent me the Notice in writing, they said they gaven the Notice to me at the beginning of the tenancy as a separate documents already and send me the scan copy of the Notice, but I never ever seen the Notice till now. There is no serve date of the Notice on that Notice, and I can prove that I didnt get that Notice at the beginning or at any time but now with prove. I found out there is a mistake on the contract after i signed the contract. The post code of the property address was wrong on the contract and I took it back to the agency, they just change the postcode on the contract by pen without any other action. I remember I was double asking them if it is alright for a valid contract with a wrong post code and change it like that, they said it is fine. But clearly the the scan copy of the Notice they sent me is with the wrong post code, which proved that if I get that Notice with the contract or at any time I would go and let them change it because as a law student myself I feel it is not right to have a wrong post code on a legally binding document. They insist that they serve me the Notice as a separate documents, so I checked again the contract, there isn't a mention of the Notice will be served at the beginning of the tenancy. And it also said there is a inventory list attached to the contract but I didnt receive any but the tenancy agreement itself. I'm scared they are going to lie about that as well then I wont get my 900 pound deposit back. Regardless all these, when I am trying to contact them about the issues about the Notice and how difficult my situation is, I also require a repair of the toilet as soon as possible , because the toilet with in-wall water tank stopping flashing which is a major problem for normal people. I mentioned at least 3 times to ask them send someone to fix the toilet in the email today but they didnt even say a word about it and just keep repeat i have to move out by the end of the contract date and that is the end of the issue. So I proposed that I move out this month (one month earlier) and they should refund me one month rent which is 600 pound that i've already paid. Then I got chance to rent a 6month contract flat. But like every email they replied is all about I have to move out and I cant have any right as tenant. I'm desparte to seek some legal help and I dont want to lost 600 pound rent + deposit 900 for being rip off by the liar agency and they didnt even admit their fault. :mad2:

I got a letter: I already know they're reducing my Housing Benefit to £90/week (central London) - this will happen in a couple of weeks time. They told me this ages ago, i'm not sure why they are now coming to see me? As the HB will be lower than my rent, will they make me leave by private landlord? I had assumed they would be okay if I just made up for the deficit myself, somehow. (My rent is, and has been, lower than HB for some time. In a few weeks time it will become much, much lower) They want me to arrange an appointment for them to visit. Which is fine, I just need to tidy up! My bedroom is messy and needs to be cleaned. I would have been so embarrased if I had been in, earlier today.

Hey all, I have been in receipt of housing benefit since becoming a part-time student in October 2011. I will be entering post graduate full-time this year, however I seem to be having concurrent problems with housing benefit. I will have full student funding next year, however recently I incurred several rent arrears and as a result I was taken to court today. I paid off a substantial amount of rent arrears and as a result there will now be a continuance. Housing Benefit have failed to provide the rent required for the last year. This is due to incomptence. I currently work part- time and am earning just over the fresh hold which effective entities me to full-housing benefit. Due to arrears, which have since been seen as un-founded by my housing association, I have landed up in these arrears. I am planning on paying off the rent n full over the coming months as I have taken on a substantial amount of over time (effectively reducing the amount of benefit received), however they currently owe me a substantial amount and have been unwilling to pay. So my question is really is there any action or further action I can take such as court to recoever the money entitilement they have failed to provide. This is the second time I have been on benifits and was lead to beleive any previous over paid amounts had been paid off. I am looking for some or any advice on steps to deal with there failure to provide the correct amounts each month. Thank you for the help in advance.

Recently we have had a conservatory installed, but it seems we cannot insure it unless we have buildings insurance. Building insurance is held by the Housing Assocciation therefore we cannot also insure the building also as I believe it could be an offence. Recently many conservatories suffered hail damage and we do not want to be a statistic. How do we get around this one and insure only the conservatory?

I'm after a bit of advice in a field I have absolutely no Knowledge in at all... My sister is a single mother bringing up three kids, she works with disabled children less than 16 hours a week and received tax credits and a small amount of housing benefit. She had no savings to speak of. 6 years ago she was knocked over by a dog whilst out walking her own dog and luckily the dog owner was insured, its taken 6 years for the case to finally be resolved and she has been awarded a lump sum to cover her medical bills in the future as they estimate she will need two knee replacements as she struggles to walk distances now. The initial plan was to have this money put into a trust which then wouldnt affect the benefit she receives and a solicitor drew up a trust form with two trustees (myself being one). When applying to the bank however they have declined to accept the trust and cited bad credit reports, both myself and my sister have bad credit files through various circumstances. so I wonder will the lump sum be taken as pure savings despite having a planned use? and hence affect the housing benefit. S.

I have already read a lot about this and it seems I am in the wrong for not informing about the changes to working tax every year, so I have received an overpayment invoice for 2010 - upto current year which amounts to £1,900. I accept we owe it, but why has it taken so long to inform me, I presumed when I renewed my working tax, the housing would automatically calculate the new figures in, considering the statement they have sent includes all the Working Tax amounts for each week and I have not provided that information My main question is, do the housing not have to check each year by letter if my household earning have changes, and should there be a record of this, so I could then at least claim it was there mistake?? Other question is, will this debt be passed to Rossendales due to the amount, considering the paperwork states they can only claim a maximum of £10.22 each week from our current housing benefit which is an on-going payment, due too my wage being national minimum. and if did get passed to debt collector how much would I have to pay to keep them off my back. Note : wife works part time 16hrs pw, also have 3 children under 18 and 1 over 18 living with us.

Can anyone help me understand my housing benefit please? I am on EMA and DLA, I have joint tenancy with my son of a 3 bedroom home,my daughter was away at university, when I claimed housing benefit they said I could only claim 1/3 of the rent as we only needed a 2 bedroom house, they said I couldn't keep a bedroom for my daughter! She is now home after completing her course, she is having to claim JSA as she is still looking for work. I will tell HB office that she is here, will I be able to claim for her or will she be able to claim HB in her own right? What annoys me is if I rented a 1 bedroom flat it would cost them almost double what they are paying me now and I would be better off, but I wont make my children homeless!

Hi So now even more pain in the backside housing benefit changes, denials etc! What the hell are they trying to do?, make everyone eventually homeless if they just happen to need to rely on a benefit!! FFS. Housing benefit entitlement for an under 35 living in a house! 1. Is it that the rates have been cut, or just if your living alone in a house, you now have to share? 2. Is this only for privately rented house/flat etc? I have looked at direct.gov website, MoneySaving Expert & Shelter & they all seem to pint out that these changes apply to just 'Privately' rented! Can anyone please clear this mess up for me please! gaz

A query, if I may. I live in a fairly rural village in a Housing Association property. Chatting with them today, the subject of moving was slipped into the conversation. Under my radar! (I love my home and don't want to move). We were discussing the impact of the incoming Housing Benefit changes. I live alone in a 2 bedroom property and am set to be penalised for this. It is a bit of a worry as I wouldn't be able to afford the shortfall in HB. 'You do know' they said 'you're eligible for sheltered housing?' This, as they say, came a bit out of left field. I'd always assumed it was for the elderly (I'm not) or the very disabled (I don't see myself that way). Whilst moving isn't something I want to consider, I probably should give it some attention. I know my family would like me to move into town so they can be there for me and help me when I need it. And winters here can be unusually harsh as I'm in an exposed area, and I'm highly heat dependant. I'm just pondering whether a move to sheltered accommodation would assist in my claim for DLA? These things are getting harder to apply for and, I suppose, it would be some further evidence that someone thinks I need a little more care than I currently have. I appreciate it may be an odd thought but it's just another factor in the process of having to make a decision on something I don't really want to happen but probably should. If that makes sense ...

The situation started in February, I was re-sitting university and I signed a contract for a 4 bedroom house with three of my at the time housemates. They sent us guarantor forms to send to our parents and return to the office, I did this but they did not receive them and did not bother telling me this until I rang them this month. I feel that at the time signing the contract was forced, and that if i hadn't signed for the house and I had passed the year, I would have been without a house and pretty much homeless. I found out I failed this year and can not proceed onto next year so I am having to move back home. Due to the fact I can no longer claim student finance I can not afford to pay for the house in no way shape or form and as I have no guarantor they have threatened me with CCJ's. The letting agency has also said that because it is a joint tenancy the rent that I cannot pay will have to be made up by the other three tenants before anyone can move in (move in date 1st July) which understandable places immense pressure on myself. I have worked tirelessly for the past three days (since i found out i had failed) to find a replacement tenant, but there is only so much i can do. Because of my situation nobody is willing to be my guarantor, so even if i could afford to pay the rent (which i 1000% cant) I wouldn't even be able to move in because of the absent guarantor! I am really struggling here, I cannot pay for the rent, there is no guarantor to cover my liability, the letting agent isn't budging on this and have threatened me with CCJ's and I've hit a massive low. The term trying to get blood out of a stone plays it's part here, not only am i having to deal with the life changing results from university, i have to deal with this. I just want to cut all ties with this place and move back home, I'm only 19! My questions are, Is there any way out of this? What is the worst that can happen to me as i'm unable to pay? Why is nothing bloody simple? Thanks I appreciate any help