Housing benefit for rental

[borolad63]

Hi I have just come across this section and as I am soon to be looking for rental propeties for the first time I was wondering having read about the couple who have rented a large house in London for over £1k per week, can I go to my local council and ask to be given rental property of my choice instead of the councils choice?

I am presently on pension credit and would be able to claim housing benefit but I have been told that I am only entitled to £70 odd pounds per week which would give a poor standard housing.

[loopinlouie]

Surely you would be grateful for what offered and if the standard is low, you could once in get the council to improve. For instance my house had no skirting, holes in walls, damaged ceiling, faulty wiring adn due to previous tenant altering it and the council putting it back supposedly it was in a state. It took some time but this house viewed on an estate looked down on by others in this area is okay and I am grateful to have council housing at all.

 

These houses are selling for 170 grand plus, so it depends on what you view as low standard.

 

As for rents comparable to the headline stories I woudnt get your hopes up, people are getting tired of that sort of behaviour. Also bear in mind you have more protection in a council property as in private landlords can sell up and want you out sooner. Council as long as you look after property and behave your safer long term.

[antone]

You can apply to the council for a house. You may or may not be offered a place - it depends on your circumstances - and while you're not necessarily obliged to accept the first place you're offered, I'd be wary of refusing anywhere without a cast iron reason. If you qualify, it may be possible to get Housing Benefit to pay the rent.

 

Or you can rent privately, and claim Housing Benefit/Local Housing Allowance to cover that cost. This is usually paid to you as cash, and the amount you can get depends on the average rents in your area. You can't rent an arbitrarily big house and expect the council to pay; what you're due depends on your age, whether you have dependent children and so on. If your rent is higher than your benefit you can make up the difference from your own funds if you are able.

 

Does this answer your question?

[borolad63]

Hi

 

Sorry for delay in replying!

 

I am looking for the link that I first saw which linked me to an article in the Guardian newspaper regarding your rights for claiming housing benefit which would enable you to have private accomadation and the SC paying for it.

 

I can not find this link can anyone help?

[Allwood]

This was in the new recently regarding a family that was on HB of £900 a month and did not like the area as it was run down. The family was rehoused to a posh part of the city and get HB of £2k a month.

 

It seems to depends on how many children you have and if you apply to move to a better area for them to get a better school. So go for it if you qualify, if you needs are like that of it in the link then if you are refused that surely that is discrimination.

 

Former asylum seeker on benefits given £2 million house - Telegraph

[Surfer01]

In addition, you need to be an immigrant therefore being of British descent born and bred you don't qualify. I gather this is tongue in the cheek!

[Aviva]

If you are in a private rented property you can only get the maximum amount of LHA for the area and the size of the property you need.

 

For central London the maximum for a 5 bedroom property (as the family in the newspaper article need) at the moment is £2,000 per week. They do not get anything different from what anyone else living in that area who needs that size of property would get. It's nothing to do with where they are from, etc. Of course it does depend on the amount of children you have as this directly reflects on the size of the property needed and then the rental cost of that property.

 

This is also a private rental property so they have not been allocated it by the Council and again anyone renting privately can move to anywhere they want and if entitled can get the maximum amount of LHA.

 

The problem that has been identified is that under the current system LHA is related to the rental costs of the area which in some areas such as the affluent boroughs in London is astronomical. That's why the Government are going to cap it. This will mean that families like the one mentioned in the article will either have to come up with the extra money to make up the rent (unlikely) or move to a cheaper area.

 

So, yes, if you move to an area with a higher LHA rate and can find a landlord that will accept tenants on benefits (not always easy) then you can get more money.

 

These stories do grate. I would love to live in Kensington and Chelsea like the family mentioned but I can't afford it on my salary.