housing benefit - ** RESOLVED **

[firstship]

Applied for housing benefit to the local council,and now receive the same.

 

Brief circumstances.Live in private rented property, 2 bed house,the council will only pay benefit based on a 1 bedroom flat as there are just 2 adults and that would be the only property we would be entitled to live in for benefit purposes,based on their calculations.The rent they say for a 1 bed flat is £200 less approx than we pay in rent so the benefit although helpful,is much lower than their benefit online calculator indicates.

 

We also get 9pence per week benefit towards council tax

 

Is this the normal method of calculating housing benefit??

 

thankyou FS

[id6052]

if the 2 adults are a couple, hb will be awarded based upon the level for a 1 bedroom self contained property

[Nystagmite]

The online calculators are only a guide and don't always match the calculations that the housing benefit department make.

 

On the online calculator, did you enter your rent or the LHA (local housing allowance) rate?

[firstship]

Thanks for your replies.filled in the actual rent we pay

 

regards FS

[firstship]

We rent a 2 bed house from a Private Landlord and receive Housing Benefit ,the amount received is the difference between a 1 bed flat that is all we would be entitled to if we rented a Council property and the property we rent,however when I go onto the Council Website most 1 bed flats are at least a £100+ less than the LHA,ie LHA is £530 ,1 bed flats £380 to £420,am I using the wrong method of working out LHA or can the council just dream up a figure??

 

Many thanks FS

Edited March 19, 2012 by firstship
error

[feelingsad]

Rents for council houses and housing associations are less than the LHA, is that what you mean? LHA is worked out on the average rent of properties in the private sector and are not worked out on the rents in the non private sector.

[firstship]

Thanks for the reply yes that is what I meant,so council and housing association rent is lower than LHA and is based average private sector rents,I find that strange ,but was unsure of how it was arrived at

 

Thankyou FS

[id6052]

The Council has no control over the LHA rates.

 

They are calculated independently by the Valuation Office Agency and are based upon private rents in the rental market area. They do not take into account or affect council houses or housing association rents.

 

If you are renting a private property and claiming HB, the maximum HB is based upon the LHA rate for minimum property size to meet our household needs.

[firstship]

id thanks for your reply .I understand LHA now

 

Regards FS

[firstship]

Rent Privately , Retired, receive housing benefit,discovered that the council did not take into account the income tax I pay,which is 50% of my occupational pension and I pay by direct debit a further amount each month direct to HMRC,I have made an appeal and have asked that the underpayment by the Council is backdated to January 2012.Further my rent has increased by £50 a month but the Council state the increase will have No bearing on the amount of benefit I receive.I find this strange,any idea's please on the rent increase and the benefit back dating

 

Regards FS

[antone]

On the issue of the benefit backdating and the tax, I'm afraid I don't know for sure. I was under the impression that the council should consider your pension income net of tax for HB.

 

With regards to the rent increase, the amount the council can pay in HB is not affected by an increase in your rent. The amount you are entitled to is based on your needs and the average rent for such a property in your local area. That average is determined by an independent Rent Valuation Agency, not the council. So the council is probably correct on this one.

[jadeybags]

Housing benefit should be based on income after tax & NI. And even part of any pension contributions.

[antone]

Housing benefit should be based on income after tax & NI. And even part of any pension contributions.

 

I understood that OP was talking about payments from an Occ Pen rather than pension contributions. But yes, means tested benefits should be based on actual (not gross) income. What I'm not sure about is how late it is possible to appeal.

[firstship]

Thanks for your responses,I will post up the answer to my appeal which is taking for ever

 

Many Thanks

 

FS

[firstship]

Had a reply, and the Council have only seen fit to acknowledge the tax I pay from my Occupational Pension,they have ignored the tax paid each month by Direct Debit to HMRC each month and they also have not seen fit to backdate anything and no explanation either,so naturally I have drawn their attention to their error, they are unsure why it has been missed,so I will have to wait another 14+ days while they sort this out again,

 

FS

[firstship]

Further reply to my Appeal,it appears they refuse to answer the question of backdating the Housing Benefit against the tax I pay from my Occupational Pension even though the error was made by them ,and they require me to prove the tax I pay each month by Direct Debit comes out of my state pension,even though I have produced the HMRC letter and the reasons for the tax.They are also fully aware that my only source of income is State Pension and Occupational Pension,on top of this they have given me until July 14th to further appeal,as in their words after this date it will be to late.

Now at the Not Happy stage

 

FS

[firstship]

Made a visit today to Gateway,with all documents to further substantiate my Appeal,and was amazed to be told if the Local Council make a mistake with Housing Benefit and pay to much they can claim the amount back going back numerous years,but if they make a mistake with underpayment you will be lucky to get 1month up to 3 months. I have checked this out online with various councils and it appears to be the case.Not exactly T&Cs that are remotely fare.

 

FS

[estellyn]

Rather than appeal, (which you are too late for anyway, for the Jan 2012 decision), you can request that your appeal request be treated as a request for an 'anytime revision due to official error'. As long as they had all the facts at the time the decision was made, then a decision in your favour should get you the arrears payment.

[firstship]

Estellyn thanks for your reply, I will follow your advice,I was not aware of "anytime revision due to official error",

 

will keep you informed of the result

 

Thanks again

 

FS

[jadeybags]

Made a visit today to Gateway,with all documents to further substantiate my Appeal,and was amazed to be told if the Local Council make a mistake with Housing Benefit and pay to much they can claim the amount back going back numerous years,but if they make a mistake with underpayment you will be lucky to get 1month up to 3 months. I have checked this out online with various councils and it appears to be the case.Not exactly T&Cs that are remotely fare.

 

FS

 

Yep, totally true, been there done it lol Althoooough, even though my council had over paid me for 2 years & wanted it back, when they worked out the total amount, they actually noticed some months that I hadn't earnt as much as they thought because I hadn't got sick pay. So they did actually still work out the times I had been under paid too. This had got to compliance stage by then though.

[firstship]

The Council have backdated the much smaller amount to January 1st 2013,and paid the amount involved,however the much larger amount where they HMRC take 50% of my occupational pension in income tax,the Council are ducking and diving with excuses,such as it's not their fault that I did not declare that I have been paying Income Tax.I have asked them to produce documentation that states Income should be declared Net not Gross,they feel that is irrelevant,so my Further Claim "anytime revision due to official error",has met with, they will review the claim,however the error is entirely mine not theirs,I am now waiting once again .

 

FS

[firstship]

Pleased to say my local council have agreed and complied by backdating the larger amount of Housing Benefit to January 2012,the "Anytime revision due to official error" really worked, MANY THANKS ESTELLYN.

 

Many thanks to all who supplied help

 

Regards

FS

[honeybee13]

Hello firstship.

 

I'm delighted that this has worked for you, well done to you, Estellyn and anyone else who helped.

 

I'll amend your thread title.

 

My best, HB

[estellyn]

Pleased to say my local council have agreed and complied by backdating the larger amount of Housing Benefit to January 2012,the "Anytime revision due to official error" really worked, MANY THANKS ESTELLYN.

 

Many thanks to all who supplied help

 

Regards

FS

 

Really pleased for you, glad you have it sorted.

[firstship]

Numerous Councils are altering the way they assess applications for the Housing Register in an attempt to reduce the number of people on the Housing Register and forcing people onto the Private Rental Market,which up to a point is fine but if you claim Housing Benefit you will still be judged by the Local Housing Applicable Rate,even though your Private Rent will be substantially higher,as I was told we the council are not interested in how much rent you pay in the Private Sector,you will only be assessed using the LHA rate.It appears that they cannot understand April 2014 Pension increase has already been taken by the Power Companies and Water Boards,so should my private housing rent increase next year I will not have sufficient money to pay it,and the Housing Benefit will not increase to cover the rent.The Councils appear to want it both ways.as usual

 

Any thoughts on this

 

Regards FS