housing benefit - ** RESOLVED **

[abc123def]

My dd has not been able to find anything to rent privately under the LHA as the LHA has not risen in her area for 3 years now. I am a social housing tenant though and am paying 25% of the rent myself out of my other benefits due to under occupancy so subsidising our rent is happening in the social and private sectors.

[antone]

The councils don't set the LHA rate and have no power to vary it. So while I agree that the situation is dire and unjust, it's not worth getting angry with the LA.

 

In England it's worked out by the Valuation Office Agency, but even they have little latitude to determine the amount.

[firstship]

Antone Hi I take your point,I was aware the Local Authority had no control over the LHA rate.Perhaps Eric Pickles is the person to complain to.

 

I felt this change of Assessment had taken place with not a great deal of thought of the repercussions

 

Many thanks

 

FS..................abc123ef I will come back to you,I have to go out,, regards

[estellyn]

I know that our council insist that an applicant satisfy two criteria before being accepted onto the housing list. Affordability is only one criteria, and on it's own wouldn't get you on the list in our area. We've recently gone through the process and qualify on medical as well as affordability grounds. However beware, even if you get accepted on the list, if your private landlord refuses to provide a reference, a housing association can still reject you - our landlord appears to be trying to delay giving a reference (hoping we'll lose the flat) due to the time of year and our leaving meaning excess void time, despite our being good tenants.

 

There are few one bed properties at or under the LHA in the area which does make things very difficult for those on low incomes.

[boodletum]

My dd has not been able to find anything to rent privately under the LHA as the LHA has not risen in her area for 3 years now. I am a social housing tenant though and am paying 25% of the rent myself out of my other benefits due to under occupancy so subsidising our rent is happening in the social and private sectors.

 

 

Our area in the South East pays this for a 1 bed property

 

One Bedroom Rate: £86.54 per week

This equates to £375 a month

 

I've just had a look on rightmove and just in my immediate area there are 3 pages of 1 beds to rent!

If I look at an area of 1 mile away it goes up to 4 pages of properties.

 

The rents start at £260 a month and go up to £375 a month.

 

If you give me the first part of the postcode I'll see what is available.

 

The other rates are

Shared Accommodation Rate: £58.50 per week

Two Bedrooms Rate: £115.38 per week

[estellyn]

Our area in the South East pays this for a 1 bed property

 

 

This equates to £375 a month

 

I've just had a look on rightmove and just in my immediate area there are 3 pages of 1 beds to rent!

If I look at an area of 1 mile away it goes up to 4 pages of properties.

 

The rents start at £260 a month and go up to £375 a month.

 

If you give me the first part of the postcode I'll see what is available.

 

The other rates are

 

Be aware the one bed pages given on rightmove will often also include lots of shared houses and studios.

 

ETA: just checked in my area and of the 15 supposed 'one bed properties' only two were actually one bedroom and not studios.

Edited November 23, 2013 by estellyn

[firstship]

boodletum and estellyn interesting figures you are coming up with,like boodletum I live in the southeast and the LHA for us is £132 per week for a 1 bed property,for a decent 1bed property through Rightmove, rent for decent private rental is £850 to £900 unfurnished but 5-8 miles away from the village we live in. I am paying £680 for a 2 bed house which we have rented for 17 years on a landed estate,and are not subject to bedroom tax as we are both retired.The local council have removed us from the Housing Register as they consider we do not need social housing.I have argued that the £132 per week has no relation to the rents in our area,in fact there is no private rental available and no social housing available and should there be a rent increase in 2014 on the present property,we cannot afford to pay anything because the power companies and water board have already taken our pension increase for April 2014 whatever miniscule amount it might be,which in turn means our standard of living is dropping like a stone.As previously stated the Change of Assessment has taken place without any thought,we cannot get social housing,we certainly cannot afford private rental,we cannot get any further housing benefit to cover rent increases.

 

FS

[boodletum]

boodletum and estellyn interesting figures you are coming up with,like boodletum I live in the southeast and the LHA for us is £132 per week for a 1 bed property.

 

FS

 

£132!!! Good grief where in the SE is that!!!

The area we live in - the Romney Marsh/ bordering close to Rye/Tenterden.

 

What seems to affect our area (Shepway) is that it includes both Folkestone/Dover both of which are very run down with seriously poor (cheap) housing stock.

I know that if I searched just a few miles to Rye/Sevenoaks or Ashford, the LHA increases to something like your figure.

 

Rother (Rye) £115.38

Ashford £116.74

Canterbury £117.92

High Weald £132.69

 

for a 1 bed

 

It's horses for courses - 1 bed in the Weald area you will end up paying a min of £595 a month (£137.31 a week)

In the middle of Dover - 1 bed would cost a min of £260 a month (£60 a week)

Edited November 24, 2013 by boodletum

[abc123def]

Be aware the one bed pages given on rightmove will often also include lots of shared houses and studios.

 

ETA: just checked in my area and of the 15 supposed 'one bed properties' only two were actually one bedroom and not studios.

 

Absolutely, this was the problem we had. She has moved into the cheapest by far property, 1 bed at £600pcm and the LHA is £498.?? pcm so has to find over £100 a month herself. How the council can set a LHA rate when it is impossible to find something under it I don't know. She has disabilities including autism and wouldn't be able to share, she shares with her partner so they are entitled to a 1 bed rate.

[firstship]

Boodltum Hi well you can see what area I live in,High Weald £132.69 per week(£532) month my rent £680,so I make up the difference.Although the Local Council has no control over the LHA,the fact they are changing the Assessment method for Social Housing and we have been thrown of the list,should and it will, our rent is increased we along with 10s of thousands of other people will not be able to afford our rent.As I have already stated if along with the change of Assessment the amount of Housing Benefit should be adjusted to take into account the cost of Private Renting within the area,if it was Social Housing the Benefit would be the full amount of the shortfall.The Valuation Office Agency who set the LHA are for sure not assessing the cost of housing correctly,I would like to know just how they arrive at the figures.

 

FS

[antone]

I believe the VOA first determines the appropriate "housing area" or whatever they call it. In my area (West Lothian) it's the same for the whole county (there's not a huge variation in rent between the poorest areas like Armadale and richest, like Linlithgow), but in somewhere like Kent, it might well be that those properties in certain areas are a lot more expensive than others. I'd imagine you pay a lot more in Tunbridge Wells or Sevenoaks than in Dover.

 

Once they've figured out the areas that belong together, the LHA is, by law, set at something like 70% of the average market rent for the property type in said area.

[firstship]

Yes you are correct West Kent is far more expensive to live in than East Kent due mainly to the 42 minute commute into London amongst many other reason,s.

 

Your info on how the LHA is worked out is interesting,thanks for your trouble

 

Regards FS

[Nystagmite]

I've had a look at right move (just having a nose) and can't find anything in my area. Can't share; so need 1 bed flat. But only entitled to shared room rate. The LHA for shared room rate doesn't even cover most of the rent for most of the places listed.

[firstship]

Had to Google the details,didn't think there was a shared room rate,astonished to find that single person under 35 for LHA, thats the case,this is absolutely disgusting,this should not exist,studio flat should be the smallest denominator

 

FS

[sillygirl1]

My local council actually have 'shared bathroom' properties now that people are complaining about, they have set their own barrier really low and everyone elses really high. If you are a landlord locally they completely assess your place, insist on a load of 'eco friendly' repairs to be carried out and then charge below market value rents - my one bed is £600 a month, which is cheap as the going rate is £750 (I am south-west London).

 

Single people get NO priority whatever their age (which is blatant discrimination) as 'family friendly' properties are easier for the council to manage.

[firstship]

This really is getting a lot worse than I perceived.unless you are involved I get the feeling this is being hidden as much as possible,single people are without doubt the subject of unacceptable discrimination.

 

I started this thread because I have been removed from the council list, and with a rent increase I will be in trouble, as my state pension increase for April 2014 has already been stolen by the Power and Water companies,

My problem is small compared to the various people who have responded with their own situation

 

FS

[sillygirl1]

I am on what the council here call the 'OPEX' list which is 'supplementary' to the housing list. It is basically anyone over the age of 55 - but the majority of places are for people over 60! I had a run-in with one of the housing officers who queried why I should stay locally - er I have lived in this area for 40 odd years - then he suggested I could move in with a member of the family - I said they don't have enough room anyway (which is true) and then another housing officer intervened.

 

My flat is very cold in winter and as I have osteoarthritis I feel the cold dreadfully - so I have two 'supplementary' heaters on as I have no central heating (there is an ancient warm air system which has been dead for about 6 years here - landlord won't remove it as they have to have an asbestos check on it).

[firstship]

Not come across OPEX list before certainly not available through our Local Council,although there is very often Sheltered Housing available through Kent Homechoice,but you have to be on the Council List.

Your own situation is totally unacceptable,is your flat approved and supplied by the local council even though it's Private Rental? Does it qualify for free insulation?

 

Although I have been removed from the council list very recently, in the past I had continuous run in's because I was not bidding for any properties,and rather like yourself I said the reason was very obvious,no social housing has become available locally,so they said move to another area within the borough,but why should I

 

feels like a No Win Situation

 

FS

[sillygirl1]

Apparently I am not 'disabled enough' to qualify for the local insulation scheme, and my landlord doesn't see why he should use the 'council approved' contractors who are more expensive than a normal contractor. It is a catch 22 situation.

 

My flat isn't approved and supplied by the council, I got it because a friend had a place going when I needed one - it is a nice flat apart from the cold, good area, quiet neighbours and close to shops and public transport - important for me because I am of working age still.

 

Opex stands for 'Older Persons EXception' list - so it is a way of getting 300 odd people off the main housing list. I am 204 on this list and have my anniversary date of 30th March, when I can go up 10 places... will take a few years to get to the top of the list.