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Will i be able to claim housing benefits?

Can i claim housing benefit without being on any other benefits but out of work?

  • I'm a full time mummy to three young children. My partner recently walked out, leaving me very unsure of what to do next. Together we claimed working tax credits and i know alone i can claim child tax credits as i have done this before. The thing is i don't want to claim income support as with the child tax credit and child benefit plus what i will get in child maintenance i will manage just fine. I am currently looking for work and don't want the stress of claiming and the interviews that come with it. I do however want to claim housing benefit, is this possible without being on any other benefits and out of work? Even when with my partner and with him working we was entitled to some housing benefit. Another thing is that i will be looking to private rent and as i do not work was wondering how i would go about getting a tenancy, very few decent houses accept people on benefits but as i wont be will this still be a problem? I rang one letting agent and told him my situation and that my maintenance would be covering my rent along with child tax credits and he told me to call back when i get a job and left me in tears as he was so rude. I know this is long...........hope somebody can shed some light on this for me as i am struggling to make any sense of everything. Thank you!!

  • Answer:

    If you have savings of less than £16,000 you should still be able to claim Housing Benefit. Since you are a full-time parent I assume you do not have a recent employment history and are not entitled to unemployment benefit. I would advise you to claim all benefits to which you are entitled. You say that you can manage 'just fine', but you are in a precarious position. Any major bill could easily send you into debt and you would find it hard to recover. Since you have three young children you are going to have problems finding employment. How are you going to manage with child-care? Private landlords will want to know that you have a regular and reliable income. They often do not care if this is income support or from a job, just so long as they are going to get their rent on time. They will probably feel that child maintenance is not reliable since too many absent fathers find reasons to miss or delay payments. Check the Direct Gov website below for the official guidance.

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Sorry to hear you problem. On th first point;You will have to claim income support/this automaticaly gets you housing benefit. Secondly going private;I recently had experience.The landlord may ask for a sum of money(which doesn't go towards rent)to cover any breakages during tenants stay/will ask for a month's rent in advance/Then another for the actual first months rentThe n ther eare registration fees payable. All told i was asked for £1.000;s just for a six month's let. These private proprties are a rip off. If you qualify for any disability then those organisations coul help you.Maybe try the council for a short while; as you are homeless they should help.perhaps Shelter may help. wishing you all the best. steve P.s. You are allowed to work when on benifits (£80 p.w i think please check this out) the Benefits agency will help out

it's unfortunate that some letting agencies don't take people on benefits but that is what housing benefit is. they need a guarntee that they are going 2 get their money on time, most councils are slow with this. but 2 get back 2 your question, yes you can claim housing benefit, it is there 2 help people on a low income as well as those on benefits so get your claim in ASAP so that you don't lose out on payments

Try this benefit calculator, which will show you if you are entitled to any benefits. If you are getting a lot in child maintenance you may not be eligible to claim Income support anyway. You will have to notify the inland revenue of your change in circumstances and as it is worked out on last year's income, it may not be as much as you had hoped. You will certainly be able to get the 25% off your council tax but I would be inclined to ask the council about benefits anyway. As for your home, it is difficult to get privately rented accommodation when you are on benefits. The hard part is finding the deposit as well as the first months rent, which may set you back £1,000 or more. I think the social fund can sometimes help with rent deposits but the best thing to do would be to go and see an adviser at the citizens advice bureau. Good luck.

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