Hey guys, hope everyones all good.

Does anyone have any experience with housing benefit and private renting?

Where i live now is way too small for me and daisy to live (also with my mum and younger sister)
Its only a two bedroom so im sharing a room with daisy and my sister.
Also turned 19 in october so i actually feel ready and adult enough to cut the apron strings and move out.

The only problem is i would NEVER beable to afford rent and getting a counsil house..well.. ill be waiting 7 years is what they've said.

I also cant get a job as im hoping to go back to college in september. I just wouldnt be able to afford everything if i came off benefits and the thought of turning 20, still sharing a room (and a bloody BUNKBED ..ugh.) with my sister and daisy really quite depresses me lol.

So, would i be entitled to HB? Im 19, single lone parent, no job, no savings but hoping to go back to college 3 times a week. Ive tried phoning but they never get back to me.

ALSO

Everywhere i look it seems all the house descriptions says "No DSS"
Im assuming that it means noone on benefits/HB, but would i really have to tell them that id be paying rent through Housing Benefit?
I thought that if the money came to my account i could then go on and pay the landlord with out them knowing where the money came from?

Sorry its all abit of a ramble, hopefully someone can help as ive had no help with the housing benefit people who just never seem to get back to me!

hiya

have you tried a housing association? they charge more than council but normally less than private renting, and they accept housing benefit (no DSS means no benefits at all). Sadly theres a huge waiting list for that aswell. Im not sure how the DSS bit works as we;re in a council house and the very little benefit we get (its like 20p a week) gets paid straight into our rent acc.

The only way i think people get houses is if they get their drs to write letters to say theres medical problems (ie depression) caused byt the housing situation. Its sad but its true i know a LOT of people that did that.

Overcrowding will give you some points, as does shared bathroom and kitchen but normally that still leaves years of waiting. you will also get somewhere faster if you choose flat/maisonette aswell as a house as more people are after houses.

As for housing benefit, if you are recieving income support/jsa from the job centre then you will get almost everything paid for you. Do you recieve child tax credits? theres a lone parent aspect that bumps up your payments (not sure by how much). you get child tax credits no matter what.

Try housing associations 1st and make sure you are definately on the council list as even if it does take 7 yrs its cheaper overall. theres loads of forms to fill in as well. Im not sure how to go about everything, the best way would beto contact your localjob cenre and make sure you are getting everything your entitled to, put away as MUCh as you can as majority of houses dont even have carpets (well here anyway) and apply to EVERYWHERE for houses. We're still ont he waiting list for a housing association (i forgot about it) and we have been since before Matthew was born (aug 07).

Sorry its a bit of a ramble, my brains not in gear atm. Hope it makes sense and i think i answered everything! Good luck finding somewhere! xxxx

Love
Stef, Matthew and Alexander

Hi,
I don't know who told you that you would be waiting 7 years but they were wrong. You would be classed as a priority for housing because you are living in cramped conditions. My friend was living with her mum, sharing her bedroom with her two kids and she got a house within 6 months of going on to the list.

Private renting can be a pain. Allot of the properties available to those in receipt of housing benefit are beneath the standard that your local authority would provide. When you move into a council house which needs decorating you will receive an allowance to buy the paint etc, and if work needs to be done then it will normally happen before you move in. Most council houses are now double glazed but in my experience this isn't often the case with private houses available in this kind of price range. It is also worth considering how much you can afford to pay on rent when your back at work.

Sorry if all this sounds very negative but after experience of paying over the odds for a freezing 1 bed flat, which funnily cost about the same as the 3 bed house we live in now, I wouldn't recommend privately renting.

You should make an appointment with someone at your local housing office and explain your situation. Also if you live on the border of two councils or would consider moving a little further away from your mum then it is worth applying to other councils (however I think you do need to have family ties in each area)

Good luck,
Becky x

You can privately rent and would be entitled to the average cost of renting a 2 bed houe in your area (you and your daughter need a bedroom each according to the council). In my area that means around £400 a month, but tbh any [rented house] costing less than £450 a month is usually disgusting, lol. You may fall lucky and get a good house for not much more than the HB, so it's worth looking around, there are some nice landlords out there.

I really dont get why they say no DSS either, you pay the landlord and of course there is a risk that you wont (HB is paid in arrears where as rent is in advance, so if you were the kind of person who always spent every penny you got you'd be in trouble and might not be able to pay, but then that can be true of people who work too!)
Also, you *can* request the HB goes straight to the landlord. And you usually have to name a gaurantor, so the landlord can chase them if you went missing owing rent, lol (my mum and dad are my gaurantors.

Do look into it, it cant hurt :)

Good luck!

Sam
x

Thanks for all the advice girls!

So ive done two things.

Im currently filling out the forms for a council house. But im only putting down to areas (The place where i actually live and another place which is like ten minutes) all the other possible places..well, i wouldnt send my worst enemy there.

I dont really have much hope in getting a coucil house, but i could atleast try right?

So ive also looked at private renting and housing benefit...not much choice but still..
Found the perfect house...550 quid a month (WHOAH)..right...phoned up the angecy place, woman says he DOES take housing benefit *Yay*..but id need a guarantor..no problem, then she goes on to explain about all theses fees...holding fee..one month inadvance, something else.
She then totals it up to about 1700. Pardon my langue but h.o.l.y.s.h.i.t.
It would take me so long to save it all up...

So what im going to do is get driving lessons and buy a very cheap car so's i could look for another house outside my area at a cheaper price without worring that my mum will be too far away.

The fact that im trying to stay in the area i am in now is probably hindering my chance of ever leaving.

Cant think of any other way :(

Sorry for the ramble! Ive been thinking about it for daaays, nice to actually write it down, puts it all into perspective.