Hi there, can anyone offer advice.
I live with adult son who is disabled, we are looking too get a private rent due to dreadful chronic ASB we’ve suffered for 5 yrs.
I am his full time carer. Parent.
Can anyone offer advice on applying for housing benefit, should I ask for a joint tenancy house contract?
Has anyone else had problems claiming housing benefit as a carer,(parent)and need an additional bedroom for a support worker.
The council are trying too give us a one bed rate local housing allowance rate.
Which means we would have find 300 pounds a month from benefits.
Kindest Regards
taken from the web site…
If you’re disabled
You’re allowed an extra bedroom if someone in your household is disabled and needs regular overnight care from a carer who doesn’t live with you. This won’t count as a spare bedroom. The person who’s disabled needs to be either:
the person claiming
the partner of the person claiming
any other adult who lives with you and gets a disability benefit
The disabled person should also get at least 1 of these benefits:
Attendance Allowance
the middle or higher rate care component of Disability Living Allowance
the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment
Armed Forces Independence Payment
You can only get one extra bedroom for carers, even if more that 1 person in your home needs overnight care.
You can also get an extra bedroom if you’re in a couple and one of you has a disability that means you can’t share a bedroom. The disabled person will need to get at least 1 of these benefits:
the higher rate of Attendance Allowance
the middle or higher rate care component of Disability Living Allowance
the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment
an Armed Forces Independence Payment
If you’re disabled and are affected by the cuts, you should apply to your local council for extra help with your rent - this is known as a Discretionary Housing Payment. Your council should give you priority, particularly if your home has been specially adapted for you. You should also get priority for a Discretionary Housing Payment if it would be difficult for you to move, for example, because you rely on your family and friends who live in the area.
Have a look at your council website and see what it says.
It should tell you how much their standard rate is for one, two, or three bedroom properties in their area. One council may have different rates for different towns, mine does.
Are you seeking three so that there is one for an additional carer to give you respite, or a two bed, i.e. one each?
Then if they are not applying their own rules properly, you can ask why.
If you have a shared tenancy, then should one leave or pass away, the other should keep the tenancy without any bother.
I know in some cases there are advantages to the disabled person being the tenant, but cannot remember why (it was a long time ago)
I suggest you ask Shelter, rather than the council, about that.
If you need the third bedroom, then I expect you will be asked for evidence to justify this need from doctor or social worker.
Yeah, push for a joint tenancy if you can, it can help with housing benefit claims. And definitely fight for the extra bedroom if it’s for care needs. The council tries to lowball with the one-bed rate, but if your son needs overnight support, they should consider that.
The council seems to have difficulty with basic maths?
You need your own bedroom.
Son needs a bedroom. That’s already TWO beds, so why have they said “one bed rate”?
However, son needs an overnight carer, so that is person number three!