got no answer before, please can someone answer what i hope is a simple Q???

were a couple, entitled to full HB/LHA (both on income support, would be 
incapacity but contributions ran out a while ago), were allowed a single 
bedroomed property, with a single living room... which is what we have now, 
but are having problems here.

the area i live in and would like to stay in, the LHA rate is £98.07 a week,

i've seen a 2 bedroomed terraced house for £96.00 a week, will i be 
penalised for under occupying a 2 bedroomed house when me and my Gf are only 
entitled to a 1 bedroomed place???

On 8 May, 23:19, "gazz"  wrote:
> got no answer before, please can someone answer what i hope is a simple Q?> were a couple, entitled to full HB/LHA (both on income support, would be
> incapacity but contributions ran out a while ago), were allowed a single
> bedroomed property, with a single living room... which is what we have now> but are having problems here.
>
> the area i live in and would like to stay in, the LHA rate is £98.07 a week,
>
> i've seen a 2 bedroomed terraced house for £96.00 a week, will i be
> penalised for under occupying a 2 bedroomed house when me and my Gf are only
> entitled to a 1 bedroomed place???

Hi gazz

The LHA figure is set according to your "family" size.
What you do with it is up to you.
So no problem living somewhere bigger - or smaller.
Your HB/LHA figure is unaffected by where you actually choose to live.

In some cases people choose a bigger place and pay the extra
themselves.
In other cases people choose somewhere cheaper and keep the extra
benefit.

On 10 May, 13:26, Marvin  wrote:
> On 8 May, 23:19, "gazz"  wrote:
>
> > got no answer before, please can someone answer what i hope is a simple Q???
>
> > were a couple, entitled to full HB/LHA (both on income support, would be> > incapacity but contributions ran out a while ago), were allowed a single> > bedroomed property, with a single living room... which is what we have now,
> > but are having problems here.
>
> > the area i live in and would like to stay in, the LHA rate is £98.07 a week,
>
> > i've seen a 2 bedroomed terraced house for £96.00 a week, will i be
> > penalised for under occupying a 2 bedroomed house when me and my Gf are only
> > entitled to a 1 bedroomed place???
>
> Hi gazz
>
> The LHA figure is set according to your "family" size.
> What you do with it is up to you.
> So no problem living somewhere bigger - or smaller.
> Your HB/LHA figure is unaffected by where you actually choose to live.
>
> In some cases people choose a bigger place and pay the extra
> themselves.
> In other cases people choose somewhere cheaper and keep the extra
> benefit.

They can keep the extra benefit? How?
Our council will only pay the rent as given, take a smaller place than
you need and they will only pay the actual rent.
Though I know of some unscrupulous landlords who charge the client
extra on top - because they can.

Martin  <><

mart2306@hotmail.com wrote:
> On 10 May, 13:26, Marvin  wrote:
>> On 8 May, 23:19, "gazz"  wrote:
>>
>>> got no answer before, please can someone answer what i hope is a simple Q???
>>> were a couple, entitled to full HB/LHA (both on income support, would be
>>> incapacity but contributions ran out a while ago), were allowed a single
>>> bedroomed property, with a single living room... which is what we have now,
>>> but are having problems here.
>>> the area i live in and would like to stay in, the LHA rate is £98.07 a week,
>>> i've seen a 2 bedroomed terraced house for £96.00 a week, will i be
>>> penalised for under occupying a 2 bedroomed house when me and my Gf are only
>>> entitled to a 1 bedroomed place???
>> Hi gazz
>>
>> The LHA figure is set according to your "family" size.
>> What you do with it is up to you.
>> So no problem living somewhere bigger - or smaller.
>> Your HB/LHA figure is unaffected by where you actually choose to live.
>>
>> In some cases people choose a bigger place and pay the extra
>> themselves.
>> In other cases people choose somewhere cheaper and keep the extra
>> benefit.
> 
> They can keep the extra benefit? How?
> Our council will only pay the rent as given, take a smaller place than
> you need and they will only pay the actual rent.
> Though I know of some unscrupulous landlords who charge the client
> extra on top - because they can.
> 
> Martin  <><

it's the new Local Housing Allowance that applied nationally from last 
month and one of the features of the scheme is if you find somewhere 
cheaper than the LHA rate that would apply to you you keep the 
difference or £15, whichever is the smaller.

It only applies to privately rented properties, not council or housing 
association, or pre 1989 regulated tenancies.

-- 
Robbie

On 10 May, 17:44, Robbie  wrote:
> mart2...@hotmail.com wrote:
> > On 10 May, 13:26, Marvin  wrote:
> >> On 8 May, 23:19, "gazz"  wrote:
>
> >>> got no answer before, please can someone answer what i hope is a simple Q???
> >>> were a couple, entitled to full HB/LHA (both on income support, would be
> >>> incapacity but contributions ran out a while ago), were allowed a single
> >>> bedroomed property, with a single living room... which is what we have now,
> >>> but are having problems here.
> >>> the area i live in and would like to stay in, the LHA rate is £98.07 a week,
> >>> i've seen a 2 bedroomed terraced house for £96.00 a week, will i be
> >>> penalised for under occupying a 2 bedroomed house when me and my Gf are only
> >>> entitled to a 1 bedroomed place???
> >> Hi gazz
>
> >> The LHA figure is set according to your "family" size.
> >> What you do with it is up to you.
> >> So no problem living somewhere bigger - or smaller.
> >> Your HB/LHA figure is unaffected by where you actually choose to live.
>
> >> In some cases people choose a bigger place and pay the extra
> >> themselves.
> >> In other cases people choose somewhere cheaper and keep the extra
> >> benefit.
>
> > They can keep the extra benefit? How?
> > Our council will only pay the rent as given, take a smaller place than
> > you need and they will only pay the actual rent.
> > Though I know of some unscrupulous landlords who charge the client
> > extra on top - because they can.
>
> > Martin  <><
>
> it's the new Local Housing Allowance that applied nationally from last
> month and one of the features of the scheme is if you find somewhere
> cheaper than the LHA rate that would apply to you you keep the
> difference or £15, whichever is the smaller.
>
> It only applies to privately rented properties, not council or housing
> association, or pre 1989 regulated tenancies.
>
> --
> Robbie- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Ah, thanks for that.

We are looking to rent in about 3 years, nice to know sagvings can be
made.

Martin  <><

mart2306@hotmail.com wrote:
> On 10 May, 13:26, Marvin  wrote:
>> On 8 May, 23:19, "gazz"  wrote:
>>
>>> got no answer before, please can someone answer what i hope is a simple Q???
>>> were a couple, entitled to full HB/LHA (both on income support, would be
>>> incapacity but contributions ran out a while ago), were allowed a single
>>> bedroomed property, with a single living room... which is what we have now,
>>> but are having problems here.
>>> the area i live in and would like to stay in, the LHA rate is £98.07 a week,
>>> i've seen a 2 bedroomed terraced house for £96.00 a week, will i be
>>> penalised for under occupying a 2 bedroomed house when me and my Gf are only
>>> entitled to a 1 bedroomed place???
>> Hi gazz
>>
>> The LHA figure is set according to your "family" size.
>> What you do with it is up to you.
>> So no problem living somewhere bigger - or smaller.
>> Your HB/LHA figure is unaffected by where you actually choose to live.
>>
>> In some cases people choose a bigger place and pay the extra
>> themselves.
>> In other cases people choose somewhere cheaper and keep the extra
>> benefit.
> 
> They can keep the extra benefit? How?
> Our council will only pay the rent as given, take a smaller place than
> you need and they will only pay the actual rent.
> Though I know of some unscrupulous landlords who charge the client
> extra on top - because they can.
> 
That is the old HB rules.
Under LHA, you get the LHA amount based on your family size,up to a 
maximum of £15 on top of your actual rent (including service charges, 
also unlike old HB).

gazz wrote:
> got no answer before, please can someone answer what i hope is a simple Q???
> 
> were a couple, entitled to full HB/LHA (both on income support, would be 
> incapacity but contributions ran out a while ago), were allowed a single 
> bedroomed property, with a single living room... which is what we have now, 
> but are having problems here.
> 
> the area i live in and would like to stay in, the LHA rate is ï½£98.07 a week,
> 
> i've seen a 2 bedroomed terraced house for ï½£96.00 a week, will i be 
> penalised for under occupying a 2 bedroomed house when me and my Gf are only 
> entitled to a 1 bedroomed place??? 
> 
> 
Put postcode of the address in this calculator, and select '1 bedroom 
self cointained' from the drop-down:

https://lha-direct.therentservice.gov.uk/Secure/LHARateSearch.aspx

The amount it shows is the maximum amount you will get, regardless of 
how many rooms the property you rent actually has.
If the rent is lower, you can get up to £15 on top of your rent.