Council flat and Universal Credit

[Argonia]

Hi there. I have just moved to a council flat. I am claiming Universal Credit because I work under 16 hours per week. I have been asked to add housing to the UC claim. At one website I was told the total amount you could claim for housing would be £317.82 (for a single claimant aged 25 and over). This would lead to severe hardship and even homelessness for me. And yet at another website which appears to be a government one it says that you can get full rent if you're renting from the council - Understanding Universal Credit - Housing

Anyone know which is the real situation?

 

[andysays]

Hi there. I have just moved to a council flat. I am claiming Universal Credit because I work under 16 hours per week. I have been asked to add housing to the UC claim. At one website I was told the total amount you could claim for housing would be £317.82 (for a single claimant aged 25 and over). This would lead to severe hardship and even homelessness for me. And yet at another website which appears to be a government one it says that you can get full rent if you're renting from the council - Understanding Universal Credit - Housing

Anyone know which is the real situation?

Is that figure of £317 a weekly or monthly figure? I know that when I was claiming UC a couple of years ago all my council rent was covered, except for a few quid for water rates.

 

[Argonia]

Thanks andysays. The figure of £317 is a monthly figure, it equates to just under £80 per week.

 

[andysays]

Thanks andysays. The figure of £317 is a monthly figure, it equates to just under £80 per week.

OK, I was certainly getting more than that, my rent is just over £100 pw.

That figure sounds unreasonably low, TBH. Where did you get it from?

 

[8115]

Under Housing Benefit you can claim all your rent for council and I think HA rent but the cap is lower for private rent (that renowned cheaper sector of the market). I don't know how that works for UC.

 

[8115]

Universal credit: How much you'll get

 

[andysays]

Something else which has just occurred to me Argonia, maybe your council housing department can help you navigate the benefit system and ensure you get everything you're entitled to.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Hope you manage to get things sorted out - UC sounds like a total nightmare.

 

[scifisam]

Hi there. I have just moved to a council flat. I am claiming Universal Credit because I work under 16 hours per week. I have been asked to add housing to the UC claim. At one website I was told the total amount you could claim for housing would be £317.82 (for a single claimant aged 25 and over). This would lead to severe hardship and even homelessness for me. And yet at another website which appears to be a government one it says that you can get full rent if you're renting from the council - Understanding Universal Credit - Housing

Anyone know which is the real situation?

I think the second link has the correct info. It's a .gov site and it's pretty definitive in its wording saying that you will get full rent. Whatever benefit calculator you might have been using for the first one must have been basing your housing element on Local Housing Allowance, but that's only for private renters.

So I think you're probably fine, but you'll know for sure once you've actually submitted your claim.

(I doubt the spare room deduction will apply to you if you've just moved in; it'd be unusual for the council to give you a larger home than you need).

It's pretty shitty that the LHA rate is so low it doesn't even cover a council flat.

 

[marty21]

Council rents are covered by UC , if you got full rent paid under Housing Benefit , you will still get it covered under UC.

 

[robert1958]

thats the amount i get on universal credit,but im paying £53,35 on top every month for bedroom tax,as its a two bedroom flat i have,even though the second bedroom is more like a box room for storage,

 

[crossthebreeze]

thats the amount i get on universal credit,but im paying £53,35 on top every month for bedroom tax,as its a two bedroom flat i have,even though the second bedroom is more like a box room for storage,

If the second bedroom is very small its worth measuring - if less than 70sqm and you can show that you've never used it or furnished it as a bedroom you may have grounds for appeal.

 

[marty21]

If the second bedroom is very small its worth measuring - if less than 70sqm and you can show that you've never used it or furnished it as a bedroom you may have grounds for appeal.

You would need to get the Council to reclassify it as a one bed flat.