[heavenlyrest]

I want to explain some details before asking my question
Just to get the accurate answer, so appreciated your patience in advance:

A friend of mine is working part time job (30 hrs/week) on min wage, he has a family and His income is as the following:

£185 weekly earning income
£65 weekly child tax
And used to get housing benefit: £1300 per month

He started to get (working tax credit £76 per week) on 16th Dec 2014
And he declared that to the council directly with a proof of tax credit letter.
They used to keep paying him the same housing benefit £1300 (After declaring the increase of his income which is the tax credit, no changes occurred. Same HB £1300)

today 28th May 2015, he was wondered to receive housing benefit £1056 for this month rent in his bank account, He called the council and asked why they dropped the Housing benefit £244??
They said that because he has a change of his income by receiving working tax and child tax!!!

The question is: did this sharp drop per month to his HB is on the basis of accumulative additional income since Dec 2014 which was not calculated directly??? So next month he will get the exact final decision of HB amount which might be more than £1056

Or is the new amount £1056 of HB was decided as final decision and he will use to get this amount every month!!!!??

Appreciated your help & support

 

[TruleighZak]

£1300 per month housing benefit - that's equivalent to a 4/5 bedroom house in a leafy area for me. This government needs to get to grips now they are a majority...

 

[Joppa]

It's to do with Benefit Cap. If he gets more than a certain amount in other benefits, such as tax credits, his housing benefit is cut.
Read https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/b...-benefit/the-benefit-cap-and-housing-benefit/

 

[Joppa]

£1300 per month housing benefit - that's equivalent to a 4/5 bedroom house in a leafy area for me. This government needs to get to grips now they are a majority...

But OP is in London, where an average rent for a two-bedroom property in Outer London is close to £1,500/month. There is now a maximum amount of local housing allowance (for private tenant) that can be paid at £417.02 per week. £1,300/month in housing benefit is about right for a 2-bedroom London property.

 

[Stevesolar]

But OP is in London, where an average rent for a two-bedroom property in Outer London is close to £1,500/month. There is now a maximum amount of local housing allowance (for private tenant) that can be paid at £417.02 per week. £1,300/month in housing benefit is about right for a 2-bedroom London property.

That is still £417.02 too much - in my opinion

 

[KHP]

So what do you expect people who work in London on minimum wage to do? I know we'll send them all to live with you...
Instead of blaming this person maybe you should blame the government obsessed with selling off social housing stock and letting private landlords in London profit and pay minimal taxes. They made the system the way it is. Don't blame the person working for minimum wage to support their family!

 

[jojo]

It's not helpful to talk about the politics or the reasons, it will simply cause an argument. So it's probably best to stick closer to the topic subject and offer some useful advice, tips and anecdotes.

Jo xxx

 

[Anxious_wife]

Working Tax Credit exempts you from the benefit cap, so that won't be the reason. It's more likely that a miscalculation occurred in the first instance by the department (which happens too often!), which was later realised, and as such a re-calculation has occurred.

Your friend may also now have an over payment that the department will want to re-cover. You should advise him to go and speak to a benefits specialist - try Citizen's Advice.

Edit: I forgot to add, legally the department have to send a written response with the changes and explaining the reason for them. So he should receive this shortly, this will help him to understand the reason why. There is also the possibility for review if he believes they have made a mistake.

And to the comments about the amount of HB being too high - you obviously don't live in London or have any experience of what it's like to live in London. If you're lucky £1,500 will get you a small 2-bedroom in the outer less desirable zones in London.

That's not OP's friend's fault! It's just the nature of the London housing market.

 

[Pallykin]

There's little in the way of benefits here in the US; a new problem that has arisen is poor folks are moving to the more affordable suburbs, where there is no transit, and no services to help them. Boston is very close to the cost of London as far as housing goes, and food and healthcare are more expensive.

 

[Anxious_wife]

There's little in the way of benefits here in the US; a new problem that has arisen is poor folks are moving to the more affordable suburbs, where there is no transit, and no services to help them. Boston is very close to the cost of London as far as housing goes, and food and healthcare are more expensive.

Hi Pallykin,

Whilst I take your point completely - I think we are comparing apples and oranges here. The US is a MASSIVE continent and so you are likely to be able to move to another city/ town and find a job there and enjoy the benefit of cheaper housing etc.

Whereas in the UK, for a lot of people, London is where they have to be in order to find work. London accounts for 30% of the UK's entire GDP, that's hugely disproportionate. Where I work, only two of us are native Londoners, the other 10 all come from the rest of the country, mainly the North, simply because they couldn't find work where they lived (but it's a double edged sword because they are employed, but too much of their net income is spent of rent!).

Anyhow, what there is no doubt about is that London's housing market is benefiting a select few and causing a great amount of pain and distress to far too many. Sadly, that doesn't look like it's going to change with this government.

A_W

 

[nyclon]

Just to clarify, the U.S. is a country not a continent.

 

[Anxious_wife]

Just to clarify, the U.S. is a country not a continent.

Lol thanks for that Nyclon. I am aware, don't know why I said continent. It's still a MASSIVE country.

 

[Joppa]

US occupies a large part of the North American continent, about 39%, second only to Canada at 40%.

 

[secretlobster]

Spoken like a true Jaffa