help with rent?

[nannieali]

hi my daughter was made redundant at xmas , she is really struggling trying to get another job. She is renting a house with her fiance . the rent is in her name i think and as she has only her jobseekers of £48 a week she cant afford the next lot of rent. she is renting privately but went to the job centre and council offices to see if they could get help towards the rent just until she gets another job. She was told thee was nothing they could do to help her?
Is this correct and do you know of anywhere they can go to get help PLEASE>
nannie ali

[Ladidi]

Re: help with rent?

I would have thought she would have been told to apply for housing benefit and council tax benefit. You state she has a boyfriend. Does he live with her? Is he employed? To apply for the council tax benefit and housing benefit she needs to request the forms now the last I knew these could be obtained from the council offices.
One other thing, you state she was made redundant, did she receive any redundancy? as depending on the amount received would also effect whether she was entitled. Also the JSA is this income based? or unemployment based?
I have limited knowledge on this, I am sure someone with more knowledge will be along soon

[Amethyst]

Re: help with rent?

As she rents privately it would now be Local Housing Allowance.

She'd need capital/savings of less than 16k to be eligable and if her fiance lives with her and is working then she may not qualify either. Redundancy pay is classed as capital.

Have a look here Local Housing Allowance : Directgov - Money, tax and benefits

Have to be on JSA for 26 weeks before she can apply for a budgeting loan etc from the social fund, so I would def say go back to council and talk through housing allowance. I don't know how old she is or what size house she rents, (they'll only pay for bedsit under 25 etc type thing) but there should be some help available.