My catch 22

[Coda]

Hello.

 

Heres the quick version: Can I claim housing benefit for rent that I have already paid for?

 

And some more detail. . . .

 

I am claiming sickness benefit and DLA, this makes it almost impossible to rent accommodation through letting agencies, in fact as I dont have a guarantor that earns three time the rent of the properties I am after (a1bed flat) my only option given to me is to rent as a student as I will be studying in september, doing this means I can pay by the term, so I will have to pay three months upfront at a time.

 

Sadly my sickness benefits and DLA claims are taking many months to process, the good news is that I should get a large back payment, its this payment that I hope to use to pay my terms rent, the question is can I claim housing benefit for these three months and keep this thing rolling? The tenancy agreement which I hand to housing benefit will clearly state that the rent has been paid for three months in advance. My worry is that without the three months housing benefit which I need to claim successfully, I wont be able to pay for my next term and will be kicked out before I can do anything about it.

 

The catch 22 here is that landlords nearly always insist on the rent being paid up front, housing benefit on the other hand will only pay for a backdated period, ie after one month has passed they will pay for that previous month, not in advance as the landlords and I would like, so I am always going to have to be claiming for a rental period that I have already paid for, is this right? or even illegal, housing benefit is there for people who can not pay their rent which in all honesty I cant, what will they say when they see that I have?

 

Yours

 

Coda.

[antone]

So, just to be sure we're clear, you haven't yet moved in to a place, but when you do you will use backdated DLA and ESA to cover the required rent in advance, and then claim HB to recoup the rent you've already paid, yes? You would then use that HB money to pay the next period of rent.

 

Off the top of my head, I don't actually see any problem with this. HB is payable if you meet the conditions, and it's not all that uncommon for people to use other resources, or borrow money, while they wait for HB to go into payment. The only thing is that, as you note, HB is paid in arrears every four weeks, so you wouldn't get the full amount for the three months until you've actually lived in your new place for the three months.

[Coda]

Correct I havent moved in as I havent gotten my back payments from DLA/ESA through yet.

 

Thanks for the encouraging news, its been a real web of red tape and difficult to figure this much out, so Im very grateful for your reply.

 

All the best

 

Coda.