What else can I claim other than PIP/Lcwra? (Single Adult Male age 20) HELP!!

NeckJawBackPain2000

Hi all, I am living with my parents, long story short I feel like it is time to move out. My health issues (chronic neck pain/spinal degradation issues/widespread extreme pain etc, in that realm of pain related issues), but I am trying to study/get ready in the gap after my A-Levels. (I got 3 As and 1 B in Maths, Chemistry, Computer Science and Graphic Design. This was 4 years ago now. Shortly after my studies I got in an accident and still have not recovered.)

I am on the enhanced rate for both sections in PIP and the enhanced rate for LCWRA.

Anyways, I do want to move to my own place. I am trying my best to study at my own pace, so please understand that I am not trying to leech from the government until I am age 70.

I need: Some extra money to cover the next 8-10ish years for a house/bus pass/train pass (?) or books for studies.

I know my Aunty has a council house, but is there such a thing as a council apartment? Or getting financial help with an apartment? I couldn't live with the shame/judgements from what seems to be a seemingly fit 20 year old male. (I know even from my childhood that a council house has the same pebbledash design/colour which stands out from the crowd big time.)

Please help me as I have no idea on what I am eligible for.

Thanks all. I live in Wales UK.

poppy123456

LCWRA is part of Universal Credit and it's known as just LCWRA, not enhanced. For Uni/college, you can apply for a student loan and this can include fees for the course itself as well as maintenance loan for living expenses. See link https://www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/  Please also note that if there's a maintenance loan available to you then it will affect your UC even if you decide not to take that loan. How much it reduces your UC to will depend on how much loan you receive and how many months it covers, there's a £110/month disregard. 

You can also apply for a Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) This will not affect your UC. https://www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/undergraduate-finance/full-time/tuition-fee-and-living-cost-students/what-s-available/disabled-students-allowance/

For somewhere to live you can put your name down on the social housing register but as a single person it maybe many years before you're offered a property. Yes, you can also live in what's known as a "flat" (apartment) through social/council housing. 

Not all social/council houses are peddle dashed. I live in one and mine isn't. I also lived in one for 4 years back in 2013 and that wasn't peddle dashed either. 

You can also look for privately rented but claiming benefits it's not always easy to find a landlord that will accept you. 

You would be able to claim for help with the rent through UC. 

Shazza1

Hi you might be eligible for a disabled bus pass if you fit one of the criteria. You can get the form at a library or apply online. I have one because of my walking difficulties. 

Albus_Scope

Hey there @NeckJawBackPain2000 and welcome to the community.

I can see you're already getting some top advice, but I wanted to stop by and say hi and best of luck with your studies and I hope you find somewhere suitable soon.  

NeckJawBackPain2000

Shazza1 said:

Hi you might be eligible for a disabled bus pass if you fit one of the criteria. You can get the form at a library or apply online. I have one because of my walking difficulties. 

Hi

NeckJawBackPain2000

poppy123456 said:

You would be able to claim for help with the rent through UC. 

Hi, thanks for the detailed response, much appreciated. (Didn't mean to cut your quote down, for some reason it wouldn't reply with all of your text in there too.)

Yes, sorry for the misunderstanding. I meant that the Lcwra is the enhanced version of Lcw.

I don't qualify for the DSA from what I can see. My plan is to settle in to a house/apartment first, sort out a daily routine and then I'll sort out my studies/financial plans.

Maybe council houses isn't the route for me as I need a place in the next few weeks/months. Have you heard of LHA? I want to know more about LHA. That is not similar to the housing benefit right? Am I right in saying that LHA is an amount which is added to your UC total? Meaning that the whole thing is more camouflage/under the wraps since it is just additional money into your account? By my understanding, your LHA allocation is area dependant, so would a plan be to find a house/apartment first, then phone UC to show my first month of bills or something? Please explain as I have no idea on what I am saying, I am guessing.

Why is it hard for landlords to accept people on benefits? 

Thanks.

NeckJawBackPain2000

Shazza1 said:

Hi you might be eligible for a disabled bus pass if you fit one of the criteria. You can get the form at a library or apply online. I have one because of my walking difficulties. 

Thanks for letting me know. But I would feel shame for getting a bus pass for the disabled. The bus dŕiver would probably start being funny if he saw me as a 20 year old man trying to use a disabled pass. Will he know or will the whole thing be as quick as a scan on the scanner/card reader? 

What about a train pass as I plan to reside in London.

Thanks.

poppy123456

When claiming UC your rent will be paid in with this known as housing element. If you're privately renting then entitlement to rent will be based on the Local Housing allowance (LHA) for the area you live and your circumstances. 

As a single person claiming daily living PIP you'll be entitled to the 1 bedroom rate of LHA, unless you need regular overnight care and then you maybe entitled to 2 bedrooms. You can see the rates for all areas here https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/ you just need to put a postcode into that link.

If there's a shortfall of rent then you would need to pay that yourself. LHA rarely covers the whole of your rent, sadly. To claim housing element, you would need proof of liability to pay rent such as tenancy agreement or lodgers agreement. 

Unfortunately, housing element doesn't take into consideration any other bills you have to pay. All other bills would need to be paid by you from your PIP and the remainder of your UC. 

It's difficult to find LL's that accept benefits claimants hardly anyone wants us and that's the truth. If you do manage to find someone they may ask for a guarantor. 

NeckJawBackPain2000

poppy123456 said:

When claiming UC your rent will be paid in with this known as housing element. 

Hi, right okay I understand. So the "housing element" is the name for what I/we are talking about? LHA is just the rent allocation depending on the area which is still part of the housing element? Just want to clarify, sorry if that sounds dumb!

So, if there is a shortfall, say, £100 LHA doesn't cover. I can pay that with my PIP/Lcwra payments as normal? They'd just pay the housing element up to a certain amount and in this hypothetical, £100 short of it? That's normal?

Actually, in your next line you touched upon the LHA not covering bills. (By the way is that the correct terminology to say that LHA is not covering bills? Or is it more like, "the housing benefit won't cover it"?). Anyways, if they don't cover the bills and you said I'd have to pay that with UC/PIP payments, what about those housing/apartment ads that mention that the "bills are included" in the total amount?

So, does this mean that I can live in any (in London the LHA goes up to £1200 from what I have seen??) 1 bedroom apartment/house as long as it fits in with the LHA allocation/as long as I can consistently handle the financial side of things?

Thanks

poppy123456

NeckJawBackPain2000 said:

poppy123456 said:

When claiming UC your rent will be paid in with this known as housing element. 

Hi, right okay I understand. So the "housing element" is the name for what I/we are talking about? LHA is just the rent allocation depending on the area which is still part of the housing element? Just want to clarify, sorry if that sounds dumb!

Correct. No question is dumb, if you don't know the answer. Benefits are complicated, 

NeckJawBackPain2000 said:

poppy123456 said:

When claiming UC your rent will be paid in with this known as housing element. 

So, if there is a shortfall, say, £100 LHA doesn't cover. I can pay that with my PIP/Lcwra payments as normal? They'd just pay the housing element up to a certain amount and in this hypothetical, £100 short of it? That's normal?

Yes, you would need to pay any shortfall of rent yourself. Housing element (not housing benefit) doesn't pay anything towards bills such as gas/electric, TV license, internet, water etc etc. You would need to provide UC with a full breakdown of what's included with your rent, you would need to ask your potential landlord for that. 

You can live anywhere in the country but you can't claim more than your maximum entitlement. 

Rosie_Scope

Hi @NeckJawBackPain2000, some of your posts got caught in our spam filter overnight. It's nothing you've done wrong, it sometimes just picks up on things that aren't spam by accident. As there were multiple posts in there, I've approved the comments that seemed to be the most recent, I hope that's okay with you. Just wanted to let you know in case you read your responses and thought they were different to how you remember writing them

NeckJawBackPain2000

Rosie_Scope said:

Hi @NeckJawBackPain2000, some of your posts got caught in our spam filter overnight. It's nothing you've done wrong, it sometimes just picks up on things that aren't spam by accident. As there were multiple posts in there, I've approved the comments that seemed to be the most recent, I hope that's okay with you. Just wanted to let you know in case you read your responses and thought they were different to how you remember writing them

Hi, yes can you delete the posts made at 10:03am and 10:07am? They are duplicates.

Thanks.

Rosie_Scope

No problem @NeckJawBackPain2000, I've done that for you

NeckJawBackPain2000

poppy123456 said:

Correct. No question is dumb, if you don't know the answer. Benefits are complicated. 

Thank you for explaining that, I appreciate it.

Wait, what is the purpose of providing UC with what is included in rent? If I provide UC with a full breakdown of what's included in my rent, would UC pay for gas/water etc? I think I misunderstood that part.

So for now, what else can I claim? What have you claimed if you don't mind me asking? As mentioned before, I am on Lcwra and PIP and I only found out about the housing element stuff recently which sounds like a massive help. 

Thanks.

poppy123456

The reason for providing the breakdown is so they know how much rent you actually pay without all other things included. 

NeckJawBackPain2000 said:

poppy123456 said:

Correct. No question is dumb, if you don't know the answer. Benefits are complicated. 

So for now, what else can I claim? What have you claimed if you don't mind me asking? As mentioned before, I am on Lcwra and PIP and I only found out about the housing element stuff recently which sounds like a massive help. 

Thanks.

LCWRA is part of UC and UC has replaced all other benefits so there's nothing more you can claim at the moment. 

I claim the old legacy benefits, as well as PIP so what I claim isn't going to help you because you can no longer claim those benefits. 

If you do find somewhere to live you can claim housing element of UC and council tax reduction from your local Authority.