UC PIP and Carer allownce

535mum

Hello hope you all are well. Can someone please guide me to the right direction. I am on UC and Lcwra and recieve PIP standard. My son is my full time carer and works part time as well. At the moment the tenenacy agreement is only on my name. We are soon to be moving and because my son is 23, he will be my joining tenant on agreement. Will my UC allownce of rent get deducted? If yes then how can my son afford when he is caring for me. Will he het help with the rent? If yes then what is that help called?

Thank you

poppy123456

As he will be named on the tenancy agreement then yes he will have a liability to pay rent too.

It also means that you will be entitled to less housing element. If there’s just the 2 of you on the tenancy agreement then you will each be liable for 50% of the rent.

Is this privately renting or social housing?

Your son can use a benefits calculator to check entitlement to Universal Credit and this can include help with the rent. His earnings will reduce his entitlement by 55%. Whether there’s any entitlement will depend on his circumstances. As he’s a carer for you then his UC will include carers element. His carers allowance will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

535mum

Hi poppy thank you for the quick reply. We are trying to look for private property because my council has nothing available for me. I cant climb stairs and they kept offering me flats on 2nd or 1st floor without lifts. Section 21 notice period is finished. If my landlord goes through court proceeding then he will reclaim the charges from me through court and I cannot afford to pay that. I also asked my housing officer if that is true and she said he can claim some of that back but council wouldnt help to pay that back. My son is already caring for me for more than 35 hours and doing a part time job. Our current landlord is increasing the rent and we cannot afford to stay here. Any estate agent we talk to is not interested in giving us property because I dont work and they think I cant afford the rent. It is so hard.

poppy123456

For privately renting if your son is named on a tenancy agreement then you will be entitled to 1 bedroom rate of LHA, assuming it's just the 2 of you. Your son will be entitled to the shared rate of LHA, unless he's claiming either daily living PIP or mid/high rate cares DLA.

In a previous thread of yours last year I advised you to refer yourself for a needs assessment from your local authority, did you do that? This may help you be placed into a higher band for social housing.

It's definitely not easy to find a landlord that accepts benefits claimants.

One thing I don't advise you to do is move out of where you currently living until a court evicts you. If you do then your LA may refuse to help you because you will have intentionally made yourself homeless.

535mum

Yes I have refered my self and filled the forms available on my council’s website but have not heard anything from them yet. I requested my landlord to not go through court proceeding because I am already in debt with loan from daughter and I cant be able to pay back anything occured by this whole court process. All this just gives me severe anxiety 😭 My brothers and sisters are happy to pay for the deposit if I find somewhere suitable and if they accept me. So if my son is my full time carer will he not get any help towards rent? He also works part time.

poppy123456

As I advised, he can use a benefits calculator to check entitlement to Universal Credit. UC will include help with any rent. Whether there's any entitlement will depend on his circumstances.