Housing benefit and the exemption from under 35 rule

Pauldrew

Good evening could someone tell me please about Housing benefit and the exemptions from the under 35 rule. My son is 31 and lives in a private rented flat, he currently gets the shared room rate of HB because he is under 35 and in receipt of Income related ESA , he has just been awarded standard rate daily living component of PIP, does this mean he will now be entitled to the one bed rate of housing benefit? instead of shared room rate? We were told by our local HB office that he cant? but on several websites it says he can? can anyone help please. Thank you 

gnmeads

Hi Pauldrew welcome to the Scope community.
Here is a link to a trusted site that should help you:
https://www.gov.uk/housing-benefit
Please get back to me if you have any moure problems 

Geoark

Hello @Pauldrew and welcome to the community.

Housing benefit if you have a disability

You can claim the 1-bed rate of local housing allowance (LHA) if you are in self-contained accommodation and get any of the following benefits:

• daily living component of personal independence payment (PIP)
• attendance allowance
• middle or high rate care component of disability living allowance (DLA)
• armed forces independence payment

You can claim the 2-bed rate of local housing allowance (LHA) if you need overnight care and somebody regularly stays over to care for you and is provided with a bedroom when they stay.

Source: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/housing_benefit/shared_accommodation_rate_for_under_35s

@BenefitsTrainingCo are you able to confirm that Paul's son would be entitled to the single room rate, and how to deal with the Housing Benefit team regarding this?

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi @Pauldrew

Yes, as per the information above your son should be receiving the 1 bedroom rate of HB rather than the shared room rate.

I would advise he (or you on his behalf) writes a letter requesting that his claim be re-assessed from the date of PIP - give as much detail of your previous contacts asking them to re-assess.

I think they will probably then change it, but if they don't, at least you will then be in possession of an appealable decision.

Provided no one is claiming Carer's Allowance for him, if he notifies ESA of the PIP he may also be entitled to a Severe Disability Premium on his PIP. This is an income-assessed addition to the claim.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mary