Help with housing

mum21

hi everyone, hope this is allowed!
im currently searching for somewhere private to rent for myself and my special needs 5 year old.
we currently live with family, share a bedroom and it is very overcrowded, the council has been no use and ackowlwdge that while our situation is far from ideal, it is not a priority.
me and my daughter currently share a bedroom and due to her extra needs as well as being tube fed throughout the night ..neither of us have had much sleep in the last two years. 
I work part time, 16 hours a week and currently we receive, working tax credits, child tax credit, and DLA for my little girl. 
My question is, are we likely to get help with housing benefit? How much would they cover each week?
i can't find any way of finding this out without first knowing my exact rent, but I don't want to go ahead a privatly rent somewhere if HB won't help is l..feeling very confused! 

Debbie_Alumni

Hi @mum21,

Most local authorities have housing benefit calculators embedded on their websites and they usually include a calculation for council tax support too.

Housing benefit in the private rented sector is known as Local Housing Allowance (LHA). You would need to find out what the LHA rates are in your area.

Another thing to factor in is whether Universal Credit is available as a full-service in the area you want to move to because if you move into a full-service area and need to make a new claim for a legacy benefit, you won't be able to and will instead have to make a claim for Universal Credit. All of your existing legacy benefits such as tax credits will stop too and you will migrate naturally onto Universal Credit with potential losses in the money you receive now. I can help you find out if you're in a full UC area and if you're not currently full-service when you can expect to become a full-service area.

If you want to talk more about this and get some advice tailored to your situation please let me know.

Best wishes
Debbie

Sam_Alumni

Does this help @mum21 ?