How do I deal with benefit cap on single parent with 4 kids?

Hi Tony

I’ve just had the same scenario due to the Benefit Cap – HB taken from £115 pw to £25 pw. In this instance my tenant believes she’s entitled to demand that I reduce the rent in accordance with the new rate. If you look at your tenants’ income it’s likely she’s getting Income Support and Child Tax Credit which may be around £1500 a month. You can reduce the rent or your tenant can reduce her expenditure – I suggest you have a chat with her to find out how you can both progress forward.

Serena

Reply to the comment left by “HMOLandlady ” at “19/01/2017 – 15:31“:

yes shes on £384 a week minus the £29 they are gonna give me so that makes £355 a week , which is the £20k a year cap not a bad wage really lol

Absolutely. It’s quite possible to feed everyone and keep a roof over one’s head on that amount providing she budgets – I did it with 3 children and developed a love for camping! As I said, this is a matter of choice otherwise she may want to see if there are any council houses for her. If you choose eviction, the council will insist her rent payments are up to date before they help her and may even ask you to gain a Court Possession Order before they’ll act. Very stressful for the family and landlord but I do know tenants who have persevered through this process and been given a tenancy for a decent council place at the end. Call it a Survival Test………..

If your tenant can get a part time job (earnings of £430 per month if on Universal Credit, 16 hours per week work and claim Working Tax Credit if on Housing Benefit) then the benefit cap will go away. Equally, if the tenant or any one of the kids can claim certain disability benefits, it will go away. There are some other fudges in certain situations. DHP may be a temporary fix. Suggest she goes and sees a benefits adviser and maybe a debt adviser.

I suspect there are plenty of people around here who can offer advice on how to persuade the tenant to prioritise paying you over other things.

thanks thom for that advice ,gave me a few ideas to consider ts

This benefit cap is disgraceful.

We need Robert Mellors on here too who knows his Housing Benefit.

I had about 15 families affected, & had to evict one who still don’t fully grasp it. She now may be having her kids took off her ’cause she still can’t find a home & Social Services aren’t having the kids ‘sofa-surfing’.

5 of mine DLA etc. 5 working or ended up getting jobs, 4 started paying or said they gonna’ pay-As just coming in, in Nottingham for new benefit cap people. People on the old 5-6 kids £500pw cap, got affected first Nov 16.

I also knew this 4 kids £384pw cap was coming in, so the last 3 years or so, I’ve been avoiding families with more than 2 kids, unless they show to me they are always workers, or DLA etc.
My 15 families above were long term tenants. One has been with me 18 years, & she went down to £2 TWO POUNDS pw HB. ‘Cause she a couple, so get even less. She biting the bullet, understands it-Some think it’s the Landlord fault till they go to their next house-And is somehow paying.

There’s not a lot u can do if none of the kids or Mum is getting any DLA benefits or ESA Supported allowance (higher rate) to exempt them from the cap.
She could work 16 hours or more to get exemption, even doing her mates nails for an hour & the Mums garden for 2 hours, but some of ’em just can’t grasp going self-employed-They’d rather be homeless.

Unfortunately, you may have to issue the Section 21 notice now to cover your back, or rent arrears notice etc., if this doesn’t resolve itself.
If you have time, you need to 100% do the discretionary form with her TODAY NOW, & just make them outgoings exceed the income.
This Govt has NOT GOT A CLUE!

It’s not a great wage really when you think each kid is taking up the £60pw for the kid, food, clothes, travel etc. These people are used to this money. Do it for new families before they have the kids, so they know what’s coming, not when the kids are already here.

Discretionary now, but don’t rely on that forever.

s21 now

Reply to the comment left by “tony tony” at “19/01/2017 – 15:52“:

Don’t forget that the £20k/yr is net. You’d have to be earning more to actually pocket that amount. I’m not sure if that amount has factored in Council Tax Allowance, but then there’s free prescriptions, dental care, eye examinations amongst many other ‘perks’.

Whilst the vast majority of my few hundred tenants are in receipt of HB, I find this a disgrace. Non-working persons should have a bare (and I mean bare) minimum to survive on (survive, not ‘live’) and the incentive to get a job is the desire to have choice over mere existence.

its why so many low-skilled immigrants come here–if you have a “disabled” kid you can get a free car

if you pretend to work eg car washing, part-time and have kids then the sky is the limit–and i have read some do it in several different names with several NINOs and also in several different countries–our faux-tory administration has not a clue

Reply to the comment left by “Luke P” at “20/01/2017 – 12:02“:

and school meals