Housing benefit eligibility

[ahmed kichaa]

Hi guys

So basically I married my girlfriend who lives abroad and I'm working towards bringing her to the UK to live with me.

Before I continue I want to apologise in advance for might sounding too casual or writing down too much information but this is the only way I could put my point across.

I'm a 28 year old British national male and I work full time for the past 7 years or so. I earn £21600 before tax. I rent a double bedroom in a shared flat and I've also never been on any type of benefits and currently not claiming and and to be honest I've been living under a rock in regards of benefits and almost clueless as I've never inquired about them.

Now that I'm married I want to move into my own 1 bedroom flat where I could live with my wife. However with the crazy rents in London it can be hard keeping my head above water and living in a decent accommodation fit for a newly married couple.

So recently someone mentioned the housing benefit to me so I went and used one of them benefits calculator (entitledto/turn2us) to see how much I'm entitled to if I moved to a 1 bedroom flat and in the benefits calculator I specified I'm in a couple and filled in all the other information appropriately and the results stated I'm eligible to upto £800/month in housing benefit.

Now my question is when my wife is granted a spouse visa under my current circumstances and comes lives with me and I move into the 1 bedroom flat can I apply for housing benefit as a couple and get that help the benefit calculator stated or will I be treated as a single guy and just get help for a shared property just because my wife is on a spouse visa.

I could be totally confusing myself and getting anxious about this all but forums have recently become my favourite pastimes online and can be very helpful.

Once again I'm sorry for the long read but your advice will be totally appreciated.

Thanks

[CR001]

You can only claim as a single person and get the single person rate. Your wife is not entitled to claim any benefits BUT her income (if she works) will be used in conjunction with yours to calculate what you qualify for.

[Casa]

I would be surprised if you qualify for HB as a single person if you are earning £21,600 p.a

[Petaltop]

You can only claim as a single person and get the single person rate. Your wife is not entitled to claim any benefits BUT her income (if she works) will be used in conjunction with yours to calculate what you qualify for.

And as you are under age 35, you can only claim the Shared Accommodation Rate. As CR001 has said, your wife can't have any benefits - therefore, you can't claim the Couple Rate. The Couple Rate is for those where both are allowed to claim UK benefits.

Before you move, try the calculator again on your local council site to get an correct reading, with you as a single age under 35 and the wages you earn, to see if you would get any benefits. Then try it again with you as a single age under 35 and with your salary and the money you expect your wife to earn too.

Don't forget too that under the welfare reforms-

-Housing Benefit has now been frozen for 4 years.

- Housing Benefit is one of the income based welfare payments being replacced by the one welfare payment, Universal Credit.