Important Changes to Housing
Benefit in January 2012 if you are Single and Under 35
From January 2012 the eligible rent for some customers will be
based on the Shared Accommodation Rate rather than the One Bedroom
Rate. This means if you are already on Housing Benefit, your
Housing Benefit could go down.
This change in rules affects customers who are 'young
individuals', so it's important to know if you are a young
individual or not as this means some people will get less Housing
Benefit than they may expect. From January 2012 'young individuals'
will only be entitled to the lower rate of Housing Benefit for a
room in shared accommodation.
If you are a young individual and began receiving Housing
Benefit for your current address before January 2012 we will write
to you to let you know when we think your Housing Benefit will go
down.
If you claim Housing Benefit, move, or become a young individual
after January 2012 your Housing Benefit will be based on the Shared
Accommodation Rate from that point.
A young individual is someone who:
- is a claimant aged under 35
- does not have a partner living with them
- does not have any children living with them
- does not have any other adults in their household
- does not get Disability Living Allowance Care Component at the
middle or higher rate
- is not treated as needing an extra bedroom for an overnight
carer who would otherwise not be resident
You are probably not a young individual if:
- you are over 35
- you have a partner, a child or another adult in your
household
- you get Disability Living Allowance Care Component at the
middle or higher rate and no one gets Carers Allowance for looking
after you
- you are treated as needing an extra bedroom for an overnight
carer who would otherwise not be resident
- you are over 25 and are an ex-offender who is being managed
under Multi Agency Public Protection arrangements (MAPPA)
- you are over 25 and have spent 3 months in hostels that support
homeless people
- you are not a young individual while you are under 22 if you
were in Social Services care under a court order made under section
31(1)(a) of the Children Act 1989 or you were formerly in Social
Services accommodation under section 20 of the Children Act 1989.
When you reach 22 you will become a young individual unless you are
exempt for another reason.
You can view the current LHA rates on the LHA Rates page.
Contact
Tel: 01304 872199
Email: revenues@dover.gov.uk
