moving into sheltered housing

hello to all , i live with my mum who is 78, mum claims housing benefit and council tax reduction of which im a non dependant on claim. im on univeral credit with lcwra element and dla both high rates. ive been offered a bedsit in sheltered housing which has disabled friendly and its within same borough. the question is if i take the bedsit would i have to start a new claim for HB and CT reduction for myself also after rent amount there is a service charge plus communal heating plus individual heating plus alarm plus water charge plus service mangers charge which equals another £100 a week on top of rent please could you advise me if housing benefit covers these charges thank you

Hi diceman24

Chris is quite right that you may want to seek advice at the link he provided. You might also want to seek advice from the landlord of the bedsit you have been offered as they may have someone working for them that helps tenants with benefit issues etc. I am a council tenant living in a sheltered housing scheme and they certainly have staff that help with issues like this. I'm not however on Universal Credit as I remain on "legacy" benefits. I currently receive housing benefit and council tax reduction from the council itself. I cannot be sure as I'm not in the same position as you but as you're currently on UC then I wouldn't have thought that you would be able to claim HB and would probably have to claim for your housing costs via UC instead. I'm not quite sure about Council Tax Reduction, that is whether you would claim this directly from the Council or through UC. As a council tenant on legacy benefits claiming HB and CTR from the council and living in a sheltered housing scheme Housing Benefit does not pay for all service charges, that is individual heating and electricity for my flat and the water charge for my flat are not covered by HB as they are not considered housing costs. Communal heating and scheme managers charge are however covered by HB. As I've said though I'm not on UC and I don't know how all this is dealt with under UC. These things are not straightforward and this is why I think you would benefit from getting expert help as suggested by Chris and me, ideally your new landlord will have someone who can help with this, if so and you decide to take the bedsit then you can ask them about all this before you move in. You will also of course have to notify UC of your change of circumstances and your mother will also need to tell HB/CTR that you have moved out.

I hope this helps and also that if you take the bedsit you will be very happy in your new home.

Kind regards

Mr B