If you rent property from a private landlord and are receiving housing benefit then your local Council may have written to you recently to inform you that your Housing Benefit will reduce at some point between January and December 2012. If this is the case we recommend you start planning now to avoid getting into rent arrears in the future.
The Local Housing Allowance Team has been set up to help people based in the Greater Manchester region prepare for these changes.
There are several changes that might affect your benefit:
- A general reduction in the rates of Housing Benefit for tenants of private landlords
- A reduction for large families who previously were awarded the ‘5-bedroom’ rate for privately rented accommodation
- A restriction on the amount of benefit received by single claimants under the age of 35
- If you are unsure of how or when you’re benefit payments will be affected then please contact us or your local Housing Benefit team.
If you need some help click on the link above or speak to Pam or one of the volunteers and we will show you how to access the www.helpwithrent.org.uk site to get more information.
