If your home is bigger tha you eed Avoidig ad copig with the bedroom tax (uder-occupacy charge) www.soha.co.uk
THE BEDROOM TAX If you re of workig age, receive Housig Beefit ad have oe or more spare bedrooms, you will lose some of your beefit because of Govermet chages from April 2013. This is called the Uder-Occupacy Charge, commoly kow as the Bedroom Tax. How much Housig Beefit you lose: Oe spare bedroom - 14% of the total weekly ret Two or more spare bedrooms - 25% of the total weekly ret If your Housig Beefit is reduced because your home is bigger tha you eed, you will have to pay the extra amout. What couts as a spare room: From April 2013, the Govermet s beefits rules say that: Childre of both sexes aged uder 10 will share a bedroom Childre of the same sex aged uder 16 will share a bedroom Each adult or couple will have their ow bedroom A bedroom for a carer providig overight care (who does ot ormally live with you) does ot cout as a spare room No extra rooms are allowed for visitors eve foster childre or a child comig to stay if they do t ormally live with you No allowace is made for couples who eed to sleep apart because of a medical coditio if you receive pesio credit: If you or your parter receive Pesio Credit, you will ot be affected by the Bedroom Tax i April. If oe of you is uder Pesio Credit age, you may be affected later, as you move oto Uiversal Credit.
HOW IT AFFECTS US How oe Soha household is copig with the beefits chages. A-Marie ad her ie-year-old twi sos live i a three bedroom home. From the start of April 2013 A-Marie will lose 14% of her Housig Beefit because of the Bedroom Tax. As her sos are uder 16, they're expected to share a bedroom rather tha havig oe of their ow. A-Marie is actig ow to cope with this chage ad has decided to take i a lodger. She has also checked out the impact o her Coucil Tax sigle perso reductio - the 28 a moth she loses o this will be more tha covered by the icome from her lodger. A-Marie is a key member of Soha s Teats Forum ad a Welfare Beefits Champio. She believes it's very importat for residets to uderstad what the Govermet's beefits chages mea. She says: It s vital that everyoe affected by the beefit chages takes some actio to keep their homes. ACT NOW IF YOU LOSE HOUSING BENEFIT BECAUSE OF THE BEDROOM TAX, YOU MUST ACT NOW. DON T IGNORE THE CHANGES OR LEAVE IT UNTIL IT S TOO LATE TO SOLVE ANY PROBLEMS. SEE THE BACK OF THIS LEAFLET FOR IDEAS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO.
WHAT YOU CAN DO If you ca t maage the cut i your Housig Beefit because of the Bedroom Tax, you ca: Bid for aother, smaller home via the choice based lettigs scheme for your area: www.oxfordshirehomechoice.org.uk www.homes4wiltshire.co.uk www.swidohomebid.org.uk If you move out of a family-sized home ito a oe-bedroom property, you may be eligible for a paymet of up to 700 to help with your move. Take i a lodger but please cotact us first ad tell the housig beefit departmet Apply to be rehoused with a fried or family member Exchage your home with someoe who eeds to move ito a larger property usig www.homeswapper.co.uk Cotact us o 01235 515900, freephoe 0800 014 15 45 or housig@soha.co.uk for other advice ad help, or to get this leaflet i aother laguage or format. facebook.com/sohahousig KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST INFORMATION ABOUT GOVERNMENT BENEFITS CHANGES AT: WWW.DIRECT.GOV.UK
If you lose icome from beefits chages copig with the govermet s beefit cap www.soha.co.uk
THE BENEFIT CAP Betwee April ad September 2013, Govermet chages will start to limit the total amout that workig age households ca receive i welfare beefits. This is called the Beefit Cap. How much you ca receive Uder the ew rules, the maximum amout of beefit you ca receive will be: 350/week for sigle people without childre 500 per week for sigle parets 500 per week for couples with or without childre How the cap works The Govermet adds up how much moey everyoe i your household gets from a rage of beefits. If the total is more tha the maximum amout, your Housig Beefit will be reduced. The beefits icluded are: Housig Beefit Jobseekers Allowace Employmet Support Allowace Child Beefit Child Tax Credit Carer s Allowace If this happes, you will have to make up the differece by payig the extra amout yourself.
HOW IT AFFECTS US How oe Soha household is affected by the Beefit Cap. Jey ad Sam live i a three-bedroom house with their four childre. Before the Beefit Cap, each week they joitly received: 139.60 i Employmet Support Allowace 60.50 i Child Beefit 206.92 i Child Tax Credits 125.00 i full Housig Beefit Their total weekly icome from various beefits was 532.02. The Govermet s chages mea that they ca oly receive a maximum of 500 per week, so their Housig Beefit is cut to 92.98 per week. They have to pay the differece of 32.02 per week to Soha Housig themselves. Who it applies to The Beefit Cap affects larger households more tha smaller oes. It does ot apply if you get Pesio Credit or Workig Tax Credit, or if ayoe i your household claims ay of: Disability Livig Allowace (DLA) Attedace Allowace Employmet Support Allowace - the support elemet, (ESA) TAKE ACTION IF YOU LOSE HOUSING BECAUSE OF THE BENEFIT CAP, YOU MUST TAKE ACTION. DON T IGNORE THE CHANGES OR LEAVE IT UNTIL IT S TOO LATE TO SOLVE ANY PROBLEMS. SEE THE BACK OF THIS LEAFLET FOR IDEAS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO.
WHAT YOU CAN DO If you ca t maage the cut i your icome because of the Beefit Cap, you ca: Try to fid work or icrease your hours - cotact Jobcetre Plus Job Search o 0845 606 234 or www.gov.uk/jobsearch Cosider movig to a smaller ad cheaper home usig the choice based lettigs scheme for your area: www.oxfordshirehomechoice.org.uk www.homes4wiltshire.co.uk www.swidohomebid.org.uk Or try www.homeswapper.co.uk (Soha ru free computer traiig sessios if you eed help gettig olie). Take i a lodger the Beefit Cap does ot iclude odepedat adults livig with you, ad the first 20 per week of icome from a lodger is t couted towards beefits. Please cotact us first ad tell the housig beefit departmet if you pla to take i a lodger. Cotact your local coucil about a Discretioary Housig Paymet (DHP) - these may be available for a limited time to help towards your housig costs. See our separate leaflet about this. Cotact us o 01235 515900, freephoe 0800 014 15 45 or housig@soha.co.uk for other advice ad help, or to get this leaflet i aother laguage or format. facebook.com/sohahousig KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST INFORMATION ABOUT GOVERNMENT BENEFITS CHANGES AT: WWW.DIRECT.GOV.UK
www.soha.co.uk
FROM APRIL 2013, YOU MAY BE AFFECTED BY GOVERNMENT CHANGES TO WELFARE BENEFITS FOR WORKING AGE PEOPLE Act ow if you: lose Housig Beefit because your home is bigger tha you eed lose beefits because of the 500 per week total beefits cap for your household, or local Coucil Tax chages eed help to get a bak accout or get olie to claim Uiversal Credit (from October 2013) eed help or advice to maage your budget DON T IGNORE THESE CHANGES OR LEAVE IT UNTIL IT S TOO LATE. If you re a Soha teat cotact us o 01235 515900 or freephoe 0800 014 15 45 or housig@soha.co.uk For other equiries, cotact Oxfordshire Citizes Advice Bureau o 08444 111444 or go to www.citizesadvice.org.uk facebook.com/sohahousig