CHAC helps single parent make transition to Universal Credit
CHAC Case study
Charlotte’s story
Charlotte, a single parent, came to Canterbury Housing Advice Centre (CHAC) when she was told by Canterbury City Council that her housing benefit had been stopped and she owed £1,250 in overpaid housing benefit.
Charlotte had an assured shorthold tenancy and was paying £630 rent every month. She was working and was in receipt of child tax credits and working tax credits.
We explained to Charlotte that her entitlement to housing benefit had ceased once her entitlement to child benefit payments had ceased (when her daughter began studying at university in September 2022). This meant the Council was correct in telling her she was no longer entitled to housing benefit and that she did in fact owe the Council £1,250. We advised Charlotte she could pay back the housing benefit overpayment slowly over time.
Unfortunately, we had to advise more bad news. As Charlotte no longer had a dependent child, she had not been entitled to child tax credit since 5 September 2022 - all child tax credit she had received since that date was overpayment and would need to be paid back to HMRC by instalments. Charlotte had also been overpaid working tax credit. We advised her to call HMRC and helped her to do this on our office telephone.
How CHAC helped
Although Charlotte was working, she was entitled to Universal Credit (UC). UC was now the only way she could get help to pay her rent as the law does not allow new claims for housing benefit from working age people. To assist with Charlotte’s claim for UC, we helped her obtain the required proof that she was living at the property she was claiming rent for.
Charlotte was also required to provide proof of her rent, so she asked her landlady to give her a new tenancy that would prove her monthly rent was £630. Unfortunately, she asked her landlady to give her a joint tenancy with her student daughter. This would have resulted in Charlotte only receiving half the rent paid to her - her daughter would have had to pay the other half of the rent without being able to claim any benefits for making the monthly payments of £315.
The outcome
We talked to Charlotte’s landlady and explained the situation. The landlady agreed to issue a new tenancy in Charlotte’s name only. This was provided to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). Consequently, Charlotte received UC of £582 every month which included £630 for her monthly rent in her UC calculation. (Her monthly earnings of £695 reduced her UC from £964 to £582 because her UC was reduced by 55p for every pound she earned).