Understanding Housing Benefit in UK

Citizens are the most important assets of a country and taking care of them is the first priority of the government. This policy has been followed since ages and even today every government works towards making its citizens richer, happier and more comfortable.

Now the needs of citizens may vary from one country to another. For example in a drought hit or war struck country, the government cannot think of building highways in the name of providing comfort to its citizens. They need to cater to the most basic necessities of the time. Food, drinking water, shelter, medicines and security what the citizens would ask from their government. In a peaceful and prosperous country, the government will surely spend on tourism, luxury and comfort for its citizens. Briton also grants many such financial aids to people who are underprivileged and try to support them to lead a reasonable life. One such facility is House Benefit.

What is House benefit?

Housing benefit is the financial aid given to people to pay their rent or some service charges. This is purely a support and is granted on the basis of need and not as a liability.

Who may get the House Benefit?

House benefit is financial support for any person who is earning a very low income and is unable to pay his or her house rent from what they are earning. People with low income can apply for the house benefit and get it approved within a very short period of time. Family lawyers London share that there are thousands of people and families who have been supported this way and are leading a dignified life rather than being homeless.

Conditions regarding House Benefit

1. A person should have low income below the average mark set by the government. He or she should be able to produce proof of their income.
2. The total saving of the applicant has to be less than 16,000 pounds.
3. The person should have rented a house either from the government or from a private landlord. You can even rent out a house on shared ownership basis. In this condition you will be staying in a home or apartment and sharing the space and the rent with someone else.
4. You cannot get house benefit if you have rented out a place from one of your family members. Family solicitors London say that there have been cases where people have fooled the government by falsely showing the need for house benefit but in reality they were just living on the property of their own family members.
5. Immigration lawyers London say that the people who are presently a part of an on-going immigration related case, will not be granted the house benefit.

Payment of House Benefit

The government directly pays the rent amount allotted to you to the government or the public residence you are living in. In cases where you have rented a house from a private landlord, you can either chose to be paid personally or directly to the landlord.