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Kensington CAB starts new Chronicle column
Every month, the Citizens Advice Bureau will be providing advice for Chronicle readers with a special question-and-answer style column.
In the first of the series, the bureau addresses the difficulty many private tenants face in paying their bills.
Q) I'm a private tenant but it's a struggle to pay my other essential bills after I've paid the rent.
There just doesn't seem to be anywhere cheaper to rent round here. Is there anything I can do?
A) If you are on a low income, regardless of whether you are working or on benefits, you may be entitled to help towards paying your rent through the housing benefit system.
But the amounts paid out in housing benefits (sometimes also known as local housing allowance or LHA) to private tenants are about to be radically cut in its important to get your claim in as soon as possible before the changes come into force in April.
That way, as long as your circumstances don't change, you will be protected against the cuts for over a year, giving you more time to try to find somewhere else to live if you need to.
New claimants will be affected immediately by the lower rates, but people already receiving housing benefit will not be affected until nine months after the anniversary date of their claim, unless they move home or the size of their household changes - for example someone leaves.
Anyone facing a shortfall between their housing benefit and their rent as a result of the cuts should find out if their landlord will reduce the rent in return for getting paid housing benefit direct. They can also apply for a discretionary housing benefit.
And anyone who thinks they may have to move as a result of a cut in their housing benefit should seek advice from their council's housing options service.
For more information, please contact
Kensington CAB
140, Ladbroke Grove
London W10 5ND
Advice Line. 0844 826 9708
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