Rent allowance and moving abroad dilemma

Johnstan

I'm unemployed and living with my mother who is getting supplementary rent allowance for a privately rented house (not a council house).

I plan to move over to England to work with my father, but my mother is convinced that this will affect her rent allowance.
This is a real drag as this is a big move for me and want to go as soon as possible, but I obviously can't leave not knowing whether or not she'll be left homeless or moved into some bad council estate here.

Lugh Ildanach

Were you paying any rent yourself, or in receipt of rent supplement? Also what age are you? And were you in receipt of any other social welfare payment while living there? What is the total amount of rent paid under the tenancy agreement? What county do you live in?

If you were living in the house as a non-dependent relative, her rent supplement should have been (according to their guidelines, although this does not happen across the board) reduced accordingly depending on your income. If this was the case, she may find that her rent supplement is INCREASED when you move out.

The other side of things however is that you moving out may leave her in a property which the CWO considers to be too large (or more likely, too expensive) for her family size. Do you for example have any other siblings who would continue to live in the property? It would be a heartless CWO who would insist on her moving house in these circumstances, but it may well be within the realms of possibility especially as CWOs are tightening up on the guidelines all the time. If however her rent is below the maximum limits for the county she is living in and her family size, she should be fine as CWOs are more usually concerned about the amount of rent rather than the number of rooms in the property.

Even if under a strict application of the the rules she would be above the limits, there is always a discretion to allow her to remain in the property.