Rent Allowance & BTEA

LegacyUser

Hi guys,
2 questions I hope you can help me oit with please. I have recently been made redundant. I have moved out of the house I was renting and am back home at the moment. At the house I was renting there are no bills in my name, as one of my housemates paid it via his bank account and then we gave him the money we owed him in cash. Becuase I have no bills to prove I was renting at that address, does this mean that should I wish to move out of home, that I will not be entitled to Rent Allowance as I have no bills in my name whatsoever?

Second question ties in somewhat with the first, if I get accepted to college as a mature student next september & get the BTEA. Will this mean I wont get rent allowance also, or do things change when your on BTEA and you will be able to get access to rent allowance?

Many thanks in advance

ShaShaBear

AFAIK you need to be firstly registered on the council housing list for the area you wish to rent in, ie you cannot be registered on the Monaghan council housing list and get rent allowance for a place in Drogheda. Secondly, you need to be able to prove you have been living in rented accomodation for the past 6 months. A letter from your previous landlord will suffice. When all this is ticked off, you can apply to your local CWO for rent allowance in the accomodation you will be/are living in, once it does not exceed the ceiling limit for that area, ie if the rent is 150 per week, and the ceiling limit is 125, expect to be refused.

Finally, if you are in receipt of rent allowance BEFORE you become a student on the BTEA scheme, you are allowed to retain your benefit. You cannot, however, apply for rent allowance once you have become a student officially (ie registered).

LegacyUser

AFAIK you need to be firstly registered on the council housing list for the area you wish to rent in, ie you cannot be registered on the Monaghan council housing list and get rent allowance for a place in Drogheda. Secondly, you need to be able to prove you have been living in rented accomodation for the past 6 months. A letter from your previous landlord will suffice. When all this is ticked off, you can apply to your local CWO for rent allowance in the accomodation you will be/are living in, once it does not exceed the ceiling limit for that area, ie if the rent is 150 per week, and the ceiling limit is 125, expect to be refused.

Finally, if you are in receipt of rent allowance BEFORE you become a student on the BTEA scheme, you are allowed to retain your benefit. You cannot, however, apply for rent allowance once you have become a student officially (ie registered).

Thank you very much for the info

ShaShaBear

No probs, had to do it all myself this Summer, not a pleasant task, but the extra money saved every week makes it all worthwhile.

JD81

ShaShaBear wrote: »

AFAIK you need to be firstly registered on the council housing list for the area you wish to rent in, ie you cannot be registered on the Monaghan council housing list and get rent allowance for a place in Drogheda.

Hi sorry for hijacking your thread, but the above concerns me, I too am attending full time college as a mature and have recently sent of all my information and am awaiting a reply.
I was led to believe from all the information i gathered online "Citizens Info" and Boards that you had to take only one of the above options i.e. If you had been renting privately for the past six months and circumstances had changed?
Therefore i have not applied to be on a housing list.There are many threads stating this, so i don't understand, do you really have to do both????

ShaShaBear

I'm not actually sure, I think that all depends on the CWO awarding the decision. Mine made it very clear I needed both, even though I explained on our first meeting that I had been renting for 9 consecutive months. She wouldn't even see me until I had a letter from my town council.

JD81

Ok sheesh, i was given a rent pack when i went to my local health centre to see a CWO, the guy on the reception told me they don't deal with it anymore and to fill out the documents and gather all supporting evidence and post it to the address on the envelope provided. So i'll fire off an email to them and see what happens Thanks for your reply.

brokenaudio

ShaShaBear wrote: »

No probs, had to do it all myself this Summer, not a pleasant task, but the extra money saved every week makes it all worthwhile.

Do you mind if I also hijack this thread with a quick question? It's just that you seem very knowledgeable on the system as well as being concise in your posts!

My own situation is as follows: I'm currently on btea and finishing my first year of college. I've been in shared, rented accom (sharing with my brother) for the past year but didn't bother applying for rent allowance along as the place I'm in exceeded the limits. Our lease is up at the end of May and my brother's moving to the US, and I intend to find a one bedroom for myself in the hope of being able to claim rent allowance.
From what I can gather, though you're entitled to rent allowance on btea, you must have been claiming it before switching to btea from jsa - is that correct? If so, that makes me ineligible. BUT, btea only covers you for the college term, and in summer you go back onto jsa afaik. Therefore, would I be right in thinking I could apply for rent allowance in summer (in my new place which would be within the limits, I would be on jsa, and would get myself onto social housing list) and then simply keep it when I transfer back over to btea in sept for my second year in college??

If you've any idea it'd be massively appreciated...Just trying to work out my options before I go looking to rent on my own in the summer
Thanks