05-02-12, 03:13 PM
(05-02-12, 09:52 AM)dogruff link Wrote: Rules in N.I.(UK) are different.Rent is capped at £290pm.If you're rent is any dearer you pay the discrepancy out of you,re own pocket.
Many years ago I was on benefits (Job Seekers Allowance and Rent Rebate) and the Council decided that, to save money, they were going to try to force private landlords to bring down rents on their properties, so they said they would cut £5 off my Rent Rebate and only pay £50 of the £55 rent I was charged (which was actually the standard going rate at the time).
But the Landlords had no intention of charging less rent, so this meant that I would have had to make up the £5 deficit from my JSA which is what the Government says is the minimum I needed to live on (and if the Government says it is the minimum, you can bet that that's the *bare* minimum!) leaving me having to find an extra £5 a week from somewhere (out of work, no jobs available, no savings, where from, exactly?!)
It took a couple of letters to my MP, but fortunately the Council backed down meaning I didn't end up being used as a politiical football.