Universal Credit Housing Element

Lola7896

I'm a 59 year old living with my 26 year old son and 21 year old daughter in Northern Ireland. I get the standard allowance of £409.89 a month on my Universal Credit. I'm also my son's carer, for which i get £67.25 a week. 

Our rent is £433.33 a month. The local housing allowance in my area for a 3 bedroom house from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 is £102 a week / £408 a month.

My son is a recipient of ESA Income-Based which is paid fortnightly at £261. He is also a recipient of Personal Independence Payment which is paid at £461 a month.

My daughter is a full time student, who has been studying over in Wales since Sep 2019. From Sep 2019 to April 2020, my daughter was in Wales. However I forgot to update my Universal Credit of change of circumstances that she was no longer living in the household during those periods. So i informed Universal Credit about this and they updated the details. My daughter returned home in the second week in April due to Covid 19. She has remained in the household since and hasn't got word when her university is opening. From Sep 2019 to August 2020, Universal Credit has deducted over £500 due to "1 adult who is expected to pay towards the rent". When inquiring about it, Universal Credit said that was for my son who was expected to pay towards the rent. Turns out after I won his case at a tribunal in Feb 2019, i forgot to inform them about his PIP which means they were deducting for him. Is my son still considered a non-dependent adult and expected to pay towards the rent? I thought due to his PIP and ESA he was exempt from such. 

Can anybody help me makes sense of all this. 

poppy123456

Hi and welcome,

That's ceetainly correct here in England but i can't find anything that states what applies over in Northern Ireland and sometimes the rules are different so i'm afraid i can't confirm whether or not that's true.

Regarding your UC payment. I see that you're receiving the standard allowance and also claiming Carers allowance. Does your UC include the carers element of £162.92? If it doesn't then you'll need to report on your journal that you're a carer and to also ask for this element to be added to your UC total amount. Yes the carers allowance is still deducted £1 for £1 from your total amount. The rules for this are the same over there as they are here.

Lola7896

Sorry for not mentioning that, Yes i am receiving the careers element on my Universal Credit of £162.92 a month.