hi peeps,
thinking of renting a house and was wondering what is the most that housing benefit (liberate) are paying presently for a family of four (2+2). (eg £90 on a rent of £100) in sheffield
and also if pos - the current processing times?
thanks

best thing to do is ring them (Liberata) they can do a benefit calculation over the phone. Its not simply based on 2 adults & 2 children, also if the property you are looking at is private they may not pay enough benefit as they are not normally classed as having a "fair" rent like HA and councils are.
Citizens advice could give you some more information as well, or Liberata do appointments in First Point Offices.

sorry also meant to add processing times run into months...and months. best to get someone from Liberata to check paperwork by appointment and try to submit all evidence as quickly as possible.

Hi there,

Just got back from holiday so apologies if this information is no longer relevant to you.

In relation to an amount that will be paid you can request what is known as a Pre Tenancy Determination (PTD to staff), these are available from Area Housing Offices and Howden House, it will give you a figure which is the maximum amount that Housing Benefit can pay before any means tested calculations are made. I believe an agreement exists which means you should get the figure back within 4 days, which will then enable you to make an informed decision on whether or not to accept the tenancy.

In relation to your question about time taken to process your claim, these are subject to performance targets with Local Authorities required to publish their figures on the DWP website. A quick look at this shows that last year a claim took on average 55 days to be processed which sits it very comfortably in the quartile of poorest performing authorities in the country.

Hope this helps!