Ordinary
Long-term
amounts
amounts
For a married couple
£23.55
£28.35
For a single person paying rent
or an owner-occupier
£14.50
£17.90
For people who do not pay rent but
live in someone else's household
married couples
£25.00
£29.80
single persons-aged 18 or over
£13.05
£15.80
single persons-aged 16-17
£10-35
plus
For dependent children living with you
each child aged 13 to 15
£7.40
each child aged 11 or 12
£6.10
each child aged 5 to 10
£4.95
£4.10
each child aged under 5
There are even higher amounts for blind people. If you need to know about them, ask at your local social security office.
If you are a boarder you will usually get the amount you pay for board and lodging plus an allowance for personal expenses of £4·70 (£7·70 for married couples) instead of the amounts above.
4. Do I get all my rent?
You will usually get the full weekly amount you pay in rent and your general and water rates. But you may not if:
you are sub-letting your accommodation
someone lives in your household who can be expected to pay for their keep, such as an adult son or daughter
you have a rent or rate rebate or a rent allowance from the local authority your rent includes something for heating and lighting
your rent is considered to be unreasonably high and then only a reason- able amount will be allowed
your landlord gives "rent free" weeks, in which case the rent is averaged out over the year.
5. Do I get anything instead of rent if I live in
the house I own?
Your yearly rates, mortgage interest, ground rent (in Scotland, feu duty) and a yearly allowance (normally £39.50) towards repairs and insurance are added up. Then they are divided by 52 to find out what you would pay weekly -your "rent".
But you may not get all of this weekly amount for the same reasons that a person may not get all his rent and rates as explained above.
There is no allowance for repayment of mortgage capital but your building society may be prepared to accept payments of interest only.
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