said by peggypwr1:You Brits are were really generous.....and quite lame!!!
fixed..... this bizarre loophole is now shut
quote:
Taking advantage of housing benefit rules introduced by the last Labour Government, jobless Saeed Khaliif, 49, his wife Sayida and their children have been able to set up home in fashionable West Hampstead, an area beyond the reach of many well heeled house-hunters in the capital.
The family, who had been living in a semi-detached house in Coventry, were able to move south and sign what is believed to be a £2,000 a week lease for the six bedroom property despite having no connection with their new area.
The house, on a leafy street close to where Oscar winning actress Emma Thompson lives, is estimated to be worth £2 million.
But under the old housing benefit rules there was nothing preventing the Khaliif family applying for Camden Council to pick up the £8,000 rent bill.
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In April the Government introduced a cap on housing benefit of £400 a week*, but it is thought the Khaliif family moved before the change was introduced.
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www.telegraph.co.uk/news ··· ome.html*that's the cap for 4+ bedroom properties - it's
£250 per week for a one bedroom property,
£290 per week for a two bedroom property,
£340 per week for a three bedroom property
there's also another cap at the 30th percentile of the market rents in the area, and the lower of these 2 applies - i.e. in an area where rents are low the limit is below these figures such that they only cover the cheapest 30% of rental properties in full - in areas like inner london where they are high then there may be no big properties that are covered in full..........