I started a Midwifery degree last week. I have two children and a partner who will stay at homw for the duration of the course to look after our children.

I have today been to see the officer from our local housing benefits office to provide income and circumstance details for our housing benefit claim. The form we had been sent and duley completed stated that they required evidence of my student loan in addition to my bursary details.

I asked the guy if that was so they could count it as income and he said yes, he agreed this was unfair but it was guidlines put in place by the government. We asked if we took out a normal personal loan if this would be counted and he said no, it wouldn't. We agreed that the student loan should not be counted as income when assessing for housing benefit as it is, as the name suggests, a loan and has to be repaid. He also confirmed that they would not repay any housing benefit we missed out on as a result of the loan at a later date when I am repaying said loan.

We only took the info down today so are yet to receive the calculation of benefit, but I can imagine that the student loan can be enough in some cases to push the income over the threshold meaning some students receive zero housing benefit.

This is a policy that will affect all students eligible to apply for housing benefit (mainly those with children), not just NHS bursaried students. From what I understand ANY student with children is eligible to apply for housing/council tax benefit regardless what course they are doing.From my point of view it is little more then a con to save money that would otherwise be spent helping students pay their rent!

I have setup a petition urging the government to rethink this policy which is unfair at best. I was just wondering how everyone else felt about this policy and whether a petition would be supported, not just amongst the wider student population but beyond as well! After all you don't have to be affected to feel the policy needs changing!

The petition reads as follows, I would love any feedback you might have on this matter:

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to review the policy that includes student loans as income when assessing housing benefit.

Currently students eligible to apply for housing benefit (mainly those with children) have their student loan included as income when calculating their entitlement. I believe this is wrong as a student loan is, as said, a loan which must be repaid at a later date and not an income. If you were to take out a personal loan it would not be counted when assessing your claim."

The petition can be found at: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/student-benefits/

Thanks for your time

 

Sign the Petition
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/student-benefits/

Student Loans, like Maintenance Grants and bursaries, are there to help with the costs of higher education.

There are two types available - you can take out either or both.

• The Student Loan for Tuition Fees lets you cover your tuition fees in full (up to £3,145 in 2008/2009)
• The Student Loan for Maintenance helps with your accommodation and other living costs: depending on your household income and where you’re living, you can apply for up to £4,625 in 2008/2009 (more if you're living away from home and living in london)

Student Loans are subsidised by the government and are issued on their behalf by the Student Loans Company

The interest you’re charged is linked to inflation, so what you repay is broadly the same as what you borrowed - no one makes a profit on the loan.

You only begin repaying your Student Loans after you’ve left your course and are earning more than £15,000 a year.

SheilaGBR