Housemate

Shelter Cymru
25 Walter Road
Swansea SA1 5NN
01792 469400

Charity no 515902

An activity to consider what bills you have to pay

It's about:
thinking about the cost of maintaining a home, what you need to pay for and what can wait

Use it to:
understand that a lack of money can limit your choices

You will need:
a copy of the worksheet the cost of maintaining a home for each group or individual

Download The cost of maintaining a home? worksheet.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file. If you don't have it you can download it here.

Discussion points:

What do you have to spend money on when living in your own place?
Do you think there are things you buy or pay for now that you might not be able to afford?
How would you budget to ensure you don't spend more than you've got coming in?
How much money do you think you would have to spend?

Step-by-step:

		Ask everyone what bills they would have to pay regularly and write them up on a board or on a sheet of paper (suggested answers include electricity, gas, water rates, council tax/rates, insurance, TV licence, telephone)

		Depending on the size of the group, split the group into sub-groups or work with the whole group

		Ask them to imagine they have £600 per month as income.

		Ask them to draw a circle and divide it up to show the proportion of the £600 they would spend on rent, other household bills, and other essentials such as food, clothes and transport.

		Compare circles with the other groups and with that shown on the worksheet

		Have a group discussion on what you have to pay for and what can wait

		Ask them how much they think they would have when living away from home. Brief information on benefits is given below.

Housing benefit

Income support and jobseekers' allowance (JSA)

Young people can claim housing benefit (HB) whatever their age, to help pay their rent if they aren't working or have low wages.
If they get HB it will not necessarily cover all their rent. If they're

single,
under 25,
with no children, and
paying rent to a private landlord

they are normally only entitled to what they'd pay for a single room in a shared house, even if they've got a place of their own. To find out the level of the single room housing benefit allowance in your area ring the local council's HB office.

Single people under the age of 25 are entitled to less income support or JSA than older age groups. Normally 16 or 17 year olds are not entitled to income support or JSA. However in circumstances of severe hardship, for example, where no one else is able to provide support they may be entitled to help.

Most single 16/17 year olds who are able to get benefits will get £32.50 a week. Single 18/24 year olds get £42.70 a week. Single parents get more depending on the number of children they have. People who are sick or disabled also get more.

For more information about the different types of benefits and how to claim them visit the Department of Work and Pensions website.