What am I entitled to?

milli milli

Hi folks.
I am on JSA about 16 months and I am living with a friend who is on part time job initiative.
We are living in a 110 year old house with single glazing and no insulation.
There is an open fire that only heats the living room. There is no central heating or back boiler. In our bedrooms we normally use those plug in oil radiators.

The house is lovely in the summer. As you can imagine it is like an ice box in the winter. At
night time in winter the plug in heaters have to be left on all night.
There is an electric shower but no hot water in the taps. I usually boil the kettle for dish washing etc.

Apart from that it is a lovely old house. I just found out that I am not entitled to Fuel Allowance because my friend is on PT job incentive.
The fuel cost was very high last winter.

I am not crying poverty but I am just wondering would I or my friend be entitled to something because it is such an old house. In the winter if we dont have the radiators on, we end up getting ill.

Plazaman

You could check with the Local Authorities (Borough/County Councils). They used to have a scheme for grants to do up houses to bring them to a habitable condition. I think though these grants were aimed towards disabled or elderly persons. SW Fuel Allowance disqualifies everyone in the household if just one person doesn't qualify for it in their own right.

The only other thing if your renting surely the landlord is responsible for upkeep.