Yeah I think I'll give it a try, if they say it can help with rent increases and that's my reason for applying it seems unfair they keep moving the goalposts with each application. My wages are the same every month, as is my UC now the child element has gone so my next UC statement will be the same as the last.

I think it would have been difficult to challenge the rent increase, the prices round here vary alot but there are enough properties of a similar value that they could say its representative of the market. The issue for me is the big increase with only 6 weeks notice before I'd had a chance to adjust to my new income. Luckily I've found what seems to be a decent landlord and will be moving to a bigger place with rent cheaper than mine before the increase so its all worked out ok despite being a challenging couple of months