Housing benefit living with son ?

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  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 45,892
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    poppy12345 wrote: »
    Relevant for what? If she's named on the tenancy agreement, along with the OP and the partner. The mother pays her share of the rent and claims housing benefit. Sounds pretty simple to me.
    This is precisely what I'm not sure about so I've been doing a bit of research.

    Shelter website may be worth a look. This clearly says
    Housing benefit is a means-tested benefit. This means that the council will look at your household income when deciding if you're entitled to help.

    This sets out how household income is calculated.

    This is about non-dependent deductions - if Mum is getting Pension Credit then a deduction won't be made.

    My conclusion is that it's not at all clear whether Mum can claim HB without the rest of the household income being declared, and without knowing what the total household income is then no-one can know whether that claim would succeed.

    Also, noting that it's likely to be a private tenancy, worth pointing out that HB will be based on the local housing allowance, ie may be capped.

    I'm also left wondering to what extent Mum will be better off living with son and his partner, if they're both still out at work all day, and wondering if steps could be taken now to help her cope better where she is, getting out and about more, getting care in to help with things, lunch clubs etc?
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  • tomtom256
    tomtom256 Posts: 2,208
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    Savvy_Sue wrote: »
    This is precisely what I'm not sure about so I've been doing a bit of research.

    Shelter website may be worth a look. This clearly says

    This sets out how household income is calculated.

    This is about non-dependent deductions - if Mum is getting Pension Credit then a deduction won't be made.

    My conclusion is that it's not at all clear whether Mum can claim HB without the rest of the household income being declared, and without knowing what the total household income is then no-one can know whether that claim would succeed.

    Also, noting that it's likely to be a private tenancy, worth pointing out that HB will be based on the local housing allowance, ie may be capped.

    I'm also left wondering to what extent Mum will be better off living with son and his partner, if they're both still out at work all day, and wondering if steps could be taken now to help her cope better where she is, getting out and about more, getting care in to help with things, lunch clubs etc?

    If mum is a tenant in her own right she is not a non-dep and can claim HB for her share of the rent at the one room rate.

    All people listed on the tenancy will be able to claim HB, albeit son and wife will have to claim as a couple as they are part of the same household for benefit purposes.

    Mum is not part of her sons household for benefit purposes if on a joint tenancy and vice versa. They would just share the property between them and all pay their own share of the rent. Unless things have changed.
  • Savvy_Sue wrote: »
    Yes, but wouldn't the household income be taken into account in her claim? ie not just her own? If I'm right, the OP needs to plug total household income into something like entitledto and see what comes out.

    It is possible that total income from OP, partner and Mum will mean no claim is possible.

    Also worth contacting the local authority to confirm my suspicion?

    No. The other people in the household income wouldn't be taken into account if the Mother is named on the tenancy agreement and made a claim for her third of the rent.
    These are my own views and you should seek advice from your local Benefits Department or CAB.
  • Savvy_Sue wrote: »
    This is precisely what I'm not sure about so I've been doing a bit of research.

    Shelter website may be worth a look. This clearly says

    This sets out how household income is calculated.

    This is about non-dependent deductions - if Mum is getting Pension Credit then a deduction won't be made.

    My conclusion is that it's not at all clear whether Mum can claim HB without the rest of the household income being declared, and without knowing what the total household income is then no-one can know whether that claim would succeed.

    Also, noting that it's likely to be a private tenancy, worth pointing out that HB will be based on the local housing allowance, ie may be capped.

    I'm also left wondering to what extent Mum will be better off living with son and his partner, if they're both still out at work all day, and wondering if steps could be taken now to help her cope better where she is, getting out and about more, getting care in to help with things, lunch clubs etc?

    Other household members income doesn't need to be declared.
    These are my own views and you should seek advice from your local Benefits Department or CAB.
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 45,892
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    No. The other people in the household income wouldn't be taken into account if the Mother is named on the tenancy agreement and made a claim for her third of the rent.
    Other household members income doesn't need to be declared.
    Brilliant, thanks! I will go back and edit my posts ...
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