overnight guests and housing benefit

tigger1234 · 24 January 2011 at 3:55PM

I am currenty a single parent to 1, work part time and claim housing benefit, tax credits n workin tax. Recently started a new relationship and was wondering how often he is allowed to stay over without it affecting my housing benefit?

stu12345_2 · 24 January 2011 at 4:02PM

Ive had this arguement for yrs with dss and housing, diff answers,I said to council is it 6 hrs a day or 30 hrs a week she can stay, they wouldnt give a straight answer.If you are clever and can argue then you should questions there exact policy they have in writting to the classification of what is a couple, i was told if mail comes their in her name ur a couple, but no mail and she stays during day ur not a couple, if she stays overnight and no mail ur a couple.
if she has belongings there and no mail ur a couple.
every answer i have had is diff, i even said to council shes my sex partner is that ok, that shut them up.
its just that i wanted to see how we got on overnight/daytime together before i took our relationship further and made her a joint tennant.
best to avoid any belongings, mail etc, the law is an !!! to be honest.
overall ask for exact policy and dont ur boyfriend set up any mail, such as bank statements etc at your addy or let him move his furniture in, thus hes just a boyfriend

seven-day-weekend · 24 January 2011 at 5:07PM

Each case is judged on its own circumstances as to whether you are considered a couple or not, there is no set number of days or hours.

apoorlykitten · 24 January 2011 at 5:32PM

if he lives somewhere else and pays bill etc for that property, he lives there. you live at yours. you are not co-habiting. yes you are a couple but you dont live together. if it was a close female friend who came to stay at weekends would they expect them to pay rent ? would they expect them to help out towards your everyday cost of living ? no.
this annoys me so much, what do they want you to say to your new partner, "sorry mate but if you wanna be with me can you start contributing to my living cost ? or you cant stay over" single parents would never start new relationships this way !
gotta test the water before you make a commmitment. all i can say is be carefull he doesnt stay all the time.
im a single parent and have a bf and he stays a few times a month purely because he does have his own place and is paying bills etc so he might as well stay there. he does however come round for dinner and leave late at night on a regular basis.
the council and the benefits department both have different policys but the long n short of it is if you dont live together you acn have a guest as long as you dont take the mickey.

stu12345_2 · 24 January 2011 at 5:53PM

yes the main point is does he have his own place, if so does he pay rent gas, water, council tax on it then thus if so he doesnt live with you.will he transfer his drivng licence,bank details, credit cards, tell his employer a new addy, then im afraid hes ur partner and living with you.
if he says to council or sells his house and changes his council tax liability to your place then your a couple.
what u have to watch is if he has a council house and it goes unoocupied say a lot of the week, even if bills , correspondence remain there, some busybodies report u and him saying hes not abbidding by his tennacy and leaving his house empty too much, he could loose his house

dseventy · 24 January 2011 at 7:25PM

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Each case is judged on its own circumstances as to whether you are considered a couple or not, there is no set number of days or hours.

This is the best advice (as oppose to the other!).

Its not about bills, letters, residences, etc etc.

Its about, are you a couple?

What do couples do?

Couples are "intimate", they eat together, they shop together, they have recognition (ie others know you are "together" and not single), they are seen together, they sleep over, they share a take out bill etc.

Hence why each case is judged on its own merits.

D70

stu12345_2 · 24 January 2011 at 7:54PM

the original question was not are me and my new boyfriend a couple, but how much can he stay or visit, you can be easily still be a couple but never live together, meeting up be it on dates or at each ohthers homes.just boyfriend /girlfriend.the question relates to if we are a couple, can he still visit me at mines and how often or how long
you can quite easliy date for months and years as a couple, doing shopping together, walking out in the street seen together, etc but never be living together
a few yrs ago i complained about a noisy neighbour, i told council its the couple above me, the council said there is no couple above you just a lone woman, i said she has aher man staying 12 hrs a day 7 days aweek for the last 3 months, the council asked her, she said he visits a couple of nights a week, and that was the end of that, I couldnt exactly show the council video footage for evry min of the day for the last 3 months.

a slightly related point is the story of a man I knew that got caught window cleaning cash in hand whilst signing on, he was followed all morning by dss and caught him, he had to apy back £9 worth of jsa ( days worth)as the dss detectives could only show he worked for that one day, despite the fact I knew and he knew he had done it for months.He told me if you get caught its only for the r hours they actually saw you and can prove those hours.bit easier for them if you have wage slips going back weeks

dseventy · 24 January 2011 at 8:10PM

stu12345 wrote: »

the original question was not are me and my new boyfriend a couple, but how much can he stay or visit,.

Yes and the answer has been given :

Each case is judged on its own circumstances as to whether you are considered a couple or not, there is no set number of days or hours

etc but never be living together

Its not about living together, its about being "a couple".

D70

Sixer · 24 January 2011 at 8:12PM

stu12345 wrote: »

the original question was not are me and my new boyfriend a couple, but how much can he stay or visit, you can be easily still be a couple but never live together, meeting up be it on dates or at each ohthers homes.just boyfriend /girlfriend.the question relates to if we are a couple, can he still visit me at mines and how often or how long
you can quite easliy date for months and years as a couple, doing shopping together, walking out in the street seen together, etc but never be living together
a few yrs ago i complained about a noisy neighbour, i told coucnil its the couple above me, the council said there is no couple above you just a lone woman, i said she has aher amn staying 24 hrs a day 7 days awee for the last 3 months, the council asked her, she said he visits a couple of nights a week, and that was the end of that, I couldnt exactly show the council video footage for evry min of the day for the last 3 months.

It's about whether or not your lives are so entwined that you are "living together as man and wife" - not about how many physical hours you spend together.

For example, a long distance lorry driver may arrive home on Saturday morning and leave again on Sunday evening. He might only sleep at home one night per week, but if married, his wife wouldn't be able to claim single parent benefits on that basis.

On the other hand, if two people in a [sexual] relationship maintain two separate households, pay two sets of bills, don't share bank or savings accounts, are registered on the electoral roll at different addresses, don't keep personal property permanently at the other's house, etc, etc, then they would usually be considered as NOT "living together as man and wife", even if they spend three or four nights a week staying overnight at the other's house.

stu12345_2 · 24 January 2011 at 8:18PM

ifyou marry you are obviuosly a couple and share hence the law and any benefits see you that way regardless if you work away from home.
but this lady isnt married, just boyfriend/girlfriend and wants to know simply can he stay over as often as we like.
thus based on last post if they keep seperate homes, dont share billing addresses, furntiure, belongings, but can be as intimate as they want they cant be classed as a couple living together.
but another poster stated, bills, belongings dont come into it, its if ur seen doing couple things, like shopping, eating out

alwaysonthego_2 · 24 January 2011 at 8:23PM

Sixer wrote: »

It's about whether or not your lives are so entwined that you are "living together as man and wife" - not about how many physical hours you spend together.

For example, a long distance lorry driver may arrive home on Saturday morning and leave again on Sunday evening. He might only sleep at home one night per week, but if married, his wife wouldn't be able to claim single parent benefits on that basis.

On the other hand, if two people in a [sexual] relationship maintain two separate households, pay two sets of bills, don't share bank or savings accounts, are registered on the electoral roll at different addresses, don't keep personal property permanently at the other's house, etc, etc, then they would usually be considered as NOT "living together as man and wife", even if they spend three or four nights a week staying overnight at the other's house.

Not quite so simple, as a previous poster mentioned the DWP also look to see if the couple are eating together, having a sexual relationship and how they look to outsiders.

overnight guests and housing benefit

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