Paying HB to my mum for her council house

duggie1982

Hi

My sister is on IB and she stays with my mum in a council house that has full rent paid by my mum as she works.

My mum now does not do as much hours at work as she used to and cant afford the full rent (although not entititled to any benifit) Can my sister apply for some sort of HB to pay her part of the rent as currently she gets no benifit to pay the rent.

I have been reading the forums and my sister is not on the leasing agreement or anything.

Any advice would be great.

viktory

I'm not sure of the ins and outs, but I do know that when HB entitlement is calculated, all income is taken into account. If your Mum is not entitled to benefit then she is earning too much. Therefore taking your sisters IB into account makes it even less likely that they will get HB.

Have you tried entering the figures into Entitled to?

duggie1982

I tried that with rough figures. 'Computer say's No'

Will try later with exact figures but does not look to good.

Thanks

cw18

My understanding is that HB will not be paid to a claimant when the property is rented from a parent or child. I assume the lease is in your Mum's name, which would then effectively means she's sub-letting to your sister.

Even if they would allow a HB payment to your sister, sub-letting will almost certainly be banned on the lease -- plus any rent your sister pays your Mum would then become income for your Mum and count against anything else she may be entitled to in the future.

duggie1982

So what if my mum puts my sister on the lease as joint tenancy. Would that affect the decision? As then my sister would be renting the house as well as my mum.

cw18

it's possible they may then pay for her share, but it's just as likely they'll see this as only being done to get the HB and refuse it anyway

plus if your sister wants to move out in the future they'll have all the hassle of changing it back

and it means that if it ever gets to a point your Mum wants the place to herself (I "invited" an unruly teenager to leave the family home -- and he's since admitted it was just the wake up call he needed) she won't be able to push your sister out.

duggie1982

Seems like no way round this

Thanks for the advice guys.

healy

duggie1982 wrote: »

Hi

My sister is on IB and she stays with my mum in a council house that has full rent paid by my mum as she works.

My mum now does not do as much hours at work as she used to and cant afford the full rent (although not entititled to any benifit) Can my sister apply for some sort of HB to pay her part of the rent as currently she gets no benifit to pay the rent.

I have been reading the forums and my sister is not on the leasing agreement or anything.

Any advice would be great.

She would not get housing benefit as she is living in the same house as a close relative. I would think she could pay some of her IB as rent to her Mother if she is not already.

fluffymovie

If your sister is not put on the tenancy,she would be classed as a non dependent. A deduction would be taken from your mother's HB based on your sisters income so your mum's HB would reduce further.
If your sister is put on the tenancy, this would be classed as contrivance and under Reg 9, HB would be refused as the tenancy had been created to take advantage of the HB system.
Sorry can't be more help!

suelees1

Your mum might be able to get Second Adult Rebate which would reduce her Council Tax bill