Letting from family while on HB

missymugwump

Hi

I have a friend who is going to leave her husband and take the two children
They currently rent & get HB

She has a father who has an empty flat above his business premises
He stopped renting it last year as all the tenants he got over the last few years either didnt pay the rent or trashed the place

Her dad would need to do prob 3k of work to make it habitable again neither wants to open him up to the risk of shelling out unless it will be ok to go ahead

It has been empty for 6 months & he has owned it for 9 years
He is offering it at a low rent of £650 per month for a 3 bed flat

Will HB be difficult with her over this ?

Zara33

So he has no intention of letting this place out on the open market then?

mealone

missymugwump wrote: »

Hi

I have a friend who is going to leave her husband and take the two children
They currently rent & get HB

She has a father who has an empty flat above his business premises
He stopped renting it last year as all the tenants he got over the last few years either didnt pay the rent or trashed the place

Her dad would need to do prob 3k of work to make it habitable again neither wants to open him up to the risk of shelling out unless it will be ok to go ahead

It has been empty for 6 months & he has owned it for 9 years
He is offering it at a low rent of £650 per month for a 3 bed flat

Will HB be difficult with her over this ?

He stopped letting it due to bad tenants and he wants to do up the flat for his daughter and grandchildren to live in and where is she now since she is going to leave her husband?

CIS

Rentals for HB purposes need to be on an open commercial basis - if he offered a below market rent to a relative then its likely that the relative would have difficulty in claiming HB. They would also need to ensure that a proper tenancy agreement is made in the same way as if he was offering the property to rent on the open market.

brightonman123

2, no maje that 3, issues with this- !!!!!! is someone wanting to charge their DAUGHTER rent, when she is obviously in need..

2- and expect the state to sub the rent?

3- place left in disrepair for several months, so clearly not in dire need of the rental income to start with..

socrates

Why does he need to offer it at a reduced rent? - the entitlement will be based on her area and how many rooms she entitled to claim for under LHA rules:

https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Secure/Default.aspx

missymugwump

brightonman123 wrote: »

2, no maje that 3, issues with this- !!!!!! is someone wanting to charge their DAUGHTER rent, when she is obviously in need..

2- and expect the state to sub the rent?

3- place left in disrepair for several months, so clearly not in dire need of the rental income to start with..

Wow such vitriol

have asked and answers are

1) the flat rent is the same rent he was charging through the useless letting agents he was using last couple of years

2)The flat is charged in with his lease on the business premises he does not own it outright he is lease holder who sub lets the flat,he had let it to a couple for 7 years without any trouble then they moved out 2 years ago

3)He is in need of the rent but has had such bad experiences he spent 4.5k 2 years ago doing it up only to have a letting agent let it to a couple who turned out to be 9 people he had a lengthy costly battle to get them out,next lot through same letting company moved in didnt pay the HB it would appear they prob spent it instead of handing it over

5)He worked out that the 4.5k that he spent to improve it initially = to 7 months rent so he only had the benefit of 10 months rent in the last 2 years as the other tenants never paid fully

6)He has to replace all the carpets they had a guard type dog towards the end who had soiled them they had to be chucked, new cooker,fridge etc,, the shower had been ripped out and tiles broken

So yes he does need the income but is scared to get it all straight again to lose money
He had no idea his daughter was going to find herself in this position

Your a cynical bunch she asked me to get genuine advice not accusations
So can anyone answer the question instead of judging people and using creative thinking ? please

I told her how helpful this site was please don't prove me wrong

missymugwump

Just checked he is happy to do it through a LA proper tenancy agreement etc...

I just want to give her some good avice at a time when shes in a bad situation,and help her get out fast before anything else happens

Im sorry I didnt have all the info to start but hope now I do that someone will help thank you

socrates

missymugwump wrote: »

Just checked he is happy to do it through a LA proper tenancy agreement etc...

I just want to give her some good avice at a time when shes in a bad situation,and help her get out fast before anything else happens

Im sorry I didnt have all the info to start but hope now I do that someone will help thank you

Did you read what I said?

missymugwump

Yes sir I did

But its not reduced it is what he was charging before
She realises she will get LHA as she does now

The query was about her paternal link and its implication he can prove the history of the lets etc... i'm sorry if my query was not clear

socrates

missymugwump wrote: »

Yes sir I did

But its not reduced it is what he was charging before
She realises she will get LHA as she does now

The query was about her paternal link and its implication he can prove the history of the lets etc... i'm sorry if my query was not clear

Ok lets break this down

If there is a proper Tenancy Agreement and she is entitled to benefits then there should not be a problem.

Regards the rent - there is something called LHA (Local Housing Allowance) - Housing Benefit is finished.

Visit the link I gave you and calculate what she is entitled to - the Tenancy Agreement (can if they want) show whatever the LHA rate is or above.

|If the rent required is lower than LHA - then she will be entitled to up to £15 per week without it affecting her benefits (until next April)