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HB living with family

How does it work?

3 adults all family, (brother, sister, son) all on JSA or ESA.

Should they get full HB?

At present a friend of mine has herself as main tenant and her son & brother as non dependents. The Council/HA have calculated full HB then deductions for the two non dependents meaning it works out that they need to pay half the weekly rent.

I always thought that JSA etc was the amount the government saw someone could live on after rent is paid.
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Comments

  • debrag wrote: »
    How does it work?

    3 adults all family, (brother, sister, son) all on JSA or ESA.

    Should they get full HB?

    At present a friend of mine has herself as main tenant and her son & brother as non dependents. The Council/HA have calculated full HB then deductions for the two non dependents meaning it works out that they need to pay half the weekly rent.

    I always thought that JSA etc was the amount the government saw someone could live on after rent is paid.

    Sorry, I'm not sure I understand your question.
  • debrag
    debrag Posts: 3,426 Forumite
    as they are all on benefits should they get full HB? should the brother & son be down as non dependents?
  • dmg24
    dmg24 Posts: 33,920 Forumite
    10,000 Posts
    The HB award will depend on whether the ESA and JSA amounts are income or contributions based. ESA can be higher than the min the govt says a person needs to live off.

    Impossible to say anymore without figures.
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  • Zara33
    Zara33 Posts: 5,441 Forumite
    1,000 Posts
    debrag wrote: »
    How does it work?

    3 adults all family, (brother, sister, son) all on JSA or ESA.

    Should they get full HB?

    At present a friend of mine has herself as main tenant and her son & brother as non dependents. The Council/HA have calculated full HB then deductions for the two non dependents meaning it works out that they need to pay half the weekly rent.

    I always thought that JSA etc was the amount the government saw someone could live on after rent is paid.
    debrag did you post something similar before, and it was all rather confusing :rotfl:brother, son, girlfriend, kids and sister.

    ETA: yes that's right it was regarding a council house being to big.
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  • debrag wrote: »
    as they are all on benefits should they get full HB? should the brother & son be down as non dependents?

    You can't claim HB when living with relatives.
  • debrag
    debrag Posts: 3,426 Forumite
    dmg24 wrote: »
    The HB award will depend on whether the ESA and JSA amounts are income or contributions based. ESA can be higher than the min the govt says a person needs to live off.

    Impossible to say anymore without figures.


    One on C-JSA (£64.30 a week)
    One on ESA (£80-90 a week)
    One was on C-JSA and is moving to I-JSA (£64.30 a week)
  • Are they actually all tenants named on the rent book, if not whose name is the rent book in?
    (AKA HRH_MUngo)
    Member #10 of £2 savers club
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  • debrag
    debrag Posts: 3,426 Forumite
    no only the sister has her name down I think so all letters etc are addressed to her. The others are just down as non dependents
  • Assuming they are all over 25, then the two non-dependents will attract a deduction of £7.40 per week. Who is actually on what, and what are their ages? As if son is on ESA and under 25 might make a difference.

    I am assuming your friend has checked the workings out to make sure they are using the correct income for all residents? As it sounds like they might not have confirmation of one of the non-dep incomes and are charging max deduction (unless the weekly rent is only £30,which I doubt!)

    Or is her son/brother paying her anything as 'board'? As in this case, they would not count as non-deps but lodgers, with their board being counted as her income.

    Is it definitely council/HA housing? As if it is private rental and on LHA not HB then the 'full' HB could actually be for the property size she is entitled to, rather than inhabiting.

    If it is council/HA, are there any ineligible charges included in the rent (heating & hot water/water rates/garage/parking etc) or is there an overpayment being recovered from HB?
  • debrag
    debrag Posts: 3,426 Forumite
    edited 18 September 2009 at 2:43PM
    weekly rent is £110 no parking, heating etc included

    All are over 25

    The letter just mentions rent of £110 full HB then details deuctions for the non dependents totaling £55 left to pay a week.

    It will be done again once the brother gets his I-JSA through.

    Could they become joint tenants?
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