Can I buy a house to rent to my lil sis on housing benefit?

1sue23

scarletjim wrote: »

They won't smash the place up, they won't upset neighbours etc.

The youngest is only 1 and I'm sure they will have at least one more, so they hope to live in their next house for 20 years or so - after that, we'd have to reassess the situation.

At least with my daughter I know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and is trying very hard not to be relient on benefits , she takes as many part time jobs as she is able so that over the last year her housing benefit has been reduced and she now only gets a small amount ,if I thought that she was not going to make the effort and would not have helped herself then as a matter of principle she would not be renting a property from me .
As it is she is willing to work very hard and as well as looking after her daughter and working she has also managed to get a degree .

hippy-chicy

welshmoneylover wrote: »

I find this disturbing. OK the husband is ill, but there is no reason why your sister can't work.

I think that HB payments should be severely cut so that it would stimulate more people to work especially if it made the difference between keeping a roof over their heads.

HB is a benefit trap and doesn't encourage people who can work to do so.

I try not to get involved in discussions on policy if i can help it but I totally agree with WML. Housing Benefits it is a system that allows benefit tenants to obtain accommodation that is out of reach for many working families. It needs a serious shake up especially some of the rules around LHA which penalise private landlords.

In our area there is a brand new estate, top notch - security gated entry etc... your looking at rents of about £1.5 -£2k pcm for a 5 bed property possibly a little more. We always laugh about it, as you have to either be extreamly wealthy or a HB tenant to live there. I'm not joking about that either !!!

Loopy_Girl

scarletjim wrote: »

Please can people stick to the topic and stop slagging off my family. :mad:

I know their lives are highly questionable, but that is not the point of the thread! The country will pay for their house irrespective - if you dont agree with that (and I don't) then please start another thread on it in an appropriate forum.

So surely a good way to show that you don't approve of their lifestyle choices is by not trying to financially gain from it?

You are happy to be disapproving but not so much that you won't take their benefit entitlement if you can get it. Lovely

scarletjim

Guys / Gals - please can we get back to the point??? There are loads of threads to discuss benefit fraud, laziness, etc etc, this was not intended to be one of them!

Kimberley

Hold on a minute. They are claiming housing benefit yet want another kid? Why? This is why after the first child born into benefits then any more born after you shouldn't get any benefits for them.

1sue23

scarletjim wrote: »

The main difference between you and me might be this - did you own the house before she rented from you, or did you buy it deliberately to rent it to her? I suspect the former...

I purchased the property for my daughter as she was homeless and had a small child ,before I did this I had it okayed by the housing officials and it was agreed .

cunningfox_2

Also the expression used is 'taking advantage of the benefit system' - an instant, reliable tenant could be seen as an advantage.

Your question has been aswered - even if everyone on here agreed with you it would mean nothing. Only your LA can answer you.

welshmoneylover

I really really really hope you don't receive a penny in housing benefit from this shameful bunch of scroungers.

I really really do.

I really really hope they lose their HB payments and they have to do what the rest of us has to do - GO TO WORK!

scarletjim

Loopy_Girl wrote: »

So surely a good way to show that you don't approve of their lifestyle choices is by not trying to financially gain from it?

You are happy to be disapproving but not so much that you won't take their benefit entitlement if you can get it. Lovely

READ THE THREAD!

What benefit will I get compared to a normal BTL? Save agency fees, accept a bit less rent, it works out about the same, it won't make much difference to me. Can't believe so many people on a website like this can completely miss the point of a thread by so far... They will live how they live irrespective of what I do, and irrespective of whether or not I agree with it.

Loopy_Girl

I think you have had your answer really from other posters

Yes, it could be done but you won't really know until you buy the house and she and her brood are in the house and make the application for LHA.

But then if it is refused, you have already stated that you would be happy to get new tenants in (if she missed her rent) then it shouldn't be a problem.