taking a friend in who is homeless

fay66

I have a friend who has not where to live, and if i let her have a bed , she is claiming income support, but I am on incapacity and income support up and housing benefit, she cant afford to give me anything it will be just for a short while . I am female too Would this affect anything, I know I can take £20 without it affecting benefits, i would not take anymore off her but worried if everything got stopped

Fran

fay66 wrote: »

I have a friend who has not where to live, and if i let her have a bed , she is claiming income support, but I am on incapacity and income support up and housing benefit, she cant afford to give me anything it will be just for a short while . I am female too Would this affect anything, I know I can take £20 without it affecting benefits, i would not take anymore off her but worried if everything got stopped

You will have to tell Housing Benefit that you have a non dependant living with you. There will be a non dependant deduction made unless she is one of the exceptions, see .gov website. If she is under 25 and on Income Support there would be no deduction for instance. If she is not an exception there would be a £7.40 deduction from H Ben.

mogadon

If your friend has been assessed and is formally homeless, contact your local council and see if they have a 'homeless at home' scheme. Not everywhere has them, and they are all run slightly differently, but typically you would get around £10 a night for allowing the council to use your house as temporary accomodation for her, rather than them paying for a B&B. You will still lose the £7.40 deduction from your housing benefit, but normally other benefits aren't affected. You would need to double check with your council though, it can vary a lot.

fay66

thank you all, i dont want to do something and see me in a mess financially, for it, thank you.

LizzieS_2

I was under the impression that the homeless did not get benefits.

ALIBOBSY

Even if you are both the same sex the DWP have to investigate if you are "living together".
Given the situation you are unlikely to be declared a couple, but in the meanwhile both lots of income support will likely be stopped whilst the investigation takes place.
This could take several weeks for the money to be reinstated although it could be much quicker.

ali x

Nicklt

yes the homeless get benefits, JSA etc...

dookar

LizzieS wrote: »

I was under the impression that the homeless did not get benefits.

Benefits are for the needy, the most vulnerable. May I ask why you are under this impression?

Kimitatsu

LizzieS wrote: »

I was under the impression that the homeless did not get benefits.

You can sign on for JSA even if you are homeless, some JC+'s ask for a daily sign on to ensure you are still in the area, and if you can secure a long term bed in a homeless hostel then you could apply for a room rate for LHA (mind you they are difficult to come by)

If you have children then the LA has a duty of care to house the children so as long as you have not made yourself intentionally homeless there should be no issues there.

LizzieS_2

Thanks Dookar & Kim.

Sorry to take the thread off topic.

For clarification, there were a few threads on DT over people living on the streets (think you posted on one Kim) and people there were saying you couldn't claim without having an address. I could see their point, but wasn't sure what was right & just wanted to find out once and for all.

fay66

Shes not living on the streets, she is living with a boyfriend who she is not happy with long story she is 53 i wondered if i took her in short term especially xmas , i would be helping her, she was in tears about the situation and she has no immediate family