Can I rent to DSS if I know the person ?

charlies_mum

My newphew and his girlfriend have a one year old boy and she lives in a one bedroom flat which is paid for by the DSS. She has been trying for a house for ages, but can't get one. If I purchase a property, can I rent to her and have the DSS pay rent to me ?

I would be grateful for any advice, thanks.

lynzpower

You have to go through a few things. Im not sure whether nephew is classed as family links which there are restrictions on providing accom to FMs under HB

the other thing you need to note is that the fair rent assessment board ( or whatever it was renamed to) need to see and assess the property, and they will assess what amount of HB they will pay, and for how many people. Ie if you buy a 3 bed house to let to DSS then you would have to have a fairly large family of AT LEAST 4 for HB to justify it. a one bed property is right for a fmaily of this size.

The trickiness here is that you could buy the house and HB only will pay half fo what you will need, the family have to find the rest.This is to prevent against fraud. However, I dont know how you could propse the property for fair assessment if you dont have it IYSWIM

real1314

charlies_mum wrote:

My newphew and his girlfriend have a one year old boy and she lives in a one bedroom flat which is paid for by the DSS. She has been trying for a house for ages, but can't get one. If I purchase a property, can I rent to her and have the DSS pay rent to me ?

I would be grateful for any advice, thanks.

There is nothing to stop any relative renting to another relative with a few small exceptions (father of a child renting to the mother with the child in the home is one).

There are a few things to ensure:-

1. The tenancy has to be on a commercial basis. This simply means that you must demand rent for the property - if you were to allow them to live there rent free, it would not be commerical.

2. The rent from Housing Benefit might be restricted - they would be classed as needing 2 bedrooms, so the rent would be restrcited to the local level of a 2 bed house rent. You may be able to find this out from the "Rent Officer" - ring your local council's HB dept and ask for contact details (the Rent Officer is independant of the council). OR ....you may be in a Local Housing Allowance area (LHA) again the council HB dept should be able to tell you this and the Rent Officer will be able to give you extra info.

One thing to note is that you must be prepared to evict them if the rent is not paid - as I'm sure you'd have to do anyway.


obviously all this is just advice and cannot be treated as anything other than that. You might want to consider consulting a solicitor or other qualified professional.

clutton_2

good on you to try to help a young couple. if you do offer them a tenancy, please help them with the housing benefit forms - they are long and complex, and if any errors are made, it will delay your getting the rent. Also make sure they sign the section to give the council permission to talk to the landlord under data protection. HB often takes weeks, sometimes 2-3-4 months to be paid as staff are so overwhelmed. Can you fund the mortgage for this length of time ? HB is paid every 4 weeks in arrears, you will pay a mortgage per calendar month in advance !!

seven-day-weekend

I received HB on behalf of my son when he lived in our investment property, but because he is family, they would only pay this if we could prove that we had bought it to be a commercial property. (we were able to do this as we had a BTL mortgage and also estate agent's details from when the property was marketed for rent).

However, your nephew's girlfriend is not a relative is she?....although it would probably make a difference if your nephew was living there too.

Also, be aware that they may not pay all the rent.

Best of luck!

clutton_2

You should first of all get a Pre Tenancy Determination done by the Rent Office who will tell you what is a fair rent for the property - HB will then calculate their benefit on this figure.

HB rarely pays full market value, so, you would normally expect a "top up " rental payment either from the tenant, or from a guarantor. Even tho this is family, you should still get them to sign an AST Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement.

good luck

lynzpower

again though, the real rub for me is the size of the property. If theres only 3 of them in the family you buy a 2 bed house, they may not get even part of the HB ( or the3y may get a smaller proportion again) as it is too big for thier "needs"

Check with your local HOmelessness team at the LA for overcrowding figures

charlies_mum

Thanks for the advice everyone. The flat is tiny and now 'Junior' is becoming mobile, it would be so nice for him to have some space.

I will check with the Local Authority before making any decisions.

clutton_2

i think i am right in suggesting that a couple need one bedroom, one child needs another bedroom, and that two children of the same sex under 10 can use the same bedroom, but they qualify for a bedroom each if one is over 10.

lynzpower

clutton, thats not right, unfortunately.

Eg, I worked with a family, mum dad, 2 kids boy & girl.

they were living in a 1 bed flat. I was trying to get them moved ( they were all in the same bedroom. the LA stated this is not overcrowded as the lounge could be used as a bedroom for parents/ kids.

So its not the physical BEDroom, its the amount of rooms. So if you buy a house with 2 beds, a dining room and a lounge, it will be FAR FAR too big for a 3 person family and HB would be unlikely to support it. Even if it just had 2 beds & one lounge, it still is likely to be classed as too big, However, it depends where in the country. Property what it is in london, HB are very stringent on how its applied, they may be more flexi outside of london, i dont know

sorry, for some reason Im finding it quite hard to describe what I mean here, but do ask away if theres anything else I can offer

real1314

...the regs don't just define the number of bedrooms, but also living rooms.

IIRC a couple with one child would need 2 bedrooms, but I think they can also have 1 living room. If the property had a seperate dining room, it may be classed as "too big".

If I get chance I'll check some more details tomorrow, although the size criteria ony applies if LHS does not.