Were looing to offer a house share for a single mother and her daughter

blue_monkey_2

IF this lady has approached the council then she will know that even though she has been given notice she has to remain in the property. She will be taken to court. She should stay. landlord will instruct the bailiff then to change the locks. At this time she will be considered homeless and she WILL be rehoused. owever, it might be a hostel but that is no different to what you are offering her so that should not put her off.

If she has approached the council as you suggest then all of this would have been explained to her. Her landlord cannot evict her from the property without a court order - MORE IMPORTANTLY - should she choose to leave then she has NOT made herself homeless and the council will have no obligation to house her. If she stays and get's evicted then she will be rehoused.

You need to tell her this and leave her in the house because otherwise she is going to be bumming rooms from people for a long time. This way she, and her child, will get long term secure housing and will never be in that situation again.

TOBRUK

GEORGYPORGY wrote: »

... should we include all costs on the housing benefit application form or should be bill her separately ...
GP.

Why are you filling out the HB application, isn't it your 'friend' that applies for HB for the pleasure of lodging with you?

blue_monkey_2

GEORGYPORGY wrote: »

i must re-iterate, quite clearly as you don't seem to get it!
my good lady is the God mother of the child in question, moreover, she has known the girl in question for over 21 years, the girl in question has lived in rented accommodation on her own with her child for the past 2 1/2 years which she has been paying for with her wages from work and help from the LA, as a housing association tennent yourself, you will know how long the process of getting deposits together, dealing with councils and social security offices takes, she has been given notice by her current landlord which is due to come to fruition at the end of this month, she does not have a small fortune to hand to put down as a deposit currently, moreover, our LHA is nothing but a dire bloody mess, you might recall the local council in the news recently for loosing millions of pounds after investing in banks in Iceland, well that's the group of retards that this poor girl is having to rely on.
We indeed let our spare room to 1, 2 or sometime 3 foreign students who pay a lot more than would be asked for from the girl and her daughter in question .
we were not asking for your opinions on this particular situation, we were asking for advice into what should be required from her, the LA and possibly any pitfalls that we should be aware of.
Moreover, isnt it Mr Martin Lewis himself that suggests that should someone having issues with Mortgage payments etc be considering renting out a room under the rent a room arrangement?, (not that we find ourselves in financial problems), God forbid.

OK, so you say you want to help her and this is not about money. So I will give her the advice so she can be housesd for the future and not be in thisuation again.

I must re-iterate again, if she leaves then she will not be homeless and the council will not help her.

She must stay. She MUST continue to pay her rent.

Has a Section 21 notice been served?

If not then it goes as follows. LL gives tenant notice with a Section 21. This is 2 months notice. Tenant refuses to leave. LL goes to court and the judge will give a leaving date. Tenant refuses to leave. LL goes back to court where the judge will instruct bailiffs to change the locks. When, and only when, she has this date the council WILL find her somewhere.

From date of S21 being served to the bailiff moving in will be around 6-7 months.

She should also be applying to every single Housing Association that she is able to. If you put the area then people might be able to point her in the right direction of HA in that area. Although Councils have a list the HA often do too.

It need not matter that council accomoodation is sought after, councils have a DUTY of care to people with children and they WILL be housed, even if it is temporary until something else comes up.

So if this is really about helping her then you need to tell her to stay put and to keep on paying the rent.

blue_monkey_2

3 STUDENTS!!!! In the one spare room??!! Seriously??

Even the biggest double room would not be suitable for 3 students, surely?? Aren't there are laws against that??

TOBRUK

blue_monkey wrote: »

3 STUDENTS!!!! In the one spare room??!! Seriously??

Even the biggest double room would not be suitable for 3 students, surely?? Aren't there are laws against that??

I agree with you blue_monkey, and it would be interesting to know how much they are charging each student, is it for the room or per person?!

hippy-chicy

terryw wrote: »

Sorry but I disagree with you.

For anyone to take a mother and child into their own home would require much background information and it actually makes perfect sense to offer the vacant room to someone is already known to landlord. The OP is not related to the potential tenant (so far as I can see) and if in the long run no rent was paid, then the tenant would be "evicted". With a licence, not a tenancy, this is a simple matter without need for court proceedings.

Yes but would they? That is the point I am getting at . His partner is the childs god mother - would they really evict her if no rent was paid. Would they see her on the streets? Would they pursue rent arrears through the courts? If not it is not a normal landlord/ tenant relationship and therefore is non commercial.

The OP has already stated that there is a close relationship with the women in question. They have stated that had their relationship with her not been close they would have not offered her the accommodation.

You may not agree but from what has been said I am airing towards the fact that the agreement will be seen as non commerical by the LA.

terryw

I am taking a different view than most contributors to this thread.

A single mum and child look as though they are going to evicted sooner or later. The OP and his wife have have spare room in their house. So far as I can see the single mum wants to move into this spare accommodation and because of low income will receive some government help in paying her rent. The OP is asking for assistance with the paperwork involved.

Posters are suggesting that taking up council or HA accommodation or a hostel is preferable for the single mum.

But surely if the single mum and child do go to stay with the OP (leaving out the unsubstantiated suggestions of odd behaviour as suggested by some) then there are distinct advantages all around.

The mum will have the advantage of caring people around her who could possible assist her in looking after the child so that she can obtain better paid work and/or longer hours. This will improve her life in the long-run quicker than merely taking a full property just because she can as it will be paid for by the state.

The OP will have a lodger who is known to him rather than a complete stranger.

The council or LHA property can be used to assist another individual in need of housing.

The cost to the taxpayer for a room will be less than the cost of a council or LHA property.

The living costs (gas, electricity, water rates, council tax etc) of three adults and one child will be less in one property than two.

Or am I missing something?

terryw

hippy-chicy wrote: »

Yes but would they? That is the point I am getting at . His partner is the childs god mother - would they really evict her if no rent was paid. Would they see her on the streets? Would they pursue rent arrears through the courts? If not it is not a normal landlord/ tenant relationship and therefore is non commercial.

The OP has already stated that there is a close relationship with the women in question. They have stated that had their relationship with her not been close they would have not offered her the accommodation.

You may not agree but from what has been said I am airing towards the fact that the agreement will be seen as non commerical by the LA.

I very much doubt that any LA would see this as non-commercial for the reasons that you have given. It is very common for close blood- relatives, never mind a godparent,to receive HB(LHA) and this is not perceived as a contrived tenancy provided that there is a written agreement in force.

Oldernotwiser

terryw wrote: »

I am taking a different view than most contributors to this thread.

A single mum and child look as though they are going to evicted sooner or later. The OP and his wife have have spare room in their house. So far as I can see the single mum wants to move into this spare accommodation and because of low income will receive some government help in paying her rent. The OP is asking for assistance with the paperwork involved.

Posters are suggesting that taking up council or HA accommodation or a hostel is preferable for the single mum.

But surely if the single mum and child do go to stay with the OP (leaving out the unsubstantiated suggestions of odd behaviour as suggested by some) then there are distinct advantages all around.

The mum will have the advantage of caring people around her who could possible assist her in looking after the child so that she can obtain better paid work and/or longer hours. This will improve her life in the long-run quicker than merely taking a full property just because she can as it will be paid for by the state.

The OP will have a lodger who is known to him rather than a complete stranger.

The council or LHA property can be used to assist another individual in need of housing.

The cost to the taxpayer for a room will be less than the cost of a council or LHA property.

The living costs (gas, electricity, water rates, council tax etc) of three adults and one child will be less in one property than two.

Or am I missing something?

The worrying thing is that the OP seems to be taking over from this young woman (filling her form in) and letting his prejudices spill over rather than try to give her objective advice. This could be from the best of motives but is definitely what is happening.

Although the OP may well be a caring person but he's posted nothing to suggest this (it's all been about money) and certainly nothing to suggest that he and his wife are prepared to be unpaid childmainders, which would be illegal anyway.

Finally, who in their right mind would want to be living with a couple of unrelated adults in a 2 bed house, when she and her child could have their own 2 bed property?

blue_monkey_2

Just when do they need a place of their own then terry? At what age will the child want some privacy or to be able to sleep at night? Fine while the child is 2 but at the age of 10, 12, 16?

What happens then?

Does she apply to the council and sit and wait because she will already have housing and is living with friends so no fear of being evicted, or does she apply now when she IS being made homeless and needs somewhere to live?

I know someone on the OP's friends situation, 3 of them living in one bedroom and house sharing, no danger of being evicted but they are not being housed as they are not homeless.

I'd say that the OP needs to act now and get this lady housed in council/HA accomodation else they could be living in that room for a VERY long time. It does not matter how long you have known someone - living together causes tensions for many, let alone for a long term friends and with their a child being involved.

If the OP and his wife EVER want this lady to leave they will not be able to as she will have no-where to go. If they tell her to stay where she is then she will get HER OWN house. What when the lovely little girl is a teenage one stomping around with no room of her own to go to? Who would not want that for her child and for their future. The little girl will be starting school soon and will have friends so surely it is better to get SECURE accomodation before she does.

Not enough thought has been given to this at all.