can i claim housing benefit if im not on tenancy

nosleep09

hey all,

the situation is this, my brother has gone abroad for a year but didnt want to lose his council property. as i was working and living with parent i made an agreement with him that i would live there and pay his bills. i lost my job almost a month and a half ago and the rent arears has been accumilating since. i wanted to know if there is any way i could claim housing benefit for this despite not being name on the property (just noting i have the same initials as my brother so i could probably get away with pretending to be him but thats fraud so id rather no go there)

is there anybody who knows anything about this and could help. thanks for taking the time to read this

baza52

lol. wait for it.....

Hammyman

I'll bite....

FRAUD.....

But no you cannot claim as your name is not on the tenancy. It is only payable to the tenant and having the same initials isn't enough.

Unless you can find a way of paying, the council will be repossessing soon.

HappyMJ

Oh well...Are you yourself on the LA's housing list for your own property? When you're evicted for non-payment of the rent they may be able to find you somewhere to live and then you'll have a tenancy of your own to claim HB against.

silvercar

I'm guessing that your brother hasn't informed the council that he is no longer living in the property, so it will be him that is evicted for non payment of rent.

fluffymovie

Your brother should have told them he was away and I am pretty sure that a years absence would mean he will lose his council house.

If you make a claim, they will check your full details and not just your intial so that won't work.

McKneff

Can your brother help out with the rent till you get back on your feet again.

He really is naughty, he has in effect sub-let which is not allowed.

andyandflo

fluffymovie wrote: »

Your brother should have told them he was away and I am pretty sure that a years absence would mean he will lose his council house.

If you make a claim, they will check your full details and not just your intial so that won't work.

If that is the case, maybe someone could explain why someone that is in prison for 18 months does not lose their council house? Is the rent paid by HB for that period he is away? I thought that you can't claim benefits whilst serving time.
If so, what is the difference?

AnxiousMum

andyandflo wrote: »

If that is the case, maybe someone could explain why someone that is in prison for 18 months does not lose their council house? Is the rent paid by HB for that period he is away? I thought that you can't claim benefits whilst serving time.
If so, what is the difference?

Do you have a story in some wonderful newspaper where this happened, or do you know they do this as they did it for you or somethng?

I doubt that somebody in prison was able to 'sublet' their place though - or.....did they/you do this too?

shjo558

You can claim Housing Benefit as normal whilst on remand for up to 52 weeks.

Not fair for an innocent person to loose their house whilst awaiting trial.

[Deleted User]

My cousin is currently homeless with a child after being caught sub letting from a HA tenant.
She can now not get a home from any housing association in the area and will have to stay on sofas with her child until she can afford to rent private.
If you're caught it will probably result in the same.