Can I rent from my mother?

sillysod666

Me and my mother moved to the West Midlands,we brought an house here from Rhyl. We still have our house on the market in Rhyl, which we are finding it difficult to sell. But after some months I realise I have made a mistake in moving, and wish to go back to Rhyl. Would it be possible for me to rent our old property from my mother, for the going rate, which is £425. Would I be able to claim housing benefit and council tax rebates, I would be working, but would need help with the rents for a bit until I could find a houseshare person. The mother is a pensioner, would it affect her, how would we go about doing this legally.

We/ I do not want to do this for some sort of tax dodge or anything underhand like that. It is that surely she would be better off renting to someone she knows who will definitely look after property than a stranger. It has been on the market a year now and the only option now is rent.
Why not kill 2 birds with one stone, I hate where I have moved to and want to go back home, she needs to rent her property, what is wrong with that, if done above board.

It is a 2 bedroomed terrace by the way.

olly300

If you are single person renting such a large property you will not get help from the council to pay to rent such a large property. They would only pay for you to rent a one-bedroom flat if you are over 25 and a houseshare if you are under - that's before getting into how much they will want to deduct due to you renting from a family member.

G_M

Renting to family is inadvisable. Yes you trust each other but when/if things go wrong it is hard for mum to evict her son!!! You lose your job or your HB and can't pay the rent, but mum still has to pay the mortgage? Better to keep business (which renting is) separate from family.

Your mum will be a landlord, with all the legal responsibilities that involves. Does she understand what's involved? She'll need to declare the income as tax and........ 101 other things.

Whether you can claim HB will depend if the council thinks it is a 'contrived' tenancy or a real one. If they think the tenancy was only created to help you make a claim, they'll say no.

There are also new rules on the amount they'll pay. How old are you?

sillysod666

To say that am on the verge of a nervous breakdown, where we have moved to is an understatement. I have a job here, but it is not about money or jobs or anything, this place just is not HOME. Our old house in Rhyl was HOME, I feel like I will go round the bend if I do not move back there, not just the town, but our old house(HOME).

There are no mortgages involved, the house (in Rhyl) is hers outright and the house in the Midlands(jointly owned by me has I helped her to buy it) is too.

I am 40, and realise I have made the biggest mistake if my life moving, you do not know what you have till it is gone. She is thinking of renting anyway, the estate agents say they have plenty of people on their books looking to rent. I would be paying all bills etc and do any repairs that needed doing, as after all it has been my home for 22 years.

CIS

If you have a second property then it may be taken in to account as capital (it depends on your particular circumstances).

The council may have reservations about your suddenly renting a property from relatives where you have already previously lived in the home for such a length of time. If , when asked, you can provide evidence it is at an open market rent and that it was available for rental anway then you may be Ok.

sillysod666

The house has been on the market for over a year, the mothers money is slowly dwindling away, so the only option pretty soon is to rent it. I hate it here in the Midlands and want to move back to Rhyl, so why not my old home??? We would do everything by the books. If I rented from her I would get a room/house-mate who would then help with the rent/bills etc, then I would not have to depend on housing or council tax benefits etc.

clutton_2

if your mother has no mortgage, and charges you no rent, then i can see no problems at all about you moving back into your old home - as you would not be a tenant as you would not be paying any money for rent ....

Tiddlywinks

Your post is a little confusing as you use 'we' a lot when you might mean 'I'....

Do you have a financial interest in the house in Rhyl? Is it wholly owned by your mother?

The new house in the midlands - do you own it alone or with your mother?

What do you intend to do with the house in the midlands? Sell it? Rent it out?

Basically, you own property (assets), will rent a house owned by your mother (on which she has no mortgage) yet you want the taxpayer to help you pay her rent. Does that sound fair to you - because from where I'm sitting, I think not.

carefullycautious

Cant you both go home if you are so unhappy and rent the house out in the Midlands.

Can you just verify that you have purchased the house in the Midlands between both of you as it is not clear in your post

sillysod666

I have no financial interests in the house in Rhyl,none. It is that it has been my home for 22 years. We thought we would move back to where we were originally from, the West Midlands a good idea at the time(we lost my father a few years back, and the mother wanted to be closer to the family). We thought things would be ok, being from there originally. But my mother wants to stay here,where we live now, but I know I do not. Rather than rent somebody elses house, I just thought why not my old house of my moms, I pay her rent(going rate). I would only if needed claim HB and CT until I can get a houseshare,/room mate etc and then there would be no need to claim from the state. Never claimed anything off the state before, we have always paid our own way.


I gave my mother half towards the deposit for the new house(midlands), she was only capable of buying this house because of compensation from the death of my father through medical negligence, and his small works pension payout. But she wanted the house before any of this money was paid up. So, I helped pay some of the deposit before the house was sold to someone else. I only own a nominal portion of this house(jointly owned),I have no interest in it in anyway, it has brought us nothing but bad luck, it is the mothers house has far as I am concerned.

I hate it here and would gladly move back to Rhyl tomorrow, and the mother wants to stay here.

HappyMJ

As you jointly own a home in the midlands you wouldn't get HB to rent another house in rhyl whether it's your mother's or owned by anyone else unless you sell the house in the midlands. By moving out of your part owned home in the Midlands you would be expected to charge your mother rent for your half of the house which you can then use to pay your mother rent for the house in rhyl. Confusing... I don't see a problem with you claiming council tax benefit.