Should Grandson pay rent

birkee

This may seem a little mean, but, our Grandson fell out with his Mother at the end of 2009, and came to live with us.

In December 2010, he became 18 years of age, and qualified for 'jobseekers allowance' in January 2011. (not received a payment yet though.) He is now on a course with the Princes Trust.

My question is this.....as we are O.A.P's, the cost of keeping a teenager (bus passes, clothes, food etc) falls onto our pensions, but I can't help but feel, that jobseekers allowance isn't supposed to cover all his living expenses AND rent, were he not living with us.
Is he entitled to claim 'rent money' on top of his jobseekers allowance, and would we be entitled to charge him rent as a consequence?

What do I know? I worked every day of MY working life.

Hope you understand my concern over our pension income being diminished.

tinktinktinkerbell

he would not be able to claim HB anything like that because his name is not on the rent book

why are you paying clothes/bus pass etc? he should be paying that out of his JSA

fluffymovie

You have it the wrong way round poster.

He could only claim housing benefit if he had a liability to pay rent. It sounds like you aren't charging him rent but will do if you know it'll be covered by housing benefit. This is called a contrivance abd hb would be refused.

birkee

He still hasn't got any income Tinkerbell! He's still trying to get an account set up for them to pay it into. All his details changed when he moved down from Scotland, and he hasn't got enough I.D. with this address on, to open an account. Should happen any time now though.
For the last 12 months or so, who else was going to pay for his living here anyway?

Why can't we give him a rent book with HIS name on it anyway, on a bed, breakfast and evening meal basis? If he lived independantly, he is sure to pay more than his jobseekers allowance in rent, so that surely isn't meant to cover both?

hermum

He won't be able to claim HB as that isn't paid if someone is living in the home of a close relative.
He should pay you something from his JSA when he receives it as that is supposed to pay for living expenses.

fluffymovie

In HB, a grandparent isn't a close relative under Regulation 9 bizarrely!

birkee

fluffymovie wrote: »

You have it the wrong way round poster.

He could only claim housing benefit if he had a liability to pay rent. It sounds like you aren't charging him rent but will do if you know it'll be covered by housing benefit. This is called a contrivance abd hb would be refused.

Thanks fluffy (if you don't mind me using your first name.) that's helpful.
I DO know somone who "officially" charged his Mother rent, for living in his house. (He was single.) It can be done by some it appears.

Jowo_2

fluffymovie wrote: »

In HB, a grandparent isn't a close relative under Regulation 9 bizarrely!

Wow, I wasn't aware of that. The Shelter site also confirms this.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/housing_benefit_if_renting_from_a_family_member

OP - do you rent or own your property? If you rent it, does your landlord permit you to have a lodger?

Jowo_2

birkee wrote: »

I DO know somone who "officially" charged his Mother rent, for living in his house. (He was single.) It can be done by some it appears.

Nope. Never ever heard of a lodger being able to receive housing benefit when they live in the same property as their landlord who is a close relative, only when separate properties are involved and they don't share the same one. Could it be that they have a granny annexe that is considered a separate dwelling? It depends on the type of conversion.

hermum

fluffymovie wrote: »

In HB, a grandparent isn't a close relative under Regulation 9 bizarrely!

Well, I didn't know that. Good news for the OP.

Jowo_2

birkee wrote: »

If he lived independantly, he is sure to pay more than his jobseekers allowance in rent, so that surely isn't meant to cover both?

Fair point.

However, the housing benefit bill for the country has almost doubled in just over a decade to more than 20 billion pounds. The govt has always drawn the line at paying the rent of people who live with family members.

This would mean paying many more millions of pounds out from the public purse and absolve close relatives of any responsibility to provide mutual support and assistance.

birkee wrote: »

Why can't we give him a rent book with HIS name on it anyway, on a bed, breakfast and evening meal basis?

If your grandson is eligble to claim LHA, this is purely for rent.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/introduction_to_housing_benefit#1

It cannot cover:

• charges for heating, hot water, lighting or cooking,
• payments for any food or meals provided, or
• charges for care and support

Tenants/lodgers are expected to pay for all other costs out of their benefits, therefore any additional housekeeping charges you want over the charge for the rent has to come out of his JSA.