Should Grandson pay rent

MrsManda

JSA is meant to cover living costs: clothes, food, transport etc...

He may be able to claim Housing Benefit/Local Housing Allowance but I think he'd need a formal tenancy or lodging agreement with you and he'd need to convince the council that it was a contrived tenancy i.e. you're only charging him rent because you know he can get it paid by the council.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/rr2-a-guide-to-housing-benefit/housing-benefit/

If he moved out and lived independently he'd get LHA, JSA and probably Council Tax Benefit as well.

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?

People on means tested benefits who don't live in the same property as close relatives are eligible for local housing allowance.

Someone of your grandson's age who is single would get the equivalent LHA rate of an average cost of a room in a shared property. You can identify this rate on the LHA direct website.

The vast majority of tenancies (and some lodgings) exclude all bills. Someone on means tested benefits will not have to pay council tax but it still leaves a youngster on JSA just £50 a week that needs to cover food, electricity, gas, water, telecoms, travel, clothes and so on. So if he moved out, he would get LHA, but then struggle to afford other essential costs.

Proposed changes to the benefit system mean that in future, the LHA rate will be based on the bottom third of local market rents so the rates are declining. Secondly, those on JSA for more than a year will have a 10% cut in their LHA.

Oldernotwiser

The question of rent aside, he really should be giving you most of his JSA for his keep - it isn't given to him for pocket money but to pay for his food and his share of the bills..

Jowo_2

MrsManda wrote: »

..
He may be able to claim Housing Benefit/Local Housing Allowance but I think he'd need a formal tenancy or lodging agreement with you and he'd need to convince the council that it was a contrived tenancy i.e. you're only charging him rent because you know he can get it paid by the council.

.

Hmmmm. The thing is, a person can only be a tenant in the legal meaning of the word if they have exclusive occupation of the property, or part of the property, a separate dwelling from their landlord.

Could it be that the regulations around a contrived tenancy only apply to tenants, not lodgers (also known as excluded occupiers). The grandson is a lodger.

I don't want to confuse matters but there is a difference between a tenant and a lodger in housing law and I wonder whether or not the contrived tenancy regulations in Housing Benefit actually solely apply to tenants? I'm just thinking outloud, wondering whether the HB regulations use the term 'tenancy' quite loosely.

Here's some info on what constitutes a contrived tenancy.

http://www.ownershipoptions.org.uk/pdf/Buying%20to%20let%20to%20a%20relative.pdf

Jowo_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

The question of rent aside, he really should be giving you most of his JSA for his keep - it isn't given to him for pocket money but to pay for his food and his share of the bills..

I blame EMA for the young associating state issued allowances with pocket money! I'm glad it's being scrapped.

Some students have received pocket money from the state for several years in the guise of EMA who do not have any great travel or educational expenses so its no wonder if some then go onto see JSA as almost twice the amount of pocket money they got with EMA!!

(This post isn't aimed at the OP, btw, I am merely going off topic...).

laurel7172

If he were getting housing benefit, it would only cover his rent.

You pay your rent/mortgage or whatever whether he lives with you or not, so that's no extra expense.

His JSA is supposed to pay for his clothes, food, bus fares, gas and electric. So once that comes through, you are absolutely justified in expecting board, and to stop paying out for him.

He may not like it, but he surely didn't think he could live off you and have his JSA as pocket money?

fluffymovie

Jowo, HB is paid to lodgers and I would say that Reg 9 would apply.

If the grandson has lived there rent free, I feel it would be refused OP

GlasweJen

Technically it would have been possible for your grandson to claim LHA if he had done so at the start.

You would have had to have drawn up a contract for the rent and charge it from day 1. As you did not do this from the start and there is no arrangement at the moment for him to pay rent to start charging rent just to get benefits would be "contriving a tenancy". If you'd set it up properly at the start you would have been expected to chase your grandson for rent and evict him for non-payment as you would any other tenant.

So no, you can't claim LHA under the circumstances you've described.

Jowo_2

fluffymovie wrote: »

Jowo, HB is paid to lodgers and I would say that Reg 9 would apply.

If the grandson has lived there rent free, I feel it would be refused OP

I agree that HB is paid to lodgers. Those who have contrived tenancies do not receive HB.

A lodger is not a tenant. They do not have a tenancy. They have a licence to occupy. So how can their tenancy be contrived if they don't have a tenancy?

I know I could be being pedantic, etc, but I am just curious why HB would use the term 'contrived tenancy' when it's not, in the legal sense, a tenancy.

pandaspot

We normal refer cases like these to the rent officer where meals are included under the substantial board and lodge rule. It's up to the rent officer to decide whether this case would be treated as lha or odrt.

I really can't see hb being granted anyway as to be this is a contrived tenancy there is no way I would grant hb

Sorry