Taking in lodger while on housing benefit?

Jowo_2

Blimey - that old lady will be lucky to make a tenner out of the lodgings she charges, by the time food and bills are paid for. I hope she takes a lodger in for the company as she surely isn't benefitting from it economically.

HappyMJ

Jowo wrote: »

Blimey - that old lady will be lucky to make a tenner out of the lodgings she charges, by the time food and bills are paid for. I hope she takes a lodger in for the company as she surely isn't benefitting from it economically.

Might be a really cheap part of the country. I did a search for my area and there is one available for £46p.w all bills inclusive.

Jowo_2

HappyMJ wrote: »

Might be a really cheap part of the country. I did a search for my area and there is one available for £46p.w all bills inclusive.

I get the concept of low rents (for example, in economically deprived areas) but can't understand why the groceries, council tax or energy/water bills would be necessarily any lower for the old lady to bear and these would make up the bulk of her expenses.

My 2 bed flat costs £77 per month for gas/electricity, council tax is around £120. As it's in Scotland, it includes the water bill but if it didn't, that would be another £20 on top. My groceries are relatively cheap as it's mainly veggie meals but cost around £250 per month for two.

On that basis, the OP has a bargain - the old lady is barely covering her costs unless she's mega thrifty and can make 10 meals out of a tin of tomatoes and a kilo of mince...

Adams1

Jowo wrote: »

unless she's mega thrifty and can make 10 meals out of a tin of tomatoes and a kilo of mince...

Hahaha!

All this aside for a second. From what I've heard, a landlord is allowed to receive upto £4500 a year by renting out rooms without having to declare it... Was I misinformed?

(PS: The person in question is a old friend of my mothers who I happened to bump into the other day. She was the one that offered me to stay, as long as I can cover the expenses.)

Jowo_2

Adams1 wrote: »

All this aside for a second. From what I've heard, a landlord is allowed to receive upto £4500 a year by renting out rooms without having to declare it... Was I misinformed?

That's right. It's known as the 'Rent a Room scheme' and it means that a landlord with a live in lodger does not have to pay tax on rental income below £4250, I think, and therefore no tax return is required to be submitted.

HappyMJ

Jowo wrote: »

I get the concept of low rents (for example, in economically deprived areas) but can't understand why the groceries, council tax or energy/water bills would be necessarily any lower for the old lady to bear and these would make up the bulk of her expenses.

My 2 bed flat costs £77 per month for gas/electricity, council tax is around £120. As it's in Scotland, it includes the water bill but if it didn't, that would be another £20 on top. My groceries are relatively cheap as it's mainly veggie meals but cost around £250 per month for two.

On that basis, the OP has a bargain - the old lady is barely covering her costs unless she's mega thrifty and can make 10 meals out of a tin of tomatoes and a kilo of mince...

It's only the extra costs that the old lady is asking for so lets say her electric/gas goes from £60 to £75 per month her council tax goes from £90 to £120 per month. The extra food required can be done quite easily for £10 per week for 1 person. I doubt she's making food from scratch it's more of a the pot's on and you're welcome to have some of it. The OP can get the other groceries. So it's still quite profitable. £90 per month of extra expenses and she's charging £200 every 4 weeks. Most of it, if not all of it, will be ignored for benefit purposes. If she charged any more the council would take the extra away from her benefits.

Jowo_2

Now that the OP has said his accommodation is a favour, on a not for profit basis, the low rent and perks makes sense.

zzzLazyDaisy

Adams1 wrote: »

Question is, is it possible to get housing benifit for myself (£50) if I'm moving in with somebody that already is on housing benefit?
Thanks!

In order to make a claim for housing benefit you will need to produce a lodger's agreement from your landlady. As she has said you can stay if you cover expenses, she is probably not thinking of having a formalised lodger agreement, but just considers it as doing you a favour letting you have somewhere to stay. Given that formalising the arrangement will result in her losing her single person council tax discount as well as having to delare the income on her own HB claim, it seems unlikely that she will want to get involved in helping you to claim HB for living with her.

Adams1

Wow. This sucks. Looks like its back to the local papers!

fluffymovie

Good point stormy! If meals are included you would be considered a boarder.

We then disregard the first £20 and use 50% of the remainder so would only be £15 added to her income