Father Renting House, Can I Receive Housing Benefit?

Kraze

My father is due to move into a 2 bedroom house in 1 months time. He will be renting this house from a private landlord. I am currently on JSA, would it be possible to receive Housing Benefit (shared room rate, under 25) and rent a bedroom in the house?

Thankyou.

pmlindyloo

Have reported the inappropriate post from EXIT 909. Won't quote it here!

Welcome to the forum.

As usual, just a couple of questions to begin with.

Has your father permission for you to live in the flat? Will you be adding your name to the rental agreement?

Kraze

Thankyou.

Yes I have my fathers permission to live in the house, I will be able to add my name to the tenancy if this is going to help me in any way. Basically because I will be living with my father I just wondered if this will affect me being able to receive housing benefit as opposed to renting a room from a stranger. My dad will not be the landlord as he is just a private tenant.

hcb42

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/YoungPeople/Money/FinancialHelpForYoungPeople/DG_10027506

In short no.

t0rt0ise

You can't usually get housing benefit if you're living the in the house of a relative.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018926

hcb42

and thank the lord for that. Otherwise we would have massive HB claims everywhere while they give Mum and Dad a tenner out of their JSA.

OP I am sure your Dad will not ask you for any/too much board money while you are on JSA. you can then make it up to him when you get a job, a benefit claim isn't the answer here.

pmlindyloo

Sorry, meant to say 'has the landlord given you pemission to move in?'

I'm afraid the answers probably aren't good news for you.

I think the options are:

1. Move in with your dad and give him something towards the rent/food/utility bills etc from your JSA and pay back, if necessary, when you find a job.

2. Find a shared room in a house, get a proper agreement and apply for HB (Look up on your council's website what the Housing Allowance is for someone your age)

3. Ring your council (and this is a long shot), explain the situation and see what they say about Housing Benefit. From what I've read it says that they do not normally pay HB when living in the home of a parent.

Just as an aside and not wishing to start a debate here..........How old are you? I am asking because whilst I think it is appropriate for young adults to be living with their parents and those parents helping out if they can/when hard times fall, I do think it is strange that the council would provide HB if the op moved to a shared house but wouldn't if he 'shared' with his father.

Best of luck.

hcb42

they won't pay for young people sharing with their fathers - because the country would not be able to afford it - and it would makes it an easy way for benefit fraud by overstating what is paid.

I guess they have to provide where young people are not living at home, for whatever circumstances.

I am not clear where the OP currently lives though, as these two threads are confusing.

It's exactly the same for couples if you think about it. If one partner is on JSA, but the other is working, then they wouldnt get additional benefits other than JSA (assuming the working partner earns a reasonable amount), but if one person lived alone and was on JSA, then they might also get HB. In fact, even if I lived with my father, at 43, I wouldnt get HB either if I was unemployed - so the age doesn't really matter in this case.

Kraze

I understand. I am 22 and have just been made redundant, I was privatly renting a house until a few weeks ago. I am now sleeping on a friends sofa.

Kraze

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Sorry, meant to say 'has the landlord given you pemission to move in?'

I'm afraid the answers probably aren't good news for you.

I think the options are:

1. Move in with your dad and give him something towards the rent/food/utility bills etc from your JSA and pay back, if necessary, when you find a job.

2. Find a shared room in a house, get a proper agreement and apply for HB (Look up on your council's website what the Housing Allowance is for someone your age)

3. Ring your council (and this is a long shot), explain the situation and see what they say about Housing Benefit. From what I've read it says that they do not normally pay HB when living in the home of a parent.

Just as an aside and not wishing to start a debate here..........How old are you? I am asking because whilst I think it is appropriate for young adults to be living with their parents and those parents helping out if they can/when hard times fall, I do think it is strange that the council would provide HB if the op moved to a shared house but wouldn't if he 'shared' with his father.

Best of luck.

Yes the landlord has given me permission to move in

Gwhiz

Some double posting going on here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3252886

OP - try to post in one area as it avoids duplication and confusion.