housing benefit paid for a static caravan

ricardo62

Hi im new, my ? is i am currently unemployed but looking for work, im trying to retrain? im currently living in my sisters house, but its not working out to the point she wants me out. My dad has kindly said he will buy me a second hand static caravan to live in thats on a holiday site near where i live ,the site fees are 2500pnds a year i cant afford them unless housing benefit will pat them ? i have rung my local housing dept and they have said they will? i just want reassurance from you learned people!! that that is correct ??? its open 11mths a year but the 1 mth its shut i will go back to my sis ..... your advice is appreciated....

starchild1972

You need a bona fide rental agreement to get housing benefit. If the site does not have a 12 month license then it may not be seen as residential living accomodation but a holiday home. (We lived in a caravan for 2 years, we were lucky as the site was part residential part holiday and had full license)
You MAY be able to get help with site fees but I think it may depend on the license of the site.

The risks of an 11 month occupancy licesne are...
You will have to re-apply for the housing benefit each year
Housing benefit may not cover site fees on a holiday site with restricted occupancy
Your father may own the caravan but the site may turn round and say "all caravans older than x have to be replaced by z date" (Common practise)
They may only pay 11 months worth of fees if they DO pay them.
They may say as your father owns the caravan then it is a "contrived tenancy" and refuse to pay due to close relationship.
Finding a job in a caravan may be difficult as will running a bank account as you do not have post box and you may not be able to have a landline phone put in.
You will still have water, gas/electric to pay for. Usually that will have to be paid to the site owners.

paulofessex

Also the prices of gas, if it is bottles, is an outstanding amount of money to pay to the site.

ricardo62

starchild1972 wrote: »

You need a bona fide rental agreement to get housing benefit. If the site does not have a 12 month license then it may not be seen as residential living accomodation but a holiday home. (We lived in a caravan for 2 years, we were lucky as the site was part residential part holiday and had full license)
You MAY be able to get help with site fees but I think it may depend on the license of the site.

The risks of an 11 month occupancy licesne are...
You will have to re-apply for the housing benefit each year
Housing benefit may not cover site fees on a holiday site with restricted occupancy
Your father may own the caravan but the site may turn round and say "all caravans older than x have to be replaced by z date" (Common practise)
They may only pay 11 months worth of fees if they DO pay them.
They may say as your father owns the caravan then it is a "contrived tenancy" and refuse to pay due to close relationship.
Finding a job in a caravan may be difficult as will running a bank account as you do not have post box and you may not be able to have a landline phone put in.
You will still have water, gas/electric to pay for. Usually that will have to be paid to the site owners.

hi paul thanks for reply , umm i can still go back to my sisters house in the 1 month the site shuts, is it better in that case to put her name on the sale agreement ie her surname is different to mine ?? and she owns it ?? if it says on the site licence agreement that the fees are 2500pnds a year is that good enough proof ? i have contacted the housing dept and they did say initially that i could get benefit to pay for the site fees , they just need proof of the charges ? so does that mean if it says on the licence agreement the fees is that basically good enough? I did actually tell them on the phone that my dad was buying it for me to live in and two different people never queried that fact ?? what is your advice is it better to say it was bought by a friend of my dads for me ? what exactly is the legal situation ??????

starchild1972

ricardo62 wrote: »

hi paul thanks for reply , umm i can still go back to my sisters house in the 1 month the site shuts, is it better in that case to put her name on the sale agreement ie her surname is different to mine ?? and she owns it ?? if it says on the site licence agreement that the fees are 2500pnds a year is that good enough proof ? i have contacted the housing dept and they did say initially that i could get benefit to pay for the site fees , they just need proof of the charges ? so does that mean if it says on the licence agreement the fees is that basically good enough? I did actually tell them on the phone that my dad was buying it for me to live in and two different people never queried that fact ?? what is your advice is it better to say it was bought by a friend of my dads for me ? what exactly is the legal situation ??????

The legal situation is that if it was bought for you and then put in your sister's name or a friend of your dad's then that would be fraud! Plain and simple.

The only thing you can do it be honest because they will find out.

Also you need to go and see someone in the housing benefit department and take all the details with you. It does depend on the site license.

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

You may be able to get help from HB to meet any site fees you have to pay in order to live in your caravan

The above is not a yes because of the license of the park.

They may put a limit on what they pay site fees wise, e.g. would they pay £48 a week for single person rent for someone your age?
Remember shared accomodation rate is changing to under 35's so that may limit it.
You need to find out in writing what the local council's rules are.

ricardo62

thanks for your reply , actually my sister is buying it ive been informed , its being paid with a bank transfer from her bank. i did inform the council it was on a holiday site and not a residential , and tey replied they dont differentiate between holiday and residential? the fees are 2500pnds a year and the L H A rates for a 1 bed flat for this council are 88pnds a wk? i did also look up on d w p website and they say on there you can get housing benefit for a static ? so can i assume i will get it ????

wombles_forever

Sorry, you can't assume anything you need to have all of the facts, figures and details and then take them to your LA and ask for official clarification as this area can be very complex.

If it is a holiday park have you had permission from the site owners to live there as there are rules and regulations that mean that some parks do not allow this.

It is best to get everything confirmed to avoid any nasty shocks in the future.

paddedjohn

What a brilliant way of getting a fee free holiday home. A £1 to a piece of st1t says your Sis will using it in the summer.

wombles_forever

Also you may find that as it will be in your sister's name you will have no right to have the site fee's paid for you and it may be the case that your sister will have to pay these and charge you rent. In this case you would not be able to claim anything as you are renting from a close relative. As I said this could be fraught with pitfalls.

ricardo62

er not if i have anything to do wiv it? i will be there?? ive gt permission to stay on site while its open ?? the only thing is i cant give the council all the facts until ive moved in ??? they said when im living there to ring them and they will help me fill in form over phone for housing benefit ??????

nannytone_2

all the ????? make your posts difficult to decipher.
you only need use a ? when actually asking a question.