Renting from family and housing benefit

pmlindyloo

St_pete wrote: »

She is registered disabled as she as a illness. She's currently living at her mums house but her step dad has had a stroke and needs care which her mum is doing so it's becoming hard for her mum to look after both.

When she had a meeting with the council she was told her partner would be able to stay at the rented property due to her illness.

The top up fees would only be £18 per month so it's not much to top up really.

Am a bit confused now - sorry.

Is her Housing benefit based on her partner living there? So the local housing allowance quoted is for a one bed place? Does her partner work or are they claiming Carer's Allowance for your SIL?

Just trying to work out that she will get the amount that has been quoted and a mistake hasn't been made.

St_pete

pmlindyloo wrote: »

What are your sister in laws circumstances? Is she living in overcrowded circumstances? Does she have children? How will she afford the 'top up' fees?

Sorry, not trying to bombard you with questions just trying to consider what questions the council might ask in view of the fact that she isn't claiming HB at the moment.

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Am a bit confused now - sorry.

Is her Housing benefit based on her partner living there? So the local housing allowance quoted is for a one bed place? Does her partner work or are they claiming Carer's Allowance for your SIL?

Just trying to work out that she will get the amount that has been quoted and a mistake hasn't been made.

I'm not 100% as that's her business etc.

Her partner does not get carers allowance. Her partner works full time.

pmlindyloo

St_pete wrote: »

I'm not 100% as that's her business etc.

Her partner does not get carers allowance. Her partner works full time.

I understand that it's her business but if her partner works full time then she needs to check that she is eligible for the amount of housing benefit that she is saying she is entitled to.

Are you going to rent to her and her partner?

St_pete

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I understand that it's her business but if her partner works full time then she needs to check that she is eligible for the amount of housing benefit that she is saying she is entitled to.

Are you going to rent to her and her partner?

She was totally honest with the council and told them everything. He told her she would get £108 per week.

I'm not sure if it would be in Both there names or just the SIL.

Why what's you thinking ?

St_pete

Anyone else with any advice?

twobob77

Hi all

Im after information on if my parents will get help if they rent my buy to let off me.
I'd like to now what is requiered to achive getting them help to help me to cover the interest.
They are both retired and wish to move closer to me so that I can help look after them(shopping run, garden, doctors and so on). I shall be living in my own house.
They have no money in saving and my farther gets disability dur to very very poor health, my mother is his career(poor soul) and wont to move closer to me.

I know this sounds cheeky but there is no other way to help them if I cant cover my interest on the property.

pmlindyloo

twobob77 wrote: »

Hi all

Im after information on if my parents will get help if they rent my buy to let off me.
I'd like to now what is requiered to achive getting them help to help me to cover the interest.
They are both retired and wish to move closer to me so that I can help look after them(shopping run, garden, doctors and so on). I shall be living in my own house.
They have no money in saving and my farther gets disability dur to very very poor health, my mother is his career(poor soul) and wont to move closer to me.

I know this sounds cheeky but there is no other way to help them if I cant cover my interest on the property.

This is perfectly possible.

HB is not paid to people if it is a 'contrived' tenancy i.e. set up specifically to claim benefits.

If you have rented your property out before this will help. If you set up a proper tenancy agreement and be willing to follow all the landlord's responsibilities including evicting them for unpaid rent (for example) then you should be OK.

Having said that all councils vary and some take a more 'lenient view' than others.

Have you talked to your mortgage company as some do not allow you to rent to close members of the family?

Also, you don't say how large the house is. Your parents would be entitled to the one bed local housing allowance rate (HB). You can look this up on your local website.

The rent should be in line with other similar properties but your parents could pay the 'top up' from their income.

BigAunty

pmlindyloo wrote: »

The rent should be in line with other similar properties but your parents could pay the 'top up' from their income.

Advice on how to avoid falling into the definition of a contrived tenancy often cite the need for it to be a 'commercially' operated tenancy, one with a formal tenancy in place, for example.

However, the interpretation of this that it requires the landlord to charge market rent in order for it to fulfill this condition is subject to dispute in the research that I've done. Also, the need to show the property has been rented out to other tenants in the past. Suggest the OP googles 'contrived tenancy' to dig up the guidance on this topic.

"In deciding whether or not the agreement is commercial, the local authority must look at the whole agreement, taking into account all the circumstances. For example, they can look at the agreement to pay rent. As long as there is a binding and legally enforceable agreement that rent has to be paid on a regular basis, a claimant does not need to demonstrate that it is a market rent (in other words, a rent typical of private rents locally).
The local authority should also not assume that just because a claimant is a relative of, or has a close relationship, with their landlord, that this automatically means that the agreement is non-commercial. For example, government documents drawn up to train Local Authority Housing Benefit departments (www.dwp.gov.uk/housingbenefit/training/2/2_3.asp) say that it can be considered as reasonable that a landlord may want to choose to rent to someone that they know, in order to be certain of having a good tenant.
The council should also consider that a claimant might have good cause to move into a property, which has been rented to them by a close relative. For example, it may be to enable a young person to leave their parental home, or to provide a more suitable home for a person with a disability.
The council should consider and fully investigate all these facts and then show that the agreement is not on a commercial basis.

It should be remembered that contrived tenancies are those that have been created by the tenant and/or landlord to abuse the HB Scheme. As such, contrivance cannot apply where the main reason for entering into the tenancy was to provide a home for the claimant and their family.
Examples of evidence used by claimants to show that a tenancy is not contrived:
- A commercial agreement, such as a Tenancy Agreement document, a Rent Book, or bank statements showing evidence of regular rent payments.
- Mortgage statements from the landlord showing that payments are needed to be met by a rent payment.
- The Landlord arranges for tenant to be given a tenancy, which is then dealt with on a daily basis by a Managing Agent.
- Evidence that there is no other suitable accommodation, if the tenant in question is disabled."

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

EDIT - older DSS circular here (guidance for HB staff on Contrived Tenancies)

"[FONT=&quot]The Department's view is that arrangements can be on a commercial basis even where the accommodation is not let for purely financial motives or where the rent is below market levels.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]...

You must be able to show a good reason for believing that a liability has been created to take advantage of Housing Benefit when refusing benefit under this regulation. The Court of Appeal has held that a local authority must demonstrate that taking advantage of Housing Benefit, rather than satisfaction of a reasonable housing need, must be the primary or dominant purpose behind the creation of a rent liability for it to fall foul of regulation [/FONT]"[/FONT]

https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/pdfs/HBCTB_A30_95_Circular.doc


Hopefully the poster called 'Housing Benefit Officer' can clarify.

Mojisola

twobob77 wrote: »

They are both retired and wish to move closer to me so that I can help look after them(shopping run, garden, doctors and so on). I shall be living in my own house.

They have no money in saving and my farther gets disability dur to very very poor health, my mother is his career(poor soul) and wont to move closer to me.

I know this sounds cheeky but there is no other way to help them if I cant cover my interest on the property.

There is another option in that they can rent a place from someone else.

Twister17

Hi there, sorry to dig up a fairly old thread. Just wondered if anyone could advise. We currently rent a house but have been looking to move for a while, we receive a small amount of housing benefit and we're generally good tenants, always pay our rent on time and we look after the property. My partners cousin has approached us asking if we'd be interested in renting his house from him, the house is in a better area than where we are currently and he would be living elsewhere obviously. I just wondered if it would be possible to continue receiving housing benefit if we did move into the house as I know there are different rules when it comes to renting from family members (we still need to view it to make sure it's suitable for us and everything). From what I've read it would be possible as long as it can be proved that it's not a 'contrived tenancy' and everything is above board. I wouldn't want to get in trouble or anything so I'm just wondering if we did move in, what would we/my partners cousin need to do in order to prove that everything is legitimate?