Housing Benefit - buying a flat for our disabled daughter

Sanzomat

fluffymovie wrote: »

I would say that if you gift her the 225, you are already not treating her as you would another tenant and it's non commercial.

Commonsense isn't best practice in benefits, we work to regulations set down by parliament so you can see why!!

There isn't case law in the same way as precedents and judiciary but there are a large number of reported decisions and commissioners decisions which you can google. Judge Jacobs is a favourite!

Any gift made to our daughter would be completely separate from the commerciality of the tenancy agreement - I can make whatever gifts I like to my children (as long as I don't die within 7 years or they'll count towards inheritance tax!) whether they are my tenant or not.
The interpretation of the regulations set down by parliament is the problem. The wording of the regulations doesn't preclude the arrangement we are proposing unless the words are interpreted in that way and it seems there is lots of debate how the words of the law should be applied. Looks like its just a case of understanding the common interpretations (or at least how our individual LA interprets them) and working within them to find the path of least resistance.

Sanzomat

bobajob_1966 wrote: »

If the link is the one I think it is (I'm on my phone so can't open it), it talks about providing accom for a disabled person where there is no alternative available. In your situation there are alternatives, but they are not within your desired price range and/ or will not take a dog.

Lack of availability of suitable accommodation is where we started from and surely affordability has to be part of that suitability equation. Also the ability to take the dog is an important part (in her case) of suitability. It was only after searching for several months and failing to find anything that we came across this flat for sale and even thought about the idea of buying it to rent out. I still can't see why there is anything remotely wrong with buying a flat for her to rent as it simply solves the problem of her accommodation at no additional cost to the LA and the minimum of additional cost to us.

Sanzomat

KxMx wrote: »

I appreciate your difficulties, but these days 20 is very young for anyone to be able to move out of home. I am 24 and disabled and would love my independence but due to my financial circumstances it is not possible. I would love to be living my own life but I can't. I too have a "right" to move out of home but it won't happen for a few years yet. No family money to provide anything but the basics and not even anyone who can drive me around or give me lifts! So I have to remain at home despite my "right" to move out. A share house is no good to me either unless I have an ensuite toilet shall we say.

Sadly when you are disabled as you probably know, it is normal to have to wait longer to do things than someone healthy and/or earning a good wage.

Maybe go ahead with the shower adaption you mentioned or convert another house as suggested.

Have you been in touch with your local council to get her assessed by a Social Worker or Occupational Therapist? You could get adaptions for your current home to make things easier for her such as extra rails on the stairs, the shower etc.

I hope I don't come across as rude and I really admire what you are trying to do for your daughter. Just trying to say maybe it's a little early to be speaking of her "rights" when many of us have the same "rights" but have to remain at home anyway and it's not so terrible.

Hi, Thanks for you comments. I really wish I could help you too! I know that I'm really fortunate in having good health and having had a good job for many years so that I've been able to save up some money to enable me to be in a position where I can even think about buying a flat to rent out. I know that 20 may seem young to move out (especially given care needs etc) but I guess that if there was a way that you could then you would try it. I think its especially hard to be prevented from living a full live by a horrible disability at a time when everyone else of the same age is starting out living their own lives, either off to university or starting jobs and enjoying life to the full. That's one of the reasons we really want to help our daughter find some independance at this time. What she really wants is to be at university but that isn't going to happen but it looks like we can find a way (through our own good fortune and our own financial prudence) to give her a chance to live as independently as she can. I wish you the best of luck and hope you can find a way to make your life better!

Sanzomat

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Alternately, if you got a BTL mortgage, couldn't you buy a 2 bed flat with someone else renting the other bedroom?

Thanks for the suggestion but two problems with that idea.
1) There seems to be a big jump in price from one bed to two bed flats in our area and one of the reasons this works out is that this particulalr flat is a real bargain and we've got a decent lump of savings to put down meaning the interest is pretty much covered by the "room rate". The jump in price to go two bed, coupled with the bigger increase in the proportion that attracts interest, means that a second "room rate" rent will actually leave us worse off.
2) Sharing is one of the reasons why the previous tenancy she tried failed. The nature of her disability means, for example, she has to time her visits to the bathroom for when she is in least pain and able to move so if there was anyone in it at that time she may miss the opportunity! She can also be pretty hard to live with at times so any co-tenant would have to be very tolerant!!

fluffymovie

I'm sorry but in one if your posts, you said you'd set the rent at 495, she would get 270 and you'd give her the remaining 225 for her to pay back to you. Would you do this for any other tenant? If not, then the way in which you conduct the tenancy suggests it's not a tenancy at arms length.

However this is my view and I have ten years experience in HB which means id hope to have been able to try and help although your answers sound like you're pretty much set on going ahead so I'll wish you and your family the best of luck and bow out.

Macro_3

Sanzomat wrote: »

Any gift made to our daughter would be completely separate from the commerciality of the tenancy agreement - I can make whatever gifts I like to my children (as long as I don't die within 7 years or they'll count towards inheritance tax!) whether they are my tenant or not.

Of course you are free to make gifts to your children, but you would clearly not make similar gifts to assist with the rent of any unrelated tenant that you rented the property to, which suggests that the tenancy is not on a commercial basis.

Alternatively we could rent out the flat on the open market and be quids-in. In fact that's our fall back if this situation is deemed not claimable. We could rent out our flat, make a profit, find a 1 bed flat on the open market for our daughter to rent and claim HB (room rate) and use the profit from our flat to make up the difference between room rate and actual rent on our daughters rented flat.

It would be unfortunate if your daughter found herself unable to claim benefit and you found yourselves to be accidental landlords. Being a landlord is not easy or without risk. Would you be able to deal financially with void periods/non-paying tenants/damage to the property/repairs/costs of letting, insuring and maintaining/paying tax and still make a profit? It's quite a risk.

Oldernotwiser

Where do you live that the repayments on an IO BTL mortgage are so high, particularly as you have a large deposit and the flat is a bargain?