Legality of renting mobile home in grandparents garden

tommie1shunt

LandyAndy wrote: »

And the council ordered them out IIRC.

Did they? Didn't know that, seemed to remember they where doing it so they could save a deposit up. Perhaps they should have kept a low profile and not gone on TV.

pmlindyloo

As regards benefits I think your son and his partner need to think very carefully if they are considering claiming.

Since they are only paying £50 a week including utility bills and not paying council tax then I would think claiming HB might be difficult. Do they have a rental agreement or is this just a 'family arrangement'?

I do think they could apply for Tax credits and of course would receive Child benefit.

Bit of a minefield really especially if their address is the same as the partner's grandparents.

Perhaps you could post on the Benefits forum for further help and advice?

lincroft1710

As your son and gf occupy the mobile home as a separate dwelling, it is liable for its own Council Tax band (which would probably be a Band A, and if he is a genuine full time student they would get 25% discount). Claiming he lives at your home when he actually lives elsewhere is CT fraud. The CT bill can be backdated to when they moved in.

Also as has been posted by others, planning permission for this mobile home is needed as it is being occupied as a separate dwelling rather than an extra bedroom.

Don't rely on the fact that it is "hidden from view". Councils find out about the most unusual things on their patch.

pmlindyloo

lincroft1710 wrote: »

As your son and gf occupy the mobile home as a separate dwelling, it is liable for its own Council Tax band (which would probably be a Band A, and if he is a genuine full time student they would get 25% discount). Claiming he lives at your home when he actually lives elsewhere is CT fraud. The CT bill can be backdated to when they moved in.

Also as has been posted by others, planning permission for this mobile home is needed as it is being occupied as a separate dwelling rather than an extra bedroom.

Don't rely on the fact that it is "hidden from view". Councils find out about the most unusual things on their patch.

I bet you wish you hadn't asked!

I think there are going to be all kind of problems for your son and daughter in law if they are thinking of claiming benefits. You need to get some professional advice about this.

dottydora

I think I am being misunderstood here. the reason I am asking the questions is so that they can go about this correctly, not to find loopholes. I realise that it is ct fraud and am not comfortable with it, particularly as it is me that has listed him as living at my address. I have been thinking about it for some time, but being a p/t masters student working full time and life in general has prevented me from making it a priority and sorting it (apart from the fact that like someone said, it is not actually my business! Other than the ct element). therefore I am trying to establish what they can and can't do in terms of the mobile home and the benefits. I didn't for one minute suggest that because the mobile home was out of sight that this made it right! I think if the mobile home is genuinely allowed ie has planning permission, then presumably the issue only becomes the council tax and hopefully if they have their own bill they can get the 25% disregarded bit due to student and/or low income and then they can legitimately claim anything that may be possible. I don't have any experience of benefits other than working tax credits and child benefit. My son and his GF are not actually trying to get on the housing list, they are quite happy in their mobile home for now and hopefully my son qualifies as a teacher he will be able to find work and support them at which point they would consider renting or shared ownership. the point I am trying to make is that he isn't trying to claim benefits fraudulently or deliberately live somewhere that he shouldn't illegally, he wants everything to be above board, hence the original post. that said, I am still grateful for all the replies.

pmlindyloo

I don't believe many people were thinking that you or your son were trying to find loopholes or defraud the system - at least I didn't!

I am sure there are plenty of people who would have jumped at the chance to live in a comfortable mobile home for £50 a week and I am sure your son and partner feel very fortunate.

The problem is that you really don't know whether there is planning permission for the mobile home. So that is the first problem to sort out. If there is PP then there is the problem of whether there is any council tax liability on the mobile home. If there is then the CT arrears might be a problem.

Sorry to keep using the word 'problem' but if your son and partner need to claim benefits then all these (ahem!) problems would come to the surface.

I think there must be many situations where people are living in such circumstances and go on their merry way without any problems.

However, as soon as any agencies/authorities get wise to the circumstances then you will be opening a 'can of worms'.

It seems that the only way to resolve this is to find out about PP and then put everything else right.

Good luck!

dottydora

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I don't believe many people were thinking that you or your son were trying to find loopholes or defraud the system - at least I didn't.

It seems that the only way to resolve this is to find out about PP and then put everything else right.

Good luck!

thank you, yes the logical thing to do will be to ask my son and his GF to d/w her grandparents and find out if there is planning permission, then the issue will be the council tax and if necessary we will pay the last year's bill so that we can get everything all "legit". If there is not planning permission then they may have to consider moving back home, then raises the question of what they can and can't claim if they are
living under our roof and that's presumably a whole new ball game, not to mention a tight squeeze, lol. However, one step at a time. Thanks again for your replies, I do love this website.

lincroft1710

No criticism or judgement of you or your son, just pointing out that unfortunately matter can get very complicated. Applying for benefits is one of the ways councils uncover a lot of things which the applicants may not realise would be uncovered.

RAS

I would suggest that your son starts by asking his college/uni for a Council Tax exemption letter for the last two academci years. That will help if it comes to light.

00ec25

dottydora wrote: »

. they pay £50 per week rent and this includes utility bills.
I have concerns that the grandparents may "get into trouble" as they be liable for some tax or something on what might be considered an income? .

given the status of the mobile home is almost certainly that of a separate dwelling, then the grandparents are receiving £50pw rent from tenants (ie they cannot use the lodgers rent a room scheme tax free amount) so they must declare this for Income Tax purposes.

as it appears utility costs are included then GP can claim such costs as an offset against the income and they will only actually PAY income tax IF the net profit after those deductions is >£0 and their total income incl the net profit is > their personal allowance (split between the 2 of them if the property is owned together).
Apportioning the utility bills between the caravan and the GP's own usage will be a matter of debate, there is no set method, but it must be a reasonable basis

I reiterate, they are legally required to declare the fact they have the income even if there is no tax to pay. see direct gov guidannce