please help 31 March 2007 at 1:32PM in Benefits & Tax Credits 8 replies 645 views

diane118

hi please could some one help my friend has a half share in her late mums 3 bed house of which her brother lives in. He has got to pay her £250 a month in rent for her share of the house, he is on jobseekers allowance, will he get housing benifit to cover this amount per month by the way he has savings of between £5.000 and £15.000 not sure how much. thanks

Scarlett1

sorry im not understanding this, is the brother paying the sister for his share of the rent, is there a mortgage to be paid on the property and its in your friends name only then, if the house is all paid for then surely the brother doesnt have to pay anything?

my LA wont pay housing benefit if you rent from a family member.

diane118

hi as far as i know the house was left in a will 50 50 and it stated that my friend was to be paided rent for her 50% of her mums house, and that her brother who lives in the house at the moment, she does not live there, he has got to pay my friend the rent for her share there is not a morgage.she owns half of the house he is living in.

bonnie_2

hb would not pay out in these circumstances.it seems a bit strange her brother having to pay her rent if its partly his property. You cannot get hb paid if you have a share in a property or if your renting of family.

tanith

I guess the £250 is paid in rent to the OP's friend in consideration of her brother living in the house meaning that she cannot rent it out in the normal way , thus allowing her some income from the property until presumably the house would eventually be sold and the profit shared between her and her brother....

But everyone is correct in saying that HB would not be paid in these circumstances..... It might be better if they sold the house and each took their share , maybe that would avoid any falling out over the 'rent'. JMO But I suppose that would mean the brother not being able to claim any benefits....

diane118

she wants him to sell it and give her her half of the property but he wont do that so isnt she intitled to rent in return for her brother living in half of her share of the property.

tanith

I would imagine she could insist that he sell it if she really wanted to but of course its going to cause some ill-feeling... but it seems the obvious solution to me....

diane118

would the housing benefit not pay him rent to pay my friend as they would see it that he lives in a 3 bed house on his own which he owns half of and that he should sell it as he has money in the property and could sell it and give my friend her share he has lived in the property for 40yrs by the way. i dont think my friend says if he sold it that he would have enough to buy a flat with.

peter999

diane118 wrote: »

she wants him to sell it and give her her half of the property but he wont do that so isnt she intitled to rent in return for her brother living in half of her share of the property.

Difficult situation, but they need to investigate & agree how to deal with situation.

Don't think he will get HB in this situation, as he's not really renting, but paying to use the sisters' share. Normally he would only be entitled to HB for a single person, which wouldn't cover 3 bed house.

Give things time to settle & try to avoid saying anything stupid to each other.
Discuss & agree how to deal with situation, easier said than done I know.

peter999