Council Tax included in rent for subletter?

earthbound_misfit

Sorry to post a new thread on this but one last question...
If I (on benefits) sublet spare room to a working tenant, obviously this amount would be deducted from my HB. As I would be liable for the whole council tax, would it be ok to ask for half of it from the subtenant, in the same way as utility bills, or would a contribution to council tax count as income I should declare to HB?
Likely housemate/subtenant has found work so won't sign a joint tenancy unless necessary as I don't want to hassle my landlord! (have permission to sublet)

enabledebra

I haven't seen your other post(s) but this is how it works.

If your subtenant is paying you rent it's included as income when deciding how much Housing Benefit/ Council Tax Benefit you are entitled to. You are still considered to be liable for the whole rent and council tax due for the property.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/hbgm-bw2-assessment-of-income.pdf


Income from sub-tenants
W2.550 For a definition of sub-tenants, see C1 Tenants and sub-tenants.

W2.551 It should be noted that in the case of a claimant on IS or Pension Credit, this calculation is not necessary since it will have been done already as part of the assessment of entitlement to IS or Pension Credit.

W2.552 When a claimant is a tenant with a sub-tenant, or an owner-occupier with a tenant, living in part of their home and there is a contractual liability to pay for the accommodation, the income from each sub tenant has a disregard of £20.

W2.553 The £20 disregard is applied irrespective of whether the charge includes a payment for heating.

I'm not sure waht your circumstances are but if you are on IS or income based JSA then the income from subletting will affect this first and if you still receive some IS JSA your HB/CTB would be unaffected.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch28.pdf

Income from subletting
28190 Where a claimant sublets part of the home to another person the DM should
1.
add together all payments made for the week by that subtenant and/or a member of the subtenant’s family and
2.
disregard1
2.1 £20 or
2.2 the whole of the amount paid where the total is less than £20.
Note: In this guidance “home” means the dwelling occupied as the home.
1 JSA Regs, Sch 7, para 20; IS (Gen) Regs, Sch 9, para 19
Vol 5 Amendment 24 February 2008
Example 1
Sally has a subtenant in her home who is liable under a contract to pay her rent. The weekly rent is £50. The subtenant pays £30 on Tuesday and £20 on Saturday.
The DM
1.
adds together the payments in the week £30 + £20 = £50
2.
and deducts £20.
The DM takes £30 a week into account.
Example 2
Robin has two subtenants in his home. Both subtenants pay £65 a week. The DM
1.
adds together the payments in the week £65 + £65 = £130
2.
and deducts £40 (£20 for each subtenant). The DM takes £90 a week into account.