close relative?

angiel72

Hi, my grandson is 19 years old, has dropped out of uni and is looking for work. my son in law and daughter moved to a smaller house when my grandson left and dont have room for him (he cant share with his 15 year old sister) i do not claim any benefits and as i have a spare bedroom i have told him he can move in with me as a lodger... he will pay £50 a week, buy his own food and contribute to the household bills. will he be able to claim housing benefit if he gets job seekers? or am i too close a relative for him to be able to claim housing benefit? i would love to let him live here for free but i just cant afford it. any advice would be great.

itch_for_a_glitch

What is the fifty quid for if he is going to "buy his own food and contribute to the household bills."

benefitbaby

A close family member is:

• parent or step-parent
• father-in-law or mother-in-law
• child or step-child
• son-in-law or daughter-in-law
• brother or sister (including half-brothers and half-sisters)
• brother-in-law or sister-in-law
• partner of any of the above.

The other thing you need to be aware of is the if you get a council tax single 25% single person discount this will end and you need to notify the council.
If you receive any benefits e.g. housing benefit or guarantee pension credit then the £50 you charge for the room may reduce entitlement.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

A landlord who is classed as a 'close relative' is:

a parent, step-parent or parent-in-law
a brother or sister (including half-brothers and half-sisters)
son, son-in-law, step-son, daughter, daughter-in-law, step-daughter
the partner (same or opposite sex) of any of the above

As long as the arrangement is on a commercial basis and not contrived there shouldn't be a problem. For instance if he didn't pay rent would you let him live with your rent free?

angiel72

the £50 is for renting the room and the use of the bathroom, kitchen, lounge etc .. which i could rent out to a "normal" lodger for around £85.

Jobseeeker

i think as long as you've rented out the room previously to a lodger then its not contrived

Poppie68

If you rent a room to a lodger is'nt the rent inclusive of household bills, so therefore should'nt the £50 include the bills?

angiel72

itch_for_a_glitch wrote: »

What is the fifty quid for if he is going to "buy his own food and contribute to the household bills."

errr a roof over his head, use of kitchen, lounge, bathroom, garden... and a contribution towards the £850 a month i pay to live here.

benefitbaby

Poppie68 wrote: »

If you rent a room to a lodger is'nt the rent inclusive of household bills, so therefore should'nt the £50 include the bills?

True, it may work out more expensive for the grandson to rent the room from the OP than it would if he did so privately, especially as his JSA is only £56.25 a week.

[Deleted User]

afraid i have to say that if a grandchild of mine needed a roof over their heads the last thing on my mind would be "what can i charge,and what benefits could they get"
and i speak as someone on benefits,without a pot to pi$$ in

bigboybrother

woodbine wrote: »

afraid i have to say that if a grandchild of mine needed a roof over their heads the last thing on my mind would be "what can i charge,and what benefits could they get"
and i speak as someone on benefits,without a pot to pi$$ in

I agree entirely. If any of my grandchildren became homeless, the spare bedroom would be their's for as long as they need it. As for charging rent, yes if it was a complete stranger, but the OP's grandson - that is not what family is about.

I would however expect some contribution towards their upkeep which is only fair.

Charging a homeless grandchild to sit down with Nana/Grandad to watch the telly or to use the garden in the summer is beyond belief.