Housing benefit living room question

shandoli

I am thinking of renting a flat with one of my friends.

I am on no benefits at all but my friend would be on JSA and housing benefit.

he is under 35 so would be eligible for a shared rate for his LHA.

My question is. If we rent a 1 bed flat with a living room and use the living room as 2nd/his bedroom, would he still qualify for the housing benefit?

Is there any difference between renting a 2 bed flat with a living room VS 1 bed flat with living room converted to a 2nd room for the purposes of LHA?

Thanks

Housing_Benefit_Officer

I wouldn't pay Housing Benefit for someone sleeping in the living room as you don't have the sole use of a room. I would probably treat you as a couple as you only have 1 bedroom.

jayII

My daughter and her friend live in a 2-bed student flat with no living room (kitchen, bathroom and 2 bedrooms). As I understand it, they'd both be entitled to the single room rate if they claimed HB.


Same goes for my student neighbours in their 4-bedroom student house with no living room. (Living room is used as the 4th bedroom.)


I suppose it depends if you use the second room as a 'family living room/his bedroom' or use it solely as his bedroom.

nannytone_2

in most circumstances, students cannot claim HB.
what you are describing are 'houses of multiple occupancy' and not flat shares.
they have different rules

Caz3121

think this is common in student properties but, as students, they are not eligible to claim housing benefit

jayII

Is there any rule that a shared house must have a living room? I'd be surprised. Equally, if the landlord agrees, there is nothing to prevent non-students living in 'student' properties and claiming housing benefit. ( I agree that students aren't usually eligible for housing benefit, though exceptions do apply.)


Nannytone: a house of multiple occupancy (usually 3 or more tenants, so not relevant to my daughter or the OP anyway?) is just another name for a 'shared house' in which multiple people can claim single-room housing benefit.

lovinituk

You're comparing apples with oranges. The students sharing a house is a completely different situation to the one described by the OP.

cattermole

At the end of the day there is no rule there has to have a living room that I know of.

He/she will get the shared rate of LHA so if a two bed it might not cover half the rent anyway.

Is HBO saying someone wouldn't get the shared rate for a bedsit? Does that have a living room? Surely it's a living room/bedroom in that instance for each person living in the block? They may also share bathroom/kitchen.

It becomes one room for one person and one for another and they share a kitchen and bathroom.

from Shelter website:

Shared accommodation generally means accommodation where you share a bathroom, toilet, kitchen and other facilities with other renters.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/what_is_housing_benefit/housing_benefit_if_you_are_under_35

So no mention of a "living room".

However it may depend on the agreement of the LL and whether the living room is separate i.e. you don't have to walk through it to get to the bathroom or kitchen, so if necessary it can be shown to be two distinct bedrooms/bedsits.

NYM

Under the Local Housing Allowance Scheme, the LHA is based on numbers of bedrooms alone. Therefore it will be vital when collecting lettings information to understand precisely how the property is being let to ensure the lettings information is used correctly and not to distort the LHA.

For example a 3 bedroom, 2 living room property may be let as 3 bedrooms to a family, but in a student area may be let as 5 bedrooms with each living room being let as a bedroom. The rent for each type of letting could vary considerable. In the latter case the 5 bedroom letting would be included in the LHA evidence for 5 bedrooms, but if let to a family, would be included in the 3 bedroom evidence.

http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/publications/Manuals/RentOfficerHandbook/Other/Procedures/r-roh-rooms.html


Clear as....mud

allen35

As far as I see it you need to have sole use of a room(s), having 1 bedroom in the property and someone sleeping in the living room probably wouldn't be accepted same as 3 or 4 people living in 1 bed' property all wouldn't qualify.

I'm sure if they can convince their LA they have sole use and it is in effect 2 bedsits they may qualify, this must be reflected in their tenancy agreement and not sure of any complications regarding bedsit properties.

shandoli

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Both of us are NOT students.

we are looking at flats with the following layout



I also cannot find anything regarding living rooms on the LHA website.

Do you think the above layout will work and not cause any problems with him getting LHA?