help with rent from my elderly parents

dobbo33

Can some one please help me
I have 2 elderly parents living in my house which I own and have a morgage on im struggling with every day things because of a much lower paid job they have been living in my house for around 13yrs they have no money just there pension credits etc 6 yrs ago we applied for rent from the council we filled out out all relavent forms etc but we/them were turned down for rent because both our surnames are the same
We did appeal but to no avail the lady at the council office said if we had different surnames the council would of paid me rent for my elderly parents my dad is 80 my mum is 78
now if I were to change my surname do you think I could get then get rent from the council
Going back to the begining it was citerzens advice that told us to go to the council to get rent from them through the council but obviously they didnt know about the same surname thing
any advice please......
thanks

suelizab

The council will not pay your mortgage . I don't think the council will pay rent for anyone living with family .

Gingernutty

Look up "contrived tenancy".

Even if your parents have a proper rental agreement, I doubt they'd be able to claim housing benefit.

Are you claiming everything you're entitled to?

Have you tried the Working Tax Credit Calculator?

[Deleted User]

If your parents need help with daily care, you should be able to get carers allowance or attendance allowance. Its not much but everything would help.

I'd advise you to contact Age UK, see if they can give any advice.

You hit problems with HB not just because of the 'same names' thing but because if they didn't pay rent, as family member, they'd be unlikely to be evicted by you. This is called a contrived tenancy. If you applied for HB for them, whether names were the same or not, you'd have to tick the box saying they are family members. So changing your name probably wouldn't help. It would still be looked at as a contrived tenancy and is difficult to avoid if you have family members living with you.

You are doing a fantastic thing, looking after your parents but I'd advise looking for other ways of getting extra funds.., like looking into the reasons they need care/room and board etc. I'm not sure if DLA can be claimed for someone over pensionable age, I suspect not (this issue arose with my dad and I think DLA was stopped once he was old enough to qualify for a pension).

Age UK is the best place to go. I suspect you can apply for extra allowances (even if not DLA) because of their age and if they have care needs.

dobbo33

Thankyou for your advice/replys

i dont live in the house
All I can say is when we went up to the council offices the lady specificly said it was purely to do with having the same surnames yes there my mum and dad but it was the fact the surnames were the same
They do not pay council tax as there on pension credits
the lady said the rules changed around 5 yrs before we applied so that must of been around 2003 they changed because there were a lot of cases abusing the system
Im not after the morgage being paid I just want rent from them In a nice way and I would never ever throw them out
Thanks

ViolaLass

dobbo33 wrote: »

Im not after the morgage being paid I just want rent from them So you can pay the mortgage, surely? In a nice way and I would never ever throw them out.

Which is what makes it a contrived tenancy.

pmlindyloo

dobbo33 wrote: »

Can some one please help me
I have 2 elderly parents living in my house which I own and have a morgage on im struggling with every day things because of a much lower paid job they have been living in my house for around 13yrs they have no money just there pension credits etc 6 yrs ago we applied for rent from the council we filled out out all relavent forms etc but we/them were turned down for rent because both our surnames are the same
We did appeal but to no avail the lady at the council office said if we had different surnames the council would of paid me rent for my elderly parents my dad is 80 my mum is 78
now if I were to change my surname do you think I could get then get rent from the council
Going back to the begining it was citerzens advice that told us to go to the council to get rent from them through the council but obviously they didnt know about the same surname thing
any advice please......
thanks

Just checking....... Do you live in the house too?

If you are a non resident landlord it is perfectly possible for your parents to get HB and CT support although it is a difficult process.

You have to show that your relationship as a landlord and tenants is a commercial one. ie. no different to any other tenancy so a tenancy agreement, your acting as a proper landlord including evicting them if they went into arrears/breached their tenancy agreement.

It seems that you could not prove that you all had a commercial tenancy and therefore the HB and CT support was denied.

So, your options now are:

Check whether one or both are receiving Attendance Allowance. (google for more info.) This might allow them to give you a bit extra each week.

Move them to a one bed place where they can apply for HB and CT support and get tenants in your place. Do they have care needs? Would they, for example, benefit from living in sheltered accommodation?

A difficult one, I understand as I suspect they do not need the hassle of moving at their age.

Any chance of your moving back it with them?

theartfullodger

As pmlindy says:

If you hit problems with council paying HB to you then get parents to move to another rented home (normal commercial rent), you rent yours out to someone else (normal commercial rent), then you evict your tenant, parents move back in (normal commercial rent, normal AST, stress to council you will evict etc..) and you should then be OK for HB/LHA claim.

Also run a benefit entitlement check for parents...
https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators
- to see if there is anything else they may be entitled to..

No offence but, permission to rent out from mortgage lender, gas safety certificate, landlord insurance, rental income declared to HMRC (even if making a loss??)

Best regards

pmlindyloo

theartfullodger wrote: »

As pmlindy says:

If you hit problems with council paying HB to you then get parents to move to another rented home (normal commercial rent), you rent yours out to someone else (normal commercial rent), then you evict your tenant, parents move back in (normal commercial rent, normal AST, stress to council you will evict etc..) and you should then be OK for HB/LHA claim.

Also run a benefit entitlement check for parents...
https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators
- to see if there is anything else they may be entitled to..

No offence but, permission to rent out from mortgage lender, gas safety certificate, landlord insurance, rental income declared to HMRC (even if making a loss??)

Best regards

I understand where you are going with your first suggestion but am not sure this would work.

I believe that on the HB application form you have to give your previous addresses for the last 5 years - council might pick up on the fact they previously lived there.

Plus, do they really want all the hassle?

McKneff

surely your parents get state pension as well as pension credits.


Probably the thick end of £1k a month. Why are they not paying you rent out of that.....

Cheeky_Monkey

dobbo33 wrote: »

Thankyou for your advice/replys

i dont live in the house
All I can say is when we went up to the council offices the lady specificly said it was purely to do with having the same surnames yes there my mum and dad but it was the fact the surnames were the same
They do not pay council tax as there on pension credits
the lady said the rules changed around 5 yrs before we applied so that must of been around 2003 they changed because there were a lot of cases abusing the system
Im not after the morgage being paid I just want rent from them In a nice way and I would never ever throw them out
Thanks

That's exactly what you are trying to do isn't it?