Housing Benefit Advice - mum maybe moving in!

GwylimT

Would she be renting from your or the landlord?

If she rents from you it may be considered a contrived tenancy if you wouldn't for example evict her for not paying rent. Is she is renting from the landlord on a joint tenancy I'm not sure if she can claim HB.

Have you checked the council tax for the property? Two kitchens one in an annex normally means two separate properties for council tax purposes.

Have you asked the landlord if he/she is willing to have tenants on benefits?

Your mother needs to apply for ESA, she could also look at PIP, however havinf arthritis is unlikely to score many points.

Is she keeping up to date with her medical treatments and doing things off her own back, eg swimming which has significant benefits.

She does need to look at sources of work in the future, arthritis does not prevent you from working, of course some jobs would be out of the question but not all. My wife cannot walk and has very poor dexterity in her hands and it doesn't stop her working.

She could start by taking part in volunteering, not only does it keep her skills up to date it gets her out of the house which is just as important. Local blind societies are often desperate for people to just sit and read the paper in front of a microphone so they can send out cds to those in the area who have visual impairments.
If she is able to sit and watch your children she can do things like story time at local play groups, library etc. When she looks around she will see a huge range of things she can do until she finds suitable work.

pmlindyloo

You need to see if Housing Benefit Officer sees this post.

My understanding is that your mum would have to have liability for rent to be able to receive HB.

So, either your mum is a joint tenant with you on the whole house or your mum has her own liability for rent and council tax on the annex.

In both cases your landlord may not agree to making your mum a tenant as they might feel that she cannot meet the affordability rules. You can discuss this with the letting agent/landlord.

Certainly I cannot see that the LL will see that the annex is a self contained unit as it would then be liable for its own council tax.

So, first thing is to ask the letting agent if they will put your mum on the tenancy agreement as a joint tenant and then she would be eligible for HB.

Looking at this link

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/324708/lha-guidance-manual.pdf

scroll down to 'joint tenant within the same household' this is allowed.

I am going to check if there are any other benefits your mum can currently claim as I believe bereavement allowance may be counted as income for other means tested benefits so she may not be eligible for ESA.

I understand your wish to protect your mum at this time and I know she has agreed/wants this too but I also know that making decisions like this so soon after bereavement may be hasty.

However, do consider that your mum might 'move on' over time and then you might have to move again if you can't afford this house. Since it does have what seems to be good living arrangements this, of course, might never happen.

pmlindyloo

Bereavement Allowance is taken fully into account as income for all means tested benefits.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/bereavement/benefits-and-bereavement/

I do not know how much your mum is getting in bereavement benefit so she may be entitled to some income based ESA - how much does she get?

iammumtoone

OP putting the 'wobble' aside which is understandable under the circumstances you sound like a very decent person who is just trying to do the best for her family.

I can see how difficult it is for you and whilst I agree with what others have mentioned that the best way to help your mum is to encourage independence and help her get back on her feet. However with her living 250 miles away this is going to be difficult so can understand why you came up with this solution.

Is there anything else that can be done to get your mother living closer to you but not with you. Would she be able to rent under her own right somewhere not necessarily in the same town but close enough so you could get to her in an emergency and be able to visit and help everyday until both you and her gain confidence that she will be fine on her own (and she will be, 55 is still very young).

Regarding wanting to do the right and moral thing by your LL this is very commendable but have they done the moral thing to you ending your tenancy after just six months when you have put your own money and time into improving their property. Do what is right for you and what you need to.

I do feel for you and everyone in private rental, it must be a nightmare having for find a new home in such a short period.

Good luck I hope everything works out for you.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

She can claim Housing Benefit if she has a liability to pay rent.

pmlindyloo

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

She can claim Housing Benefit if she has a liability to pay rent.

If the mother had a joint tenancy with her daughter and husband do you know what rate she would get?

tomtontom

Please do not speak to the local authority about treating the annex as a separate property without first speaking to the (prospective?) landlord. This could have *considerable* financial implication for him. It is not the tenant's place to try to get the property reclassified, and doing so is likely to be the quickest way to another s.21.

NYM

It might be best to have the tenancy in all names, otherwise you would have to ensure your tenancy agreement would allow sub-letting.

As tomtontom said, do NOT approach the LA about the annex without first ascertaining the situation with the LL. If it is registered as a separate dwelling (and it should be as it has it's own kitchen) then your Mum could possibly and legitimately rent that from the LL *


* providing the necessary planning permission would allow.

FBaby

People have been trying to dwell into your mother's situation because they are trying to assess what benefit she can get that would mean she could contribute even if not entitled to HB.

Aside from still looking into whether she can claim HB, can you sit with your mum, work out how much she can claim, how much she will actually need for her essential needs, and then how much she might have left to help towards the rent. It might be that she has enough to contribute to make up for the difference between your current rent and that one, or it might be that she doesn't, or that she would rather have more disposable income and the solution might therefore to look for a property close by which would still mean being much closer to you than she is currently.

iammumtoone

tomtontom wrote: »

Please do not speak to the local authority about treating the annex as a separate property without first speaking to the (prospective?) landlord. This could have *considerable* financial implication for him. It is not the tenant's place to try to get the property reclassified, and doing so is likely to be the quickest way to another s.21.

I don't see where the OP said she was going to speak to the local authority, she mentioned speaking to the agent who would speak to the landlord.