Moving from Lodgers to Airbnb..How is LHA / HB affected?

buttonmoon3

I'm 36, I claim Housing Benefit and qualify for the 1 bedroom rate LHA on a private rent in London.

Last two years i have had various permanent lodger's in my spare room which i declare and notify every time one moves in or out.

For numerous reasons I want to try a change and rent the room via AirBnb to temporary visitors / guests instead.

Does anyone know how this works in terms of LHA / HB ? How do I go about declaring it or do I in fact need to? I'm self employed so can i maybe just declare the income perhaps?

My worry is that having a new guest every weekend for example will create a Change of Circumstances each time that i need to notify for?!

Thanks alot

bspm

buttonmoon3 wrote: »

I'm 36, I claim Housing Benefit and qualify for the 1 bedroom rate LHA on a private rent in London.

Last two years i have had various permanent lodger's in my spare room which i declare and notify every time one moves in or out.

For numerous reasons I want to try a change and rent the room via AirBnb to temporary visitors / guests instead.

Does anyone know how this works in terms of LHA / HB ? How do I go about declaring it or do I in fact need to? I'm self employed so can i maybe just declare the income perhaps?

My worry is that having a new guest every weekend for example will create a Change of Circumstances each time that i need to notify for?!

Thanks alot

Apologies if I have read this wrongly but do you live in a 1 bedroom property, if so where is your spare room that you rent out?

Or do you mean you qualify for the 1 bedroom rate but live in a 2 bedroom property?

buttonmoon3

bspm wrote: »

Apologies if I have read this wrongly but do you live in a 1 bedroom property, if so where is your spare room that you rent out?

Or do you mean you qualify for the 1 bedroom rate but live in a 2 bedroom property?

Well yes, its 2 rooms, classically a Living Room and a Bedroom. Its not really "spare" as such, more "forced" in order to find the income for the £350 pm defecit between LHA for the area and actual cost of rents here.

In other words I live in one room, and guest lives in the other. There is a nice sized kitchen diner though luckily.

tomtom256

As far as I know it would be a business and you would have to deal with all that entails.

pmlindyloo

Since you are receiving an income from your guests then it will have to be declared for HB purposes.

Are you providing any meals for your guests? If there are then there may be some disregard for the 'rent' that you receive.

As this is not likely (?) to be a regular income then you are best to ask your local council as to how often you need to inform them of the income.

To be honest, this is likely to 'mess up ' your HB considerably and will make budgeting difficult.

If this is a private rental you will need to inform your landlord about this change and ask their permission.

buttonmoon3

Hi, thanks for the replies.

I am already self employed with a lodger and declare my income to the council and of course I am aware that the income needs to be declared. I already have permission of landlord, council etc etc and am aware of disregards for meals and such.

As the property is in Central London research shows there is a good chance it will be occupied most nights via Airbnb and i will make more this way than with the permanent lodger so not concerned about budgeting advice etc.

My main concern is this....

I currently declare the income from my current permanent lodger as well as details of that lodger (name, status etc) to the council. Usually the lodgers stay 3-6 months at a time and when they move in/out i update all of this with the council via a change of circumstances. My status is single person, with lodger entitled to 1 bed LHA.

My question is quite specific in that it seems to be a grey area in what to do in the case as when the occupant of the room changes from a "permanent lodger" into "guests that stay for a few nights at a time".

My main concern is what is the correct procedure to declare in terms of status in the case of these events please?

pmlindyloo

buttonmoon3 wrote: »

Hi, thanks for the replies.

I am already self employed with a lodger and declare my income to the council and of course I am aware that the income needs to be declared. I already have permission of landlord, council etc etc and am aware of disregards for meals and such.

As the property is in Central London research shows there is a good chance it will be occupied most nights via Airbnb and i will make more this way than with the permanent lodger so not concerned about budgeting advice etc.

My main concern is this....

I currently declare the income from my current permanent lodger as well as details of that lodger (name, status etc) to the council. Usually the lodgers stay 3-6 months at a time and when they move in/out i update all of this with the council via a change of circumstances. My status is single person, with lodger entitled to 1 bed LHA.

My question is quite specific in that it seems to be a grey area in what to do in the case as when the occupant of the room changes from a "permanent lodger" into "guests that stay for a few nights at a time".

My main concern is what is the correct procedure to declare in terms of status in the case of these events please?

I think this is a question that you are going to have to ask your local council.

Guests that stay for a few nights a week are just friends/family who are visiting.

Yours is a commercial enterprise and you are charging your 'guests'. This is quite different to friends/family that stay with you for a short time and give you money to help out with the expenses.

Having said that, I can understand what you are saying as Airbnb 'guests' have their own permanent residence whereas lodgers are classed as being resident at your address.

IMO this will be counted as income.

Unless someone like 'Housing Benefit Officer' can give their expertise on this you are going to have to ask the council. I cannot find anything in the legislation that refers to such a situation.

if you are getting substantial amounts of money because of your location then it may be that your entitlement to HB will end entirely.

Good luck with it all. A great way to come off benefits.

TELLIT01

I'll be amazed if the AirBnB scenario is incorporated in the current rules and regs for HB, or other benefits. As pmlindyloo says, the "guests staying a few nights" is intended for visits from friends and family, not for a commercial arrangement. Despite that intent, there is certainly scope to claim that these occupants are guests who are only staying a few nights. I very much doubt the council will see it that way. There may need to be a test case to get any sort of consistency in treatment.
Irrespective of the peculiarities, it does need to be taken up with the local council. Good luck and please let us know the outcome.

mrschaucer

Do you know if your landlord is OK with your setting up an "AirBnB" business as opposed to having a lodger? A couple of things off the top of my head - it might invalidate his insurance, be against the terms of his mortgage or against the terms of his lease if he's not the freeholder?