Seperated but under the same roof.

woolyG_2

I think you need to trade very very carefully. Assume you are claiming tax credits too? Will you be making a single claim or have you done so already?

No everything is still joint.

So, there is you, your husband, and your two children. What are their ages?

My daughter is 18 and my son is 9

Thanks

pmlindyloo

woolyG wrote: »

No everything is still joint.


My daughter is 18 and my son is 9

Thanks

So at the moment you should be getting the 3 bed local housing allowance. Is that correct? Is your 18 year old still in full time education and you are receiving CB for her so no non dependent deductions from your HB?

So you could apply for the 4 bed allowance based on the fact that your husband and you cannot share a bedroom.

This legislation came in on April 2017.

Note the last part - you would need evidence from your husband's doctor, community nurse, psychiatrist to satisfy the criteria.

(1) The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006(8) are amended as follows.
(2) In regulation 2 (interpretation)—
(a)
after the definition of “maximum rent (LHA)” insert—
““member of a couple who cannot share a bedroom” means a member of a couple—
(a)
who is in receipt of—
(i)
attendance allowance at the higher rate in accordance with section 65(3) of the Act;
(ii)
the care component of disability living allowance at the highest or middle rate prescribed in accordance with section 72(3) of the Act;
(iii)
the daily living component of personal independence payment in accordance with section 78 of the 2012 Act; or
(iv)
armed forces independence payment; and
(b)
whom the relevant authority is satisfied is, by virtue of his or her disability, not reasonably able to share a bedroom with the other member of the couple;”;

Am not sure about having the house reregistered as a 4 bed house - whether this is necessary or not. Perhaps someone else can answer this.

What does your landlord plan to do to the house? Add an ensuite or what?

I believe that there are often people at the planning department who can give advice on adaptations for the disabled so it might be worth your landlord giving them a call.

Also before you do anything I would have a word with your local authority to check whether what your landlord is suggesting (particularly the rent rise) would be deemed acceptable to the council.

Let us know how you get on and good luck.

Ames

woolyG wrote: »

Following on with this issue we have just had a visit from the landlord. He has stated he can carry out the work to add an extra room to the house that my husband can use instead of the caravan in the garden.
He said all we need to do was once the work is carried out was to contact the housing benefit office and ask them to reclassify the house as 4 bedrooms. He said they would then assess the HB at the 4 bedrooms local rent rate and would probably discount it by 14% for under occupancy, he said I could dispute this and try and overturn it. He seems to think we have a decent case to argue.

Does anybody know if this advice is correct? Is there anything we need to be aware of when we apply to have the house reclassified to 4 bedrooms, as the landlord wants him to commit to a £70/week hike in the rent.

That's the so called bedroom tax and applies to social housing not private lets. You don't claim housing benefit, you claim Local Housing Allowance. As Pmlindyloo said, that's based on how many bedrooms you need. Even if the house were reclassified as a four bed you'd also need to get the council to agree that you need four. If they decide that you only need three then you'll only get the LHA for three.

This whole thing seems bizarre, I'm surprised that your landlord is prepared to do major works without understanding how the benefit system works. Both you and him seem to be grasping at convoluted solutions which could easily backfire.

Also, if you're in a universal credit full service area changing your claims to two households would mean a switch to UC.

woolyG_2

Yes, my daughter is in college.

What does your landlord plan to do to the house? Add an ensuite or what?

Yes, he was planning on adding ensuite to an existing downstairs room.

Both you and he seem to be grasping at convoluted solutions which could easily backfire.

I may be grasping at straws with all this, but I am not sure the landlord is. It appears to me he will say and do anything to get us to agree to the work, he can then say the house is 4 bedrooms and charge an increased rent. I get the feeling he just wants more returns out of the house and has spotted an easy way of doing so. It just so happens, it would be ideal for our situation practically, maybe not so realistically.

Ames

But as I said, he doesn't understand LHA. Changing it to a four bed and increasing the rent only works if the tenants are entitled to a four bed rate. You might not be, it's a huge gamble for him unless he's planning to kick you out and get new tenants if you can't cover the extra rent.

I don't see how an en suite would give your ex his own accommodation within the house - where would he cook? How would he get in and out?

woolyG_2

But as I said, he doesn't understand LHA. Changing it to a four bed and increasing the rent only works if the tenants are entitled to a four bed rate. You might not be, it's a huge gamble for him unless he's planning to kick you out and get new tenants if you can't cover the extra rent.

Regardless of if he understands LHA or not, he wants us to agree to the changes, change the lease then he would be are responsibility to either pay the extra rent or fight with LHA to get the 4 bedroom allowance.

I don't see how an en-suite would give your ex his own accommodation within the house - where would he cook? How would he get in and out?

He doesn't cook he just microwaves everything, he would have his own microwave in his room, like he currently has in the caravan.
I am not sure having is own exit makes the slightest bit of difference in the eyes of LHA, but that said, he doesnt go out anyway, the only time he leaves is for an appointment. He woudl just have to leave by the normal doors.

The only reason this was suggested was that the caravan is damp and is having an adverse effect on his health, he would happlily stay there. Neither of us wants to return to living together as man and wife, but I am happy to care for him. The landlord has refused our request to use the house as 4 bedrooms and wants to charge extra, so this is the situation I am in., not ideal and certainly complicated. I just wanted the most straightforward solution if that's even possible.

tboo

woolyG wrote: »

Regardless of if he understands LHA or not, he wants us to agree to the changes, change the lease then he would be are responsibility to either pay the extra rent or fight with LHA to get the 4 bedroom allowance.

Ok the l/l can't challenge the change from a 3 bed to a 4 bedroom LHA assessment your husband does as he is the claimant.

It will then get sticky for you all if you go down this route
Your husband will have to tell the LA why he requires a separate bedroom rather than sharing with you.
Evidence will then be required.
it is at this point you have to tell them you are separated but jointly claiming.

The landlord can shove 15 bedrooms into the property but it won't change the facts you are only entitled to a 3 bedroom assessment as a joint claim - this is because the LA think you are still a couple.

Ames

If the council decide you don't need an extra bedroom and treat you as a couple can you afford the full increase in rent?

If you can't, what would your landlord do?

It's unusual for private landlords to go to the expense of changing properties for their tenants, with no guarantee that they can afford the increase in rent. I imagine his back up plan is to throw you out and get in new tenants.

Council tax might also go up if another bedroom puts it into a different band.

woolyG_2

Yes I definitely get the impression that the LL is trying to use our situation to push through the work, we either hope the rent is covered by LHA, pay the money ourselves or face eviction.

I feel like I am trapped between a rock and a hard place. I will need to visit CA before making any decision and hope they can provide us with some realistic advise.

Ames

I also think you need to look into getting your ex more help from the NHS or social services. I'm shocked that a CPN and Psychiatrist think it's ok for someone with serious health problems to be living in a damp caravan. Even if he gets a room in the house, living isolated like that with just a microwave isn't good. I know NHS mental health services are dire at the moment, but they just seem to be enabling him to avoid his problems rather than treating them. It's not a healthy situation for you, either.

It seems there's a lot of problematic relationships going on, with short term fixes being used instead of actually dealing with the underlying issue. A bit like using so many sticky plasters that you can't even tell where the original wound is anymore.