Lodger and housing benefit

Thomas_Holding

Our lodger is receiving housing benefit and the council has asked us to calculate how much of the rent goes to utilities.
Is there a formula for doing this? I.e. x % of gas and electricity and something for water.
I have never worked this out before.

sal_III

Did you ask the council that demanded these figures for guidance?

Maybe divide the total bill by the number of occupants.

Thomas_Holding

sal_III wrote: »

Did you ask the council that demanded these figures for guidance?

Maybe divide the total bill by the number of occupants.

Well they didn't ask me so I asked him to find out but he seems a bit slow to do so.
Some bills would be the same if there were only 1 person so should these be included?

rtho782

This is kind of up to you. It's up to you how much of the rent goes towards utilities. For example, if he went on holiday for 3 months and wanted to keep his room, would you reduce the rent? If not then arguably you are not charging him for utilities. If the bills go up, do you ask him for more? If not then you are arguably not charging him for utilities.

How the commercial agreement between you and your tenant works is not really something the council can weigh in upon. If you decide that you are not charging him for bills they can't tell you that is wrong or fraudulent.

I'd suggest that, short of it going over whatever cap, you're best off putting as little down to bills as possible, as otherwise you could end up with him getting less money and having less money to pay you.

As long as you're not exceeding the allowance of the rent-a-room scheme, there is no reason for it not to all be rent.

sal_III

Thomas_Holding wrote: »

Well they didn't ask me so I asked him to find out but he seems a bit slow to do so.
Some bills would be the same if there were only 1 person so should these be included?

You are the LL, it's up to you to decide. What are the implications from this decision to the tenant? For example is there a chance that if the utility bill portion is too large and the council is only covering rent, that the tenant might not be able to afford and has to leave? Or is it just some "tick box" exercise on part of the council that goes on file with no real difference.

Things like that have always been a sore point when I used to house/flat share a decade ago. There will always be a disproportionate use "resources", any attempt to "regulate" the shares is futile as it will offend one or another. The only "fair" system is to split it even and suck it up, if someone objects - the door is over there.

pmlindyloo

Is your lodger getting the whole of the rent paid by HB?

I don't know how long your lodger has been with you but if it is a while then you should know if your utility bills have increased or not.

Does you lodger cook, shower frequently, use the washing machine, need extra heating? have you lost any council tax discount through having a lodger?

As previously said, much depends on whether your lodger is receiving HB to cover the rent. If they are then you could say it is rent only and they make a separate contribution of £5? a week towards the utilities.

Thomas_Holding

sal_III wrote: »

You are the LL, it's up to you to decide. What are the implications from this decision to the tenant? For example is there a chance that if the utility bill portion is too large and the council is only covering rent, that the tenant might not be able to afford and has to leave? Or is it just some "tick box" exercise on part of the council that goes on file with no real difference.

The reason is that they have to pay the utilities part of the rent themselves, if I were to say too little I would by accident be defrauding the council (of course their fault for not saying how we should calculate it) too much and the lodger loses.
I don't get affected either way!

diggingdude

Why not just put the maximum they allow for single room rent?

Thomas_Holding

diggingdude wrote: »

Why not just put the maximum they allow for single room rent?

I had never heard of that before, how much is it? (I just googled it and can't find it).

sal_III

Thomas_Holding wrote: »

The reason is that they have to pay the utilities part of the rent themselves, if I were to say too little I would by accident be defrauding the council (of course their fault for not saying how we should calculate it) too much and the lodger loses.
I don't get affected either way!

How is it defrauding if you only charge rent and the utilities are free? Like you said some of the utilities are the same regardless.

The way it might affect you is (like I mentioned) it's quite possible if you declare too much of the payment as utilities instead of rent and the lodger can't/won't pay it he/she might move to another LL that counts it all as rent and it's cheaper for the lodger, so you have to find another lodger.

rtho782

Thomas_Holding wrote: »

The reason is that they have to pay the utilities part of the rent themselves, if I were to say too little I would by accident be defrauding the council (of course their fault for not saying how we should calculate it) too much and the lodger loses.
I don't get affected either way!

You are not defrauding anyone.

If I want to let you live in my house for a pound or million pounds a week and charge you nothing for utilities, that's up to me.

Conversely, if I want to charge you a fixed £400 for utilities but charge you no rent, that is also up to me.

Nobody can tell you how you "should" calculate it as it's a commercial decision for you to make.