Denied Housing Benefits

SteampunkFossil

Hello,

I recently moved into my first place alone, my cousin moved out of his owned flat and into a house he'd bought, so is renting the flat to me for £395 a month (utilities not included)
I am currently on ESA, PIP and the severe disability premium.

I of course went straight to apply for council tax reduction once i'd moved in and housing benefits, but i've been denied housing benefits. I'm wondering if anyone had any advice about this as I am now panicking and I don't want to be homeless due to not being able to afford to live here.

'Your tenancy is deemed to be created on a non commercial basis'

When googling, it seems to come up with this as saying I'm living with my cousin? Which isn't the case and we stated that and gave evidence for that within the claim.

I'm wondering what I can do about this? I'm scared I wont be able to afford living anywhere at this rate.

Comms69

No it's saying that as it's a family member the tenancy is contrived. IE as a family member they would let you live there rent free.


You can appeal this decision. I suggest using citizen's advice.

KatieDee

Do you have a tenancy agreement in place, or is this just an informal arrangement between you and your cousin?

AdrianC

You'll get HB (or UC?) if you rent a place on a normal commercial basis.
You are not renting THIS flat on a normal commercial basis - you're renting it through a relative. I presume the rent is not the same figure as Joe Public would be paying?

-taff

It's not that you are living with you cousin, it's that you are renting from a family member.
Did you sign a tenancy agreement to live there?

Cakeguts

£395 sounds too cheap to me. Where do you live? They won't give you housing benefits if you have got a special deal from a family member.



Will your cousin let you move out and look for a flat that is owned and rented by a non family member? That is your best bet for housing benefit.



Do you have a social worker because with the severe disability you should probably be applying for social housing?

lisyloo

Sounds crazy that they won’t pay the lower cost.
The family member is helping the relative and the state here.
I can totally understand why they wouldn’t want to pay a family member more than market rate, but less???

babyblade41

It can be done if the rent is deemed in line with other rents and done on a commercial footing. I had a property company and had numerous rentals .
Everything was above board with tenancy agreements, gas and electric safety certificates and I issued a section 8 and subsequent eviction through court.

Just because it's a relative your cousin still needs to address i as a legal LL and tenant arrangement .

Deposit protected, TA, and all the necessary safety certificates, LL insurance and so much more.

You will not be able to apply for HB until all the above is in place. The rent does seem incredibly cheap but depends where you are

theartfullodger

Check with council directly or via website and follow appeals procedure.


See info on the sort of issues here...
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/benefits/housing_benefit_renting_from_family


As long as the paperwork is all normal, rent normal,relo is declaring rent to taxman & they will evict you if any issues you should be fine.



Understandably (& in my view correctly) councils are cautious about paying tax-payers money to arrangements that might be dodgy: As long as your is fine you should be OK.



But, general rule, never rent from/rent to friends or family.

Caz3121

SteampunkFossil wrote: »

'Your tenancy is deemed to be created on a non commercial basis'

some questions:
what would be the normal commercial rent for the type of property in the area?
what is the LHA cap for your circumstances?
would your cousin evict you if you were unable to pay the rent?
If the property for example is a three bed and would normally rent for £800 and your cousin is letting you have it for the LHA rate for a one-bed which they would not do for any other tenants then this would appear non-commercial