Non Dependant with savings & rental income - does this affect my Housing Benefit?

Lily_Jones

Hi everyone,

I am a 31 year old woman with long term disabilities. I work part-time, but also receive universal credit LCWRA and PIP enhanced mobility. Due to poor health, I have been living with my parents in recent years.

I am planning on moving out to my own rental property shortly. To cut a long story short, my parents are going through a messy separation, and as I have health issues, it initially made sense that my mother and I would find a 2 bed property together.

I phoned Turn 2 Us, who told me that my mother would be classed as a Non Dependant on the tenancy and that we would be entitled to the 2 bed rate. I was told that her savings were disregarded, as well as her small income (less than £500 per month) from a rental property. She is currently still legally married, aged 65, with joint savings exceeding £16k. This all sounded fair, considering that my mother is unable to contribute much at all towards the rent (£100 per month, if that).

This is where things start getting incredibly confusing. Today, I was told by the council for the area we are planning to move to, that I will be entitled to ZERO housing benefit as Non Dependant savings are taken into account. So, by allowing my mother to live with me, this supposedly even wipes out my personal entitlement (shared accommodation rate housing benefit).

This information is a complete contradiction to everything else I have read and been told! I am desperate for help and advice on this.

Thanks in advance.

poppy12345

Your mother's savings and income will not affect any amount of UC you're entitled to.

Lily_Jones

Thanks for your reply, Poppy. When you say universal credit, I assume you are lumping housing benefit into this?

So basically, the information I was given by Turn 2 Us was correct and the council information wrong?

Thanks again.

NedS

Hi Lily,
Do you plan for both yourself and your mother to be on the tenancy agreement? If so, then you will legally be responsible for 50% of the rent each (unless the tenancy states otherwise). If the rent were £500/month, both you and your mother would each be responsible for £250/month. You would make a claim for UC and the housing element would cover your £250 share. Your mother would not be entitled to claim UC as she has saving totally more than £16000.
As I understand it, if it's only you on the tenancy agreement, and your mother is also living at the property, then she will be classified as a non-dependant on your UC claim and any entitlement to UC will be reduced by the non-dependant rate, which I believe is currently £73.89/month. You would be awarded a housing element for a 2 bed property.
For clarity, Universal Credit replaces Housing Benefit which used to be administered by the Council. The Council has no involvement with Universal Credit.

calcotti

Lily_Jones wrote: »

Thanks for your reply, Poppy. When you say universal credit, I assume you are lumping housing benefit into this?.

New claims for a Housing Benefit are not permitted. I am surprised the local authority person you spoke to did not tell you this. Help with rent is provided through Universal Credit which is administered by the DWP, not the local authority. The only exception is for people who have a Severe Disability Premium included in an existing benefit. As you do not have the Daily Living part of PIP you cannot be receiving this (and it doesn't apply to UC anyway).

As explained by ned5, there are two ways this could be treated, depending on the tenancy arrangements

If you are joint tenants then you are each liable for half the rent.

If you are the tenant then your mother is a non-dependant and the amount of benefit you receive will be reduced by a non-dependant deduction, which for UC is a flat rate of £73.89/month.

Lily_Jones

Thanks for your reply, NedS.

With option 1, where we are both listed on the tenancy, I assume that I would only be entitled to the shared accommodation rate? If so, the problem is that I would seriously struggle to finance a 2 bed property on that amount. I believe that the shared accommodation rate is approximately £360 per month, whereas 2 bed properties in my area are in excess of £1,000 per month.

It seems that option 2 is the best way forward, for my mother to be classified as a Non Dependant. This would entitle us to the 2 bed rate. Seeing as my mother's ability to contribute towards the rent is limited, this is the only financially viable route.

Thank you again.

calcotti

Lily_Jones wrote: »

With option 1, where we are both listed on the tenancy, I assume that I would only be entitled to the shared accommodation rate?

I think that is right and a very good point.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/benefits/universal_credit/housing_costs_under_universal_credit/calculating_the_housing_costs_element_renters/size-related_criteria

Lily_Jones

Thank you Calcotti for your help.

Reading through the Shelter document, I am even more certain that joint names on the tenancy will result in entitlement to the shared accommodation rate only. This would not be financially viable for me, seeing as I will be personally responsible for paying 90% of the rent owing to my mother's current circumstances.

I am hugely relieved that the information I was given by the council was incorrect. It seemed grossly unfair and illogical, seeing as my mother is obviously not my partner. I have only recently switched over to UC from legacy benefits and was therefore unaware that the councils now have no involvement.

calcotti

My reading of it is that if you are the renter and your mother lives with you then your 'extended benefit unit' is two people and you are entitled to the two bedroom LHA rate. A deduction of £73.89/month will then be made, known as a housing contribution, because your non-dependant mother lives with you. The balance will be the amount you are allowed as your housing element.

If you were getting the Daily Living part of PIP there would be no deduction for a housing contribution.

Similarly if your mother is getting Daily Living PIP or middle/high rate of DLA there will be no deduction for a housing contribution.

Lily_Jones

Thanks Calcotti, I need to read through all parts of the document again.

Ironically, I was in receipt of Daily Living PIP until recent months. I currently remain stuck at 6 points (when I had previously scored at least 8), meaning no award. I am waiting for my tribunal date.

calcotti

Lily_Jones wrote: »

Thanks Calcotti, I need to read through all parts of the document again.

Ironically, I was in receipt of Daily Living PIP until recent months. I currently remain stuck at 6 points (when I had previously scored at least 8), meaning no award. I am waiting for my tribunal date.

If you succeed in getting Daily Living reinstated at tribunal you should be able to get your UC revised retrospectively which would mean being paid any housing contribution that have been deducted in the interim.