Will the council regard this as a contrived tenancy?

skatersrus

Hi
I have a bit of a quandry here and I'd like your opinion. I have a bit of a nervous disposition and over-worry about everything. Since I discovered this thing called a contrived tenancy my nerves have been all over the place all day. 

I'm going to put the facts up here for everyone to interrogate, just like what a housing benefit asessor may do.

Where do I live now, why am I moving to a relatives property?
Currently I am living with my wife and 2 kids in my mums house (with my mum and my brother, the boy-man). It's a bought house (outright), I have to move out of the property because of domestic violence, police were called to the house twice, the last incident was in January when he banged our bedroom door and was screaming his head off. when I open the door to tell him to go away, he barged into my room and strangled me in my bed. I thought I was going to die. Police was called - they regarded this as a domestic disturbance (my word against his, vice versa) and left the premises. Police did not take it further, and he was kicked out of the property by my mum for a short time. Just before lockdown my mum brought him back in despite my protests because he was sleeping in his car.

Luck would have it that I invested a lot of money into my business just before covid started and it's all gone down the drain. My income is the little bit of money I can furlough myself on. We have been desperately looking to rent privately and move out. Lockdown meant I couldn't move anywhere - even if I wanted to. I subsequently realised that 99.9% of private landlords do not want DSS tenants, those that don't mind will accept you with a guarantor on 3x annual rent and a property owner.

I asked my brother in law (my wifes brother), whether he'd be a guarantor for us, he said that he'd be more comfortable renting his place to us. He's renting it out as a flatshare and needs family in there to do remortage. He's financial situation is quite bad, divorce, massive debts, needs to remortgage to pay his ex. He is in no way able to be "generous" with his rent. 

He does have a lot of sympathy for my wife and wants her out of this domestic violence environment. 

Situation of the rental
property has been rented through a lettings agent, and he got £1400 per month from all the tenants in there. It's been on rental for the last two years and ends on August 31st 2020. when I was hoping to move in there.

The mortgage is on a buy to let basis

He paid 12.5% fees on that per month and is eager to do a direct rental to us to save on the costs.

We will be paying the same rent as previous tenant. My BIL will not be living there and has not been there for the last 3 years. Me nor my partner have ever lived there.

We can/will pass the 5 criteria of contrived let. Deposit will be taken, contract will be done, gas safety inspections done, rents paid on time. The arrangement will be entirely done on a commercial basis just like he's any other private landlord.

One of the reasons I wanted this route is because I have tried to rent privately, when you're up against other people who are on £50K, both working parents, we just get passed up. We have lost out on 2 properties with our holding deposits returned because the landlord preferred other applicants over us.

I have suggested to my brother in law that I should rent his place from his lettings agent and he should eat the £175 p/m charges in lettings fees. To make the case watertight because we have just £6K to our name and we can't survive very long with £800 monthly income and £1400 rent. It's a cost worth paying (for him) because it would secure HB for us. We have a third party intermediary who will bear witness to the genuine commercial tenancy. 

I just learnt about contrived tenancy when I mentioned to a mate that we're renting from my BIL. Then I googled contrived tenancy and read so many cases of tenants who did rent from relatives on a commercial basis. The council stopped the HB and the tenants fought it in court and get the decision reversed. I just don't have the money to go on 1 year without paying the rent. My BIL would end up losing the house if I withdraw rent. 

Cases I read about:
https://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/guides/payment_of_housing_benefit_where_landlord_and_tenant_are_related.shtml
https://www.housingrights.org.uk/news/adviser/contrived-tenancy-appeal

 

poppy12345

In my opinion as he's currently a Landlord and you'll have a tenancy agreement then there shouldn't be a problem. However, it will be down to a decision maker to decide and we can only give our opinions.

Robbie64

As poppy12345 has posted given your BiL is currently a Landlord and presumably has been renting the property for some time there should be no problems. Indeed, the fact that he would be letting the property via an agent is actually an added bonus in your favour as it helps show that the tenancy is a commercial one.

Spoonie_Turtle

Not directly related to your question but please make sure you know how much in benefits you would be entitled to; you need to know if you would be able to make up the shortfall in case there is a shortfall between what you would get and the actual rent. It is most likely you would need to claim Universal Credit, unless you receive certain disability premiums.

The Local Housing Allowance amounts (the maximum you could get, but if your rent is lower they would pay the actual amount) are found here https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/

Info about UC here https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Calculating-Universal-Credit
https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/how-much-youll-get/
And it can be complicated for self-employed people - but it may well be your only option. A claim for UC automatically stops any tax credits and you can never go back onto them.