Joint Tenancy (friend) and SDP

purple_owl

currently live in a 2 bedroom flat with private tenancy, recieve ESA support group, PIP high rate for both daily living and mobility, get housing benefit (1 bedroom rate) and have disability premium also as i'm living on my own. rent is £500 a month, housing benefit cover 391.24 and i cover the remaining. I'm autistic and have no idea what I'm doing and have a really hard time with phone calls and leaving the flat alone so just going to or calling citizens advice is very difficult. I'm hoping to get some support from adult autism services soon but at the miniute I'm on my own sorting all of this.

my friend and her boyfriend are asking to take the other bedroom and my landlord said that was fine he will write up a joint contract between all 3 of us and increase rent to £525, but i'm very confused as to how this works in regards to housing benefit and severe disability premium? no-one will be caring for me and no one currently recievers carers allowance for me either, but i might lose it because of a joint tenancy?  i will still "live alone" in my own bedroom, nothing changes except my friend and her boyfriend will also live in the other room and they both work so will be out all day too. so is there a way to navigate this so i don't lose it? it is unfair to take away this money that I use for things to help me look after myself.

and also how to sort housing benefit, if I sent them a joint tenancy do they just send me 1/3 of the whole rent? does my landlord need to specify in the joint tenancy contract how much we should be paying each out of the whole amount? do we just pay 1/2 each because of having a bedroom each? I think i am entitled to the 1 bedroom rate if i'm in recipt of PIP daily living.

also worried they will move me onto universal credit but i'm hoping not as it's just a new tenancy and i'm not actually moving out of the property or area?

very confused and anxious about all of this so any and all advice is appriciated thanks

calcotti

Living with people as joint tenants who are not close relatives does not affect your SDP.

If there are three joint tenants the natural split is one third each. Have you discussed with the friend how you will split the rent?

You will not be moved onto UC as a result of this change.

purple_owl

calcotti said:

Living with people as joint tenants who are not close relatives does not affect your SDP.

If there are three joint tenants the natural split is one third each. Have you discussed with the friend how you will split the rent?

You will not be moved onto UC as a result of this change.

Okay thanks, is that for definite on the SDP everywhere I looked online said if you are jointly liable for rent (with joint tenancy) then you would no longer be counted as living alone

1 third is fine, I don't know if landlord needs to word into the contract that we are paying seperatly or together, currently I have a garentour and I send money to them and they send it to the landlord so I am assuming that changes now.

calcotti

purple_owl said: 1 third is fine, I don't know if landlord needs to word into the contract that we are paying seperatly or together, currently I have a garentour and I send money to them and they send it to the landlord so I am assuming that changes now. 

If you have a guarantor I think you are going to need two separate tenancies otherwise the guarantor is likely liable for the whole rent which means they are exposed if the other tenants do not pay.

purple_owl said: Okay thanks, is that for definite on the SDP everywhere I looked online said if you are jointly liable for rent (with joint tenancy) then you would no longer be counted as living alone.

Don't know where you read that.
You are not living alone if you live with non-dependants. A person jointly liable to pay rent who is not related to you is not a non dependant. See
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1067480/dmgch44.pdf
paragraphs 44111-44117 apply. See in particular paragraph 44113 and 44139 (7.2).

purple_owl

Thank you that clears everything up