Dad's Housing Benefit appeal - Please advise !

james2023

Hello everyone,

I am seeking an advice and guidance regarding an issue my father is facing with his housing benefit application. He moved to our city last month and applied for HB, however, he recently received a letter from the council stating that his application has been declined under Housing Benefit Regulation 9(1)(I). The reason cited is that the council is satisfied that the rent liability was created to take advantage of the Housing Benefit scheme.

Here's a bit of background: My father is an 80-year-old individual who has been disabled due to strokes and brain bleeding. He suffers from multiple health conditions that affect his mobility and has short-term memory loss. Following these health challenges, he made the decision to move closer to me so that my wife and I can help him with his medical conditions, keep an eye on him and to provide him with the care and assistance with his daily activities.

I own an apartment nearby, within walking distance of our home, and I rented it out to my father at a rate 25% lower than the standard rent in our area and we have a commercial tenancy agreement in place. This arrangement was made not to take advantage of the Housing Benefit scheme but rather to accommodate my father's health needs, his own financial circumstances, and to ensure that he could be close to his family during this time.

However, the council's letter states that they believe the rent arrangement was created solely to take advantage of the Housing Benefit scheme. This couldn't be further from the truth, as our primary concern has always been my father's well-being and his ability to live comfortably in a supportive environment.

My father is on pension credit and genuinely cannot afford the current rental rates, which is why we arrived at this arrangement in the first place. He is planning to appeal the council's decision this week, and we are seeking advice on how to draft a strong appeal letter.

If any of you have experience or knowledge in dealing with such situations, I would greatly appreciate your guidance. What key points should we include in the appeal letter to demonstrate the genuine nature of the arrangement and the need for the Housing Benefit support? Any tips, advice, or past examples you can share would be incredibly valuable to us during this challenging time.

Thank you all in advance for your assistance,

James 

Brie

Sounds like exactly the sort of thing that Citizen's Advice can help with.  Another alternative would be if there is a disability living group locally. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Definitely agree expert advice is best.  In the meantime, people here night be able to guide whether you have any case worth appealing:

One major question is, did you already rent it out before your father needed it?

If not, what did you do with the flat before?

kaMelo

It you have a documented history of renting out the apartment prior to you father moving in this would be very helpful with your appeal.
If however, this is the first time you've rented the apartment out then that's problematic. Your father being your first tenant has all the hallmarks of a contrived tenancy for housing benefit purposes. Also a commercial tenancy agreement, which you say you have with your father, means that you would evict the tenant for failure to pay rent, can you honestly say you would evict your father in such a scenario?

Newcad

I believe that the issue you face is that this is obviously not a "commercial basis"* rental arrangement.

A telling question is : Would you evict if he did not pay the rent? Obviously not, but a private sector landlord would do.

So the council will see it as a family-to-family arrangement, (which it is),  and benefit law expects family to support family members.

I"m sorry but given the circumstsnces I can't see the council changing their minds, and I would expect an appeal tribunal to agree with them that this is not a genuine market tenancy on a "commercial basis"*.

Your better option is to find him somewhere to rent from another landlord not family, he can then claim HB for that. You rent out your place, and use that rental income to make up his rent above HB to the other landlord.

PS. You are aware that in a Pivate Tenancy HB will not pay his full rent? It will only pay the single room LHA rate for the area.

* Just to note that the word "basis" is important because  "commercial tenancy" is renting a business premises (think renting a shop) rather than a residential premises where someone is living.

luvchocolate

Maybe look into housing association for older residents..rents are lower and housing benefit will apply 

Alice_Holt

This is likely to go to a tribunal. 
The case will depend on the exact facts. Re eviction -  the agreement must have legally enforceable terms but just because a term is not legally enforced does not make it a sham agreement or a non-commercial one.  *1

The specifics will matter:
i) What is the history of the apartment - is there an established history of renting out the property commercially
ii) Is there not any suitable sheltered accommodation nearby, 
iii) Why the apartment is suitable for someone with those health issues,
iv) Why his previous accommodation wasn't,
v) Why he can't stay with you (or another family member),
vi) etc, etc

On the contrivance issue, the question turns on whether the tenancy was “created to take advantage of the housing benefit scheme”.  That’s what the legislation actually says.  If this was not the primary purpose of the proposed arrangement, then you need to explain this and what were the reasons for this arrangement. 


*1 CH/296/2004 might be helpful case law -  father renting to son with Asperger’s Syndrome and Judge Jacobs’ findings include that, even if the claimant’s father’s sole motivation and purpose was to ensure that his son was properly housed and supported, it would not necessarily prevent the arrangement being on a commercial basis, and that more leeway will be given about rent payment where there is a personal relationship.

tetrarch

Surely (I assume) that you're father was receiving Housing Benefit under his previous living arrangements would have significant weight in advancing his case.

Regards

Tet

poppy12345

tetrarch said:

Surely (I assume) that you're father was receiving Housing Benefit under his previous living arrangements would have significant weight in advancing his case.

Regards

Tet

No, claiming housing benefit in his previous home is irrelevant here.

sheramber

The problem may be you are charging a reduced rent but have set the amount to benefit from HB.

Murphybear

Newcad said:

I believe that the issue you face is that this is obviously not a "commercial basis"* rental arrangement.

A telling question is : Would you evict if he did not pay the rent? Obviously not, but a private sector landlord would do.

So the council will see it as a family-to-family arrangement, (which it is),  and benefit law expects family to support family members.

I"m sorry but given the circumstsnces I can't see the council changing their minds, and I would expect an appeal tribunal to agree with them that this is not a genuine market tenancy on a "commercial basis"*.

Your better option is to find him somewhere to rent from another landlord not family, he can then claim HB for that. You rent out your place, and use that rental income to make up his rent above HB to the other landlord.

PS. You are aware that in a Pivate Tenancy HB will not pay his full rent? It will only pay the single room LHA rate for the area.

* Just to note that the word "basis" is important because  "commercial tenancy" is renting a business premises (think renting a shop) rather than a residential premises where someone is living.

I didn’t think this applied to people of pension age.