Universal credit, rent a room and AirB&B

Yamor

huckster said:

Recipe for future problems in people deciding what they need to report to DWP benefit services.

In general there is a requirement to inform benefits of sources of income. 

There is a requirement to report anything which counts as income for UC.

The reason I'm sceptical is because I have had numerous cases of people reporting sources of income which certainly do not count as income for UC, but UC haven't asked any questions about the nature of the income, and simply included it as unearned income. We've then had to get their award corrected months, or even years, later.

This is not just the case for income. Very very often, UC will make the most detrimental decision possible. They will say that it's fine because you have the right to request an MR and/or appeal. This is perhaps not the end of the world for the minority of people who take advice (although the many months MRs and appeals can take still means it isn't great), but the majority of people think that what UC say is probably correct, and don't bother getting the decision checked by an expert.

Clearly, if you are unsure, then you should tell UC about it, and ask the question, but if you've checked it, and are clear that it doesn't count as income, then there is no requirement to report it and get DWP to agree to that.

huckster

I just think that given DWP have employed 6000 staff with the sole task of reviewing UC claims, that I would personally would never suggest on an online forum that people rely on their own research or forum answers to decide on what to report to benefit services. Particularly when it relates to forms of income that might fall into a grey area.

There is no clear information available regarding income from Airbnb. Each case would be looked at based on exact information.

Yamor

People will always be making decisions about what to report and what not to report. Where to draw the line is not an exact science, and people have to make an informed choice, taking into account that it could be picked up later by DWP, and they may need to fight it out then, if DWP take a different view.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the meaning of "trading" when it come to property income has a long history, albeit in the tax sphere. It is fairly clear that a standard Airbnb will not be considered to be "trading".

HillStreetBlues

I can't agree with Yamor about it not being income for UC, not that I think they are wrong, simply because I don't know. I also can't agree with huckster about it being a grey area for the same reason. For someone with knowledge on the subject it could be black and white and very clear cut.

The issue with just leaving the decision it to the DWP is there are no repercussions if they get it wrong. A person that underpays tax often gets a fine even if it just classed as carelessness, but there are no fines if the DWP gets it wrong.
It's up to the claimant to give the DWP the correct information and if that person is confident  that it is all correct, I wouldn't be offering any more info than is needed, as the more info the DWP has, the more chance of them making a mistake.

huckster

I took it from the OP's posts at the start of their thread that they were testing the water. I.e. they had short term lodger and then a lodger for longer. And they were wondering if Airbnb would be a problem, when presumably this attracts more income.

And then the question is whether it being Airbnb,  would the income be reportable to Universal Credit?

Is Airbnb different to finding a lodger locally?

Given no clear guidance is available online and we don't know the exact details, we cannot be sure that a Universal Credit Decision Maker would decide that Airbnb income from paying guests would be disregarded in the same way as any other lodger arrangement.

Also it is noted that the OP lives in a shared ownership property and the housing company that owns a percentage of the property will no doubt have to be informed of changes to who lives in the property. Would they agree to Airbnb use?