Universal Credit First-Time Claimant - Advice Needed

ThrivingClive

Hello. I have recently been made redundant and am signing up to Universal Credit for the first time. I have a couple of things in the process which I am unsure about and need to query - any advice appreciated, many thanks in advance.

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I rent a single room in a shared house. For the question “How many bedrooms are listed in your tenancy agreement?” should I be listing 1 bedroom (i.e. the only one I pay for) or the full number of bedrooms in the property? My understanding is that I should put 1 bedroom as this is the only part of the house which I rent directly - please could someone confirm if that is indeed correct.

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The house I live in is the family home of the landlords, and they were living in the property prior to me moving in earlier this year. They have moved abroad for work, though they return to stay in the property at points when back in the UK and they intend to return to the property permanently at some point in the future.

In my tenancy agreement they have provided their address as being this property I live in now rather than wherever they are living during their time abroad.

As such, should I be answering “yes” or “no” to the question “Do you live at the same address as your landlord?”? Note that this query could be complicated by the fact that the tenancy agreement includes the phrase “This tenancy agreement may be used for a tenant entering into a tenancy for a room within a property shared with other tenants (but where the landlord does not live at the property)” - it is unclear if this sentence has been left in the agreement by accident as an oversight from the landlords (they are new to renting their property out and are acting without an agent, so I sense are learning as they go with the process and may have got the template for my tenancy agreement online).

For context, my contract for the room is a tenancy agreement - not a lodger contract.

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My understanding is that, as I am renting from a private landlord, the DWP do not have permission to contact my landlord directly despite the Universal Credit application form asking for their address and contact details.

Please could someone confirm that this is the case - I would really prefer them to not contact my landlord, particularly as I may well have a new job lined up to start early in the new year and do not want to cause any unnecessary issues for myself or the landlords in the relatively short window between the two.

For context, I am not planning to ask UC for an Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA).

pmlindyloo

I think this link might be pertinent to your questions:

Tenant or lodger? - Shelter England

However, I am not sure whether your status - tenant or lodger - is a concern when applying for the housing element of Universal Credit.

It might be a concern if your landlords wish to evict you.  (not what you asked, I know!)

Hopefully someone can answer your specific questions about the application.

It might help for people to know the following:

1.  Are you under 35 (relevant to the rent amount)
2.  Do you have sole use of the whole house?
3.  Were the landlords there at the beginning of your 'tenancy'?  (see the link)

If you don't get any further replies from people more knowledgeable than me then you may wish to contact Shelter for some advice about your situation.

ThrivingClive

pmlindyloo

 Thank you for this advice and for sending the link over.

Yes, the tenant/lodger thing is slightly confusing - I'm signed on as a tenant on an assured shorthold tenancy, but as the landlords still appear to have their UK address as the same property (at least, that's what's on my tenancy agreement) I'm confused about whether this technically actually makes me a lodger (which is what the Shelter link appears to imply).
There's no threat of eviction at the present moment.

In answer to your questions:
1. Yes, I am under 35.
2. No, I do not have sole use of the whole house.
3. No, the landlords were not here at the beginning of my tenancy.

Thanks for the advice on contacting Shelter too - I'll see if any other answers in this thread clear the situation up for me, and if not I'll give Shelter a call.

Newcad

If the LL is not living in the property then you are a tenant, renting 1 bedroom.

You could only be a lodger if the LL were living there (for the majority of the time).

The wording on your TA will be because they have used a 'standard' one downloaded from the web and have the wrong one for the circumstances. (It's actually a TA for a room in a shared house, ie. for a HMO tenant).

Not to worry too much though, it may mean that some of the clauses in the TA are not legally correct but that's the LL’s problem not yours. A LL can't enforce any invalid clause.

UC will want to see a copy of your TA, but again that shouldn't be a problem-

As you are under 35 then UC will only pay the 'shared rate' (HMO rate) towards your rent anyway so your TA being ostensibly for a HMO shouldn't matter to them.

You can check how much UC will pay towards your rent by putting the postcode in here and using 'shared accomodation' for the bedrooms question: https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/

As to "Do you live at the same address as your landlord" that's possibly a bit trickier, I'd put 'NO' to the question and then if they ask explain the situation and that it's a business address or a care-of address for the LL who is living abroad.

Just as a PS I suspect that as a DIY'er your LL doesn't know about the tax implications of renting out a UK property when living abroad, again their problem not yours, but you might (or might not) want to give them a heads-up: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/paying-tax-on-rent-to-landlords-abroad