Carers allowance and rental income

Mrserj

Hi everyone,

I hope you’re all doing well.

I’m hoping someone here may be able to offer some advice or share a similar experience, as I’ve struggled to get a clear answer elsewhere.

My father was diagnosed with cancer, and as he now requires significant day-to-day care, my wife and I have moved in with him. This is likely to be a long-term arrangement. My wife currently receives Carer’s Allowance as she is helping care for him full-time.

We’ve been considering renting out our own house while we live with my father, but I’m unsure how this would affect my wife’s eligibility for Carer’s Allowance.

I’ve read that there is a weekly earnings limit of £204, but I’m unclear whether rental income counts towards this limit. If we rented out the property, my wife’s share of the rental income would exceed that amount.

Does anyone know whether rental income is treated as earnings for Carer’s Allowance purposes, and whether it could affect or stop her entitlement and is there any supporting documentation that I can access?

I’ve tried contacting the Carer’s Allowance helpline, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a definitive answer. They advised me to complete a self assessment for her once the property is let, declaring rental income and carers allowance and only then will a case worker be able to decide on her entitlement to CA.

I’ve also looked through some older forum posts, but I was hoping someone with recent experience or who may have been in a similar position to my wife might be able to help.

Thank you for your help!

Stubod

..are you really sure you want to become Landlords??…..have you seen all the new legislation!!……a lot of landlords are now quiting….just saying…

Mrserj

Yes I totally agree new legislation is not looking very good but I don't see any other option at the moment tbh. Don't think I would want to leave the house empty and providing we can find some decent/reliable tenants the rent could at least cover mortgage payments…

chrisw

in answer to your question, rental income does not count towards the earnings limit for Carers Allowance.

TimeLord1

The short answer is that rental income is generally not counted as "earnings" for Carer’s Allowance (CA), provided that your wife is not running the rental as a business (i.e., she is a "property owner" rather than a "self-employed professional landlord").

Because Carer's Allowance is a non-means-tested benefit, it only looks at earned income (wages from a job or profits from self-employment). It does not usually care about "unearned income" such as savings, investments, or rent from a property.

You are legally required to tell the Carer’s Allowance Unit about a change in circumstances.

If your wife receives Universal Credit or Council Tax Support in addition to Carer’s Allowance, the rules are different. For those benefits, rental income is taken into account as "unearned income" and will likely reduce those payments pound-for-pound.

Mrserj

thank you so much for your help guys. So it seems like it should be ok to proceed with letting out the house without effecting her carers allowance entitlement which is good news. She will need to complete self assessment to declare the rental income and on that I think I will need to include the amount of carers allowance she has received and her salary from her part time job (~£100 a week, so below the £204 earnings allowance for CA)