Tennancy Agreement for Nephew?

bagpuss_fan

Please can anyone help, is there anywhere I can download a basic tennancy agreement for free? I live in Scotland and I think the law is different up here.

My DH's nephew has come to live with us, he's 19 and feels very strongly that his life was going nowhere. He's been pushed backwards and forwards between his parents since he was young, and as a result (with no encouragement from his parents to go to college) has taken labouring or bar work jobs. We spoke to him at Christmas, and he was very depressed, living with his mum in Spain and "going nowhere" in his words.

So we said he could come to live with us, we have a solid family home and can give love and support, and finally he can see what a stable family environment is like. He's a good kid, never been in any trouble and has just "woken up" to what the rest of his life will be like if he carried on as he was.

We are now trying desparately to get him on to an apprenticeship, and in the meantime he has signed on to get jobseekers allowance. We can't afford to fund him though and I went to the council to see if he can claim housing benefit to give to us and they said he needs a tennancy agreement. Apparently the "close relation" rule doesn't apply to nephews (whatever that is?). This all seems very complicated for something that's going to be short-term.

If anyone can point me in the right direction, it would be appreciated.

real1314

A rent book might have the right sort of wording for what you want - haven't looked at one for a while, but they cover basic tenancies. WH Smith/any stationers should have them.

PasturesNew

In England, it would be a rent book that is required.
His status with you would be that of a lodger.
A tenancy would be quite a strong piece of legal paperwork for somebody living in your own home and would not be appropriate in the circumstances.

poppysarah

And I think WHSmiths sell rent books...

bagpuss_fan

Blimey, 39 views and only 3 replies!

I'm not sure a rent book would suffice, the lady at the council office was quite sure that they would only look at the claim if he had a tennancy agreement, can they insisit on this? Shall I send him back down with a rent book?

HipChick_2

Hi Hopefully these may help you

http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/Housing/Private_tenants_and_home_owners/Letwise/CEC_information_and_guidance

Theres a few form there readily downloadable but i think the ones you'll need to give to your son are the AT5 and the Short assured lease. You could get him to fill in all of them as a back up

I Hope this helps

poppysarah

You'll have to ask them if it'll suffice.

You can ask in
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.gov.social-security/search?hl=en&group=uk.gov.social-security&q=lodger+housing+benefit&qt_g=Search+this+group
That's a usenet group about benefits.

tbs624

This would be a common law tenancy (ie non-statutory) , where a LL shares the accommodation but the tenant has exclusive use of at least a part of it, usually a bedroom. The agreement needs to show both the name of LL and the Tenant, the address of the property, info on how long the agreement is for (the Term). You need to agree the rent amount, what is covered (ie does it cover all heating/water etc), who is responsible for repairs issues and how much notice would be needed from either side. If notice isn't given by either of you, then tacit relocation comes into force, ie the tenancy repeats itself on the same terms

You probably should talk to Shelter in Scotland or Citizens Advice in Scotland
( www.cas.org.uk/ ) because as a LL you would also need to have a gas safety cert in place, there may be tax implications, and you may need to register under the LL Registration Scheme.

tbs624

HipChick wrote: »

http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/Housing/Private_tenants_and_home_owners/Letwise/CEC_information_and_guidance

Theres a few form there readily downloadable but i think the ones you'll need to give to your son are the AT5 and the Short assured lease. You could get him to fill in all of them as a back up ...

Where a LL is sharing the property the Tenancy *cannot* be an Assured Tenancy or an Short Assured Tenancy (AT5 given prior to signing for SATs)


Edited to add: Alternative to the common law tenancy Bagpuss Fan - ask them if a Lodger Agreement would suffice http://www.lawpack.co.uk/FD08E.asp but again do check with CAB, Shelter etc on any other implications for you and your DH

bagpuss_fan

Ok so i'm confused. I rang the main council office yesterday (instead of the local office) and asked the question, the benefits dept said I needed to register as a landlord, and put me through and the landlords department who then said I didn't coz he's a nephew! So I went back through to the benefits section who rang the landlords section themselves who maintain that it's not necessary, but admitted that it may be different coz we want to claim benefits for him! She is going to find out from her Manager today and ring me back (a helpful person at last I hope).

This seams like the biggest load of hassle ever just to try and claim a few weeks housing benefit for a lad who's worked since he left school, never claimed before and is perfectly entitled to the money.

Do the council think if they make it ridiculously difficult for someone to claim, they'll just give up?

bagpuss_fan

Edited to add: Alternative to the common law tenancy Bagpuss Fan - ask them if a Lodger Agreement would suffice http://www.lawpack.co.uk/FD08E.asp but again do check with CAB, Shelter etc on any other implications for you and your DH [/quote]


- Thank you, it says "valid in England and Wales only" I shall ask the council when they ring me back.

I am feeling quite annoyed about this today!:mad: