owning 2 flats and claiming HB/tc on a council house

[imjusttosoft]

ok ive namechanged

this is a ???? as well as a AIBU

a friend of 8yrs has a council house and lived there for 12yrs,10yrs ago she met her current partner he has a flat in the town we live in and a apartment in spain both let out and were his before he met my friend so all in his name

in the last 5yrs they have had 2 young children and he moved into her council place (thats still only in her name) he is the only worker in their family and works 24hrs a week in a local corner shop

because he works nmw and low hours they claim WTC,TC,HB,CTB

now surely if he has these properties would he be entitled to help as i would of thought rent he recieves would be classes as income??????? and the rent for the property in the uk here would be 700pcm for a start thats without the propert abroad

maybe hes not declaring as it seems strange

and AIBU that if hes got 2 properties he should sell them and free up the council house for somebody that needs it

yes its none of my buisness but it seems very strange that hes got 2 places and their geting HB for the council property,i just dont believe that the council and tc would be paying these amounts as surely rent from his properties would be income

If you see Saints and Scroungers on BBC1 there is a big chance that they will be found out sometime soon.

so if he has these properties they should be classes as income,yes?

i can believe the council etc allow them sought of assets,but i really dont know,really why im asking i suppose

Would HAVE thought that the rent he receives would be classed as income.

It's a bank holiday. That means we're having a day off from encouraging benefit bashing of any kind, and let's face it that is what this will become.
Now, sod off and leave it for a few days.

Was that post totally necessary DawnDonna. Sigh, the way MN is going and another thread hidden.

Dawndonna it's not benefit bashing, it's crime bashing. It's fraud and should be reported. The properties count as assets.

dawn,call it what you want but if it is fraud this is no pin money ans somebody earning a few ££££££££££ this is taking the pee bigtime,a huge difference

like i said i dont know the rules and was asking if anybody knew

but if it offends please feel free to hide the thead

The rent from the properties is income that should be declared.

unless of course there are expenses associated with that, and the properties are set up as a business I guess, in which case if the rental just about covers the mortgages then it could be a very small profit.
And, (and I am really guessing here) if the properties are owned by a limited company rather than an individual, then MAYBE there is some loophole where they are not owned personally?????

But the most likely outcome is that they are simply lying.

pretty sure no ltd company etc,and in his name

cant believe somebody could get away with that,its also because hes living practically rent free in a council house when another family could make good use of it,but he likes to keep his things as his,he should be looking after his kids by selling his and buying a family home as i see it

Report them we're paying for their lovely little life....that is if you've got it right. But if you haven't DWP will quickly establish that and let them on their way.

most of the facts are concrete,just the one about if he is declaring the rent from his properties that we will never really know i guess,thats why i was asking if having assets like that were ok,just seems over generous

Woman I work with who not on benefits to my knowledge.

Ups and downs the rent on her second property so that income = mortgage + expenses = no profit = no income = no tax to pay = mortgage still being paid off.

Not illegal. If he has equity in the properties I would have thought council would have taken into account the UK one? Even if they couldn't touch the Spanish one.

blardy hell its a minefield

Grass them up.

seriously do any of you not think that this could be legit and legal

i still find it had to think that they would/could be so greedy and blatant without thinking they would get court out

Which property does he keep the goat in?

I was going to say similar to Xales. It would depend on whether a profit was being made from either property, as far as I know.

For example, if there was a mortgage in place on the flat for £800 per month and his rental income was simply paying that mortgage and any agency fees then he would be making no profit. Therefore, there would be nothing to declare income wise.

Same with the property abroad. Holiday homes can be very expensive to run year by year and if the rental was simply covering the costs then, again, there would be no income as such.

I would imagine he would have to be filling in self certification tax forms though, for the figures to be officially noted and above board.

It should be income from all sources that's classed, but he would only have to declare the profit I'd have thought, what you don't know is the size of the mortgages etc and exactly how much profit he is making.

As you said pop!

yeah no idea size,repayments morgage etc

maybe its all legit and im imagining to much,not my buisness anyway but seemed a very strange arangment

I know a few people who rent flats out and it actually costs them! They can't sell due to the market. Spain's property market is pretty buggered.

On the other hand he could be making money & not declaring it.