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

Would you protect a friend that you knew was a theif then Birds? Or a friend who you knew mugged someone, or who had driven while drunk, or who had committed insurance fraud?

If I had done something against the law, I wouldn't expect my friends to keep quiet to protect me. That doesn't mean I don't consider them friends. It means that I would be the one in the wrong for committing the crime and them putting my friend into the position where she had to uphold the law, or feel disloyal to me.

Wanted to mention that the flat in Spain could easily be working at a loss. My friend got a Spanish apartment about 10 years ago. It's rented out and has dipped hugely in value but their mortgage is still expensive. The rent doesn't cover the mortgage by hundreds each month infact. They are not in a catch 22 situation - unable to sell up and will have to hang on to the flats for years till things pick up. I'm not defending this mans actions but just wanted to say that he might not be raking it in!

I would dob them in. If you are rich enough to be a landlord you don't need a council flat which is for the NEEDY not the GREEDY.

Landlords aren't all rich. I have to let out my flat to just cover the costs and it's steeped in negative equity. I saved for years to buy it on my own. Wish I was rich!

The rent is classed as income ,he should also declare it to the tax man .If they were uninhabitable it would be different

He should be declaring it but op doesn't know if he is or not.

The fact is the friend had the council house before they were together and so his flats make no difference in that situation. However the rental income would have some effect on his tax credits though I am not sure how exactly. Whether or not you think they are wrong to live in a council house they are within their rights to stay there. And if they split the woman would then be without a home as those flats are not hers

Ynbu. That's why it's against the law.

You really don't know all the facts OP

How much are the properties worth?
How much is the mortgage?
How much is the rent?
Could be in negative equity

Is there actually a selling market for these properties?

Basically he could be receiving nothing in his hand for these properties

I can't see how it's against the law if they're declaring any rental income.

I think quite a few people are in the situation where they have a mortgage on a property which they can't sell and the rental income doesn't cover the mortgage. If it's not in the right area for their job or too small - they can't live there.

Not me but I know of somebody in this situation.

It doesn't matter if he's trying to sell them, it doesn't matter what the income is, it doesn't matter. it seems odd, the op feels there may be something dishonest going on. It is not her place to investigate and find all the facts. That is why you can raise concerns anonymously

It's important to provide a bit of perspective. Might not seem so odd then.

Up to op if she reports or not, she knows them and how likely it is they are on the level.

So long as their income/savings are below a certain level they can claim whatever they like, no matter how that income is made up. If he is working part time and not making any profit on the properties, his income may well be below the threshold, especially if they have children. OP has no way of knowing the ins and outs of their finances or whether or not they declare his properties.

Report it. The council should have a fraud investigations team. If they are useless though try the DWP. Sounds dodgy.

Quite often people 'fess up as soon as they're asked.

(And if it's all hunky dory, no harm done.)

They may be doing apsolutly nothing wrong LA housing if obtained legally is ok to keep even if your suituation changes it's her tenancy and she has a right to keep it as long as the LA don't evict her

the benifit thing is a different issue bottom line is he may not be reciving an income from his uk property his Spanish one is irrelivent he has a right to be treated as any other person with any type of earnings and the money he may or may not recive for the house gets off set against it's cost, he may also be renting it at a low cost to family or anything like that bottom line is you do not know

OP YABU unless you know all relivent facts relating to the suituation Inc the INS and outs of there money or she has actually told you she has committed a crime

No harm done? - imagine someone coming to investigate all your affairs - really don't think some people consider the consequences of their actions - would you not find that enormously stressful and very intrusive Charlotte? It could well go on for several weeks/months causing someone enough stress to lead them to depression. Which can takes months/years to recover from.

And what's the evidence? A slight inkling.

sadsac it happened to me while I was in receipt of benefits for 2 years.

I didn't like it, but appreciate that I was receiving financial help from every single tax payer in this country.

I could see how my situation might look questionable and although it did unnerve me for some months, I'd rather be unnerved and proven innocent (which I was)then have a society where any and all flouting of the rules goes on and money is STOLEN from the country.