Would this be fraud?

[YippeeKayakOtherBuckets]

Fleeing abuse, directed by social services to be at least two counties away. Had to leave job obviously so will be reliant on benefits at least until settled. Currently in temp accommodation, looking to private rent when money comes in.

Parents live abroad and keen to help, would rather a three bed house so they can come and stay. LHA amount will only cover two bed.

If they paid the extra amount in rent would this be fraudulent? Google says family gifts are exempt from calculations but would rather be completely above board and can’t find anything specific about topping up rent payments.

?

Ask them in writing. Better safe than sorry.

Gifts from family are exempt from benefit calculations. Many people find themselves unable to cover the rent themselves and therefore have help from relatives, it's fine. The only issue would be if they were a party to the rental agreement, which doesn't appear to be the case, or if they stayed long enough to be deemed living there.

Have you found a landlord that is willing to let to you? It can be difficult. You might have more luck if you can pay six months in advance (if your parents could help you with this), in which case you would still be eligible for LHA as normal.

Sounds like it will be OK. It might help to think about any money your family give you from your rent payment.

Eg, just think of the money as money to help you out in general, pay for treats for the DCs, gifts for birthdays/Christmas/Easter/any other random event, rather than a contribution towards the rent IYSWIM?

Thank you. That ties in with what I’ve read. Had a couple of flat ‘no’s from letting agencies re housing benefit (thought that was illegal these days but hey ho) but I think paying up front is an option so that should help.

I think it’s OK as it’s a gift and could stop at any time. To further cover yourself, ask directly and then Have your parents pay the top up directly to your landlord. That way, the money never goes in your bank account so can never be considered income. My mum used to help me out financially when my ex left me - she gave me a huge lump sum to help buy a house but paid it directly to my solicitor. When I mentioned it, I was asked to qualify it to the benefits people which I did with a letter of explanation and a copy of my mum’s bank statement. It was never an issue.

FWIW you don’t have to tell the EA that you’re on housing benefit

You could be asking your local authority for a discretionary housing payment to top up the difference while you settle. You are vulnerable and need support from social services and your family and this can be a reason for renting a 3 bed as opposed to 2 bed. The fact that you have been working can also be taking into account. They can pay for 6 months to start with. Ask for some help from welfare rights with the application.

Your family are free to give you 'voluntary contributions of income' Make sure they do not pay rent or bills directly as this can be treated differently. Good luck it's so unfair that the victims have to move rather than the perpetrator.

They do usually ask if anyone pays for anything on your behalf. You may need to declare this.

You need to contact them and ask. Hope you get it sorted.

Thank you all so much. Sorry for being vague, it’s not actually me but somebody very close to me who I am supporting through this awful time. We are trying to navigate the ridiculously complicated system to get the best possible outcome, but don’t want to do anything wrong.

This is all very helpful, thank you. We had no idea about the discretionary payment but it sounds like that would be suitable here so we’ll look into that as well.

Sorry crossed posts ohreally a large sum is different as it would be capital but I would not advise paying the landlord regular smaller sums directly.

Incidentally OP if your family were to gift you some rent up front to secure you a better tenancy you can still claim the housing benefit from the start of tenancy as you are liable.

You should be asking social services to work with welfare rights and housing on this where you receive informed advice, to ensure that you do not miss out financially.

Try Your move. In my dealings with them they have been fine about Housing Benefit.

Social services have been a bit useless really, other than the initial steps. The allocated worker is on AL, there’s been no handover of services to this area, they’ve just sort of plonked them here and gone. So we’re doing our best here.

Thanks for the YourMove tip!

there’s been no handover of services to this area, how old are the children?

Primary and preschool age.

This is all very recent though and I know they are horribly stretched, so I’m not really blaming them. They were quick off the mark when they needed to be, which was great.

As far as I know it will be okay. U can choose where ever u want to live. Housing benefit will only pay so much so u will have to 'top up' the rest. I used to know some on who at the time was on benefits and private rented a 3bed when she only needed a 2 and her mum used to pay the shortfall for her

Sounds as though social services responded to a crisis. You can ask for an early help plan, the health visitor can do this and this brings a team of people to respond to the family needs, this should the support her and the children need to settle in a new area and prevent her situation deteriorating.