UC, housing benefit and a partner wanting to move in

[notfromstepford]

Hello wise mumsnetters
I have a question that I'm sure someone will be able to answer. I have been trawling the internet but a lot of the advice seems to be from a few years ago.

I'll try to keep this brief.

My DSD has just been offered her first house through the council and is ecstatic. She has 1 child that is 1.5 years and is expecting her 2nd child anyday. She's not working (was a driver before COVID) so is entitled to UC, housing benefit and all the other bits and pieces she can claim.
The father of her children is somewhat unreliable, so she's done all of her applications etc as a lone parent - which she essentially is.

Now she's got a fantastic house for her and her children - he's convinced that it's absolutely fine for him to move in and make a go of it. He works. I've told her that if he moves in - it won't be for free. They will deduct housing benefit and UC from her as they will be living as a couple and he has to pay his way (rightly so) - it's not a "free" house for him to live in.

My understanding is that her benefits will be reduced but it's up to him if he is going to give her the money to cover the shortfall? Is that correct? Also as he earns between £300 - £400 a week - her benefit will be cut by around £100 a week.

Does this sound about right? Like I say I've been trawling the internet and pieced together bits and pieces from different sites, but not found anything concrete.

@notfromstepford

Hello wise mumsnetters I have a question that I'm sure someone will be able to answer. I have been trawling the internet but a lot of the advice seems to be from a few years ago.

I'll try to keep this brief.

My DSD has just been offered her first house through the council and is ecstatic. She has 1 child that is 1.5 years and is expecting her 2nd child anyday. She's not working (was a driver before COVID) so is entitled to UC, housing benefit and all the other bits and pieces she can claim.
The father of her children is somewhat unreliable, so she's done all of her applications etc as a lone parent - which she essentially is.

Now she's got a fantastic house for her and her children - he's convinced that it's absolutely fine for him to move in and make a go of it. He works. I've told her that if he moves in - it won't be for free. They will deduct housing benefit and UC from her as they will be living as a couple and he has to pay his way (rightly so) - it's not a "free" house for him to live in.

My understanding is that her benefits will be reduced but it's up to him if he is going to give her the money to cover the shortfall? Is that correct? Also as he earns between £300 - £400 a week - her benefit will be cut by around £100 a week.

Does this sound about right? Like I say I've been trawling the internet and pieced together bits and pieces from different sites, but not found anything concrete.

cannot say exactly how much they will be cut by but essentially yes, it is a change in circumstances she must make them aware of and it is fraudulent not to. She also needs to be careful about deciding instead that he doesn't move in but just stays there. If that happens too frequently it can also be concluded that he resides there

@ukgift2016

So you daughter played the system and got a nice house as a single mum. That property could have gone to an genuine mother who is struggling, a woman who has no working partner. It's all a bit suspect she gets a property and straight away is asking about her partner moving in.

Shame on your daughter.

have I missed something here? They aren't a couple. He wants to make a go of it. I'm not sure that she has played the system. The other OP posts seem to suggest alot of issues with this man.

OP she can just say no to him.

In what land is it sensible to move someone in to try and make a go of the relationship? Relationships start with dating and build up to moving in. Quite apart from the money situation, I would focus on this.

I would suggest she has a frank discussion with him and say he’s failed in the past to show he can be a good partner and father, so he is starting from there. He needs to prove he can be both of those things before it would even be considered he moves in.

She needs to just say no. And use better contraceptives for next time.

He's unreliable because he is a drinker, immature and puts himself first.

And now he's doing the same by trying to scam his way in to a free house by telling her he wuvs her after all?

Tell her not to be a bloody fool. Or you'll be back on here in six months telling us how poor DSD is now scraping to manage with no benefits and a lazy-ass 'partner' who keeps his wage for himself, expects feeding and his clothes washing while he sponges free housing and provides a fucking horrible example of fatherhood to the kids.

@ChocolateCherrybomb I absolutely agree with you. The amount of times I hear people in real life banging on about the benefits their tax pays for whilst not appreciating that, for most of them, a) they actually pay little in tax in the grand scheme of things not being one of the top earners in the country, b) that the amount they pay in tax is no way sustaining one benefits household let alone all of them, c) people on benefits can also be paying tax/have paid tax, d) they themselves take from the system- often way more than they could even have paid in tax during their lifetime. People forget all of the things they get 'for free' themselves.