Housing benefit advice

[Warriorsoftheworld]

Hi, first time poster
Im looking for some advice for my elderly dad on housing benefits he is looking to move in with me and pay half the rent but we are not sure if he can do this or not and the benefits websites aren't really that helpful. The problem we are having is my name is on the tenancy agreement as i work 40hrs a week on minimum wage my dad currently claims JSA as he is 61 and can't access his pension yet he has worked his entire life up until he was made redundant 5 years ago im wanting him to live with me to look after him but i simply cant afford the high rent payments by myself , will my dad be able to make a claim amd still claim his JSA even though i work ? Thanks in advance -warrior

I'm not entirely clear about your current arrangement - are talking about your Dad moving into a place you currently rent alone? If so how do you afford it at the moment? Do you claim HB yourself?

I think that you and your dad would be treated as one household if you lived together, and your entitlement to HB would be based on your combined income (JSA + your job).

There are rules which mean you cannot normally claim housing benefit to pay rent to a close relative that you love with (to prevent people cheating the system by charging 'rent' to their partner, kids etc).

You also need to consider your tenancy agreement if you plan to move your dad into a house you currently rent.

I am not an expert - it would be worth giving Shelter a call or contacting your local CAB.

live with not love!

You and your dad would have separate benefits claims, you would not be treated as one household. So if you claimed HB it would be based on just your wage. Your dad couldn't claim HB unless his name was on the tenancy agreement, he couldn't claim it if you are the tenant and he was just paying it to you. If he was named on the tenancy agreement then he might be able to get HB for his part of the rent. He would be able to claim JSA regardless of you working, it would be affected if he had a partner who worked but not other family members.

He would definitely not be able to claim if his name isn't on the agreement. Even if you are co tenants on the agreement, it would depend on whether you are also entitled? I assume in that case you put in a joined claim?

I haven't looked into your situation but we claimed for mil recently. Her name has to be the one on the agreement. Also the perverse situation with housing means she can't live with us while waiting for a council house. At his age he can select to go into sheltered accomdation for the elderly. This has a much much shorter queue than normal housing in my area. You can check the bids on your local housing association website. This might be something you want to look at. If his name is on the agreement, I assume he will then be privately renting. If he is not, then he will be classified as own accommodation. In our area it means MIL was not entitled to be on the waiting list when she stayed with us.

I assume he's not disabled and that looking after him involves just being close by. Sorry if I guessed your situation wrongly.

I am really rusty on this stuff - am wrong about what I said on combined income above. I believe you (not your Dad) would potentially be able to claim HB and you would be eligible to claim more than if you were living alone (ie to allow for a bedroom for your dad). The rate of HB would however be reduced (a non-dependent deduction) as it would be assumed your dad would contribute to the rent from his JSA.

But I am happy to be corrected!

So i need to get my dad's name on the tenancy ? The rent payment from any housing benefit would go into my account as the rent comes out of direct debit each month. I can afford my rent as i am but i work lots of overtime and im constantly worried about paying bills etc so my family want my dad contributing i will phone shelter and see what they say :) its all very complicated they seem to treat everyone as a potential scammer when i read through the housing benefit form it just mentioned join claims for partners nothing about living with relatives etc there is a box at the end in which my dad could explain his dire situation and why im taking him in etc im not sure my landlord will have him on the tenancy agreement as they don't accept DSS even for half the rent.

You could claim as joint tenants but only if you are both named on the agreement. If not named on the agreement the only thing you could apply for would be some form of 2nd adult rebate against your council tax (used to be equal to 25% when the other adult is on JSA, in theory compensates you for loss of single person discount). However since local authorities were given control of their own schemes for council tax benefit your area may not offer this kind of reduction.

The housing benefit has to go into his account too. It's not about scammers. They need to establish that he's really paying rent.

And as I say, the benefit system is such that the govt rather pay out money for my MIL to rent privately, then to stay with relatives and save them housing benefit.

Definitely go to the CAB for some advice. because if you are counted as 'partners' and have to apply jointly, then your income is also considered.

Hopefully you won't be partners, so your dad is responsible for half the rent for a shared accommodation. I'm sure they are used to shares accommodation claim as that's what many claimants must be in.

I'm fairly sure you aren't partners. That would mean you are responsible for his living costs too!

Oh and when you make the claim, they might contact the landlord or their agent. MIL claim has a box to fill in for the landlords name. So you need to tell your landlord anyway.

You won't make a joint claim for housing benefit, joint claims are only for spouses/partners (living together as husband and wife). You would make your own claim (which depends on your wage) and he would make his own separate claim (which depends on his JSA income). But he can only make a HB claim if he is responsible for the rent (so needs to be on the tenancy). He couldn't just pay the HB to you, you'd have to change the tenancy/payment arrangements and notify the landlord. Shelter/CAB will be able to explain how it works for your specific situation.

What you need to find out about is the non dependent deduction.

It is quite a complicated situation.

If you have a spare room you'd probably be better just moving somewhere smaller and cheaper you can afford yourself.

Benefit claimants living with non benefit claimants isn't a scenario the system is set up for.