Universal Credit Review have I broken the law?

[lynG86]

Hi I rented a room out in 2019 in my council flat on Airbnb. I did not declare this and the payment is showing on my bank statement. I am worried sick I didn’t think anything of it. I am on PIP but I didn’t see it as wrong as it’s not working but I guess it’s income? Universal credit have asked for 5 years bank statements. Can anyone help I am worried sick I’ve sent the statement to them :(

They wanted more because my account exceeded £6000 by about 120 pounds. So they now want 5 years of statements from me.

@lynG86

why would you do that? If it was only two weeks they'd never have noticed.

do you know why they wanted 5 years worth of statements?

it's under £300 income it's not going to add up to much you were overpaid. It's not worth worrying about. In any aspect.

stop stressing & take things as they come.
🤗

If you are a council tenant, you can sub-let or take in lodgers as long as it does not make your home overcrowded1. You must also get permission. However, you can't take in a lodger or sub-let if you live in sheltered accommodation or you are an introductory tenant1. It is illegal for a council or housing association tenant to sublet the whole of their home2.

@lynG86

urgh. You should have kept an eye on that & bought long life groceries/overpaid utilities or something.

honestly, stop stressing though you're not going to be doing time!!

You didn't realise the money from AirBnB is income and you didn't realise it's illegal to sublet council housing?

You seem blissfully ignorant OP.

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat you are ignorant. I have already posted information that it is illegal to sublet the whole property. Having a lodger is usually fine.

Thank you for making me calm down a little, it was a stupid mistake and will update on the outcome.

Usually?

So OP had permission then?

And it's morally fine to make money out of subsidised council housing without declaring?

You seem to have the same moral compass as OP here. Or rather lack of it.

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat i made a mistake you have processed to just twist the knife at every opportunity you are the lowest of the low for a human being in my eyes.

I thought a lodger was ok for UC? Altho I've never checked as I've not needed to.

So you forget to declare a couple of things? No wonder they want five years worth of bank statements.

You'll be fine it was only £260. Probably just recalculate it and ask for you to pay it back monthly.

Your original post made it sound like thousands!

Under Universal Credit rules this is allowed.

OK.

Thank you makes me feel more at ease I have declared it now albeit very late!

Ah that makes perfect sense
standard review ask for 4 months statments
They see that you went over your 6k

so then they want to check your statements going back to when you started your claim to see if you had more money

Honestly it’s a mistake of sorts
shit happens
they won’t send you to jail
they see this all the time

probably just a 50 quid admin penalty and pay back what you shouldn’t have had

keep your mobey under 6k and they won’t bother you again 😂

There's a rent a room allowance (ignoring any subletting issues...)
https://www.gov.uk/rent-room-in-your-home/the-rent-a-room-scheme

https://www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/mortgages-property/buy-to-let-renting/rent-a-room-scheme-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work
If you are receiving universal credit, your rent a room scheme income isn’t classed as income and doesn’t impact your universal credit payments.

Missing the point of the thread but why did you go to the bother of listing the room on Airbnb but stopped doing it after making £260?

@TinyGingerCat its kind of irrelevant so a bit nosy of you to ask.

How would UC see that someone had over 6000? Do they have actual access to bank accounts?! I think it's draconian asking for 5 years of bank statements, FFS. I'd be well pissed off.

You've had a lot of misinformation on here, but you are absolutely fine from a UC perspective. Income from lodgers is ignored for UC purposes, and people staying in your home with you using Airbnb are lodgers.

Just don't do it again without getting permission from your landlord.

Bless you OP. Don’t worry about it… even if you have to pay back the whole £260 (which I doubt) it’s not a lot of money. Honestly don’t stress about it, I know how awful these things can be. I had a review some 6 years ago and my anxieties around HMRC & the whole thing still affect me now. It is awful. In my case I worried to the point of feeling suicidal and the review was over in 5 minutes with no issues found. It’s awful they do this people.

Yes. They can see the amount in there any time they like. They have to have reason to see what the spending is and on what, a fraud investigation. They can ask claimant to supply bank statements though, so they can see that way. I guess if you refuse they figure you have something to hide.

UC are reviewing everyone’s accounts
they ask for 4 months statements

if they see anything amiss then they can ask for info going back to the start of the claim

so in the OPs case she sent them her 4 months statements they noticed she had more than 6k in her account and then they wanted to see what else she had
so they asked for statements going ba k to the start of the claim

if I’m wrong let me know OP😂