In Need of some housing advice may sound silly but I’m gonna ask anyway!

[Cheymimi1]

So basically I’ve been in temp accommodation for around 3 years now and it’s in a state but the council don’t seem to want to help! I’m now gonna take the route of private renting. I only work part time at the moment and I still receive housing benefit I’ve struggled to find somewhere that’ll accept housing benefit so my cousin and I have both decided to move in together. We work together and she’s full time. Do you think as I’m part time and she’s full time we’d be accepted for a flat? I’m going to view a property alone but she’s already said she’ll send over anything they need. I’m just worried as I’m only working part time at the moment I don’t want it too affect anything. Please help!! (Sorry for the long post)

If you're not going to declare your housing benefit, they'll do an affordability check on the rent to see if you can jointly afford it. This used to be that you had to jointly bring in three times the annual rent as your salaries but I'm not sure what it is now.

Also, if you get caught, your landlord will have the right to evict you - even if you're paying your rent on time. A lot of BTL mortgage companies have a clause excluding tenants who are in receipt of benefits; presumably because it's nigh on impossible to get back rent from them if they stop paying as they often don't have it. So if your landlord doesn't evict you, they're in breach of their mortgage terms.

Thank you for replying! I won’t be declaring housing benefit as Im planning to start working full time. Are you saying if I get caught paying my rent with housing benefit?
We already have money for a deposit so I’m just hoping that we manage to secure a place!

If your cousin passes the affordability checks on her own could you do it all in her name? I wouldn’t lie to the landlord about you living there or anything dishonest but if you are not named on the lease then you might have more housing options. We rent out our house whilst we’re living abroad and our mortgage explicitly forbids tenants on benefits. So I wouldn’t be able rent to you, and if you lied and I later found out, I’d have to evict you.

She’ll most definitely pass the checks and I think I would too. I don’t pay out a lot for anything. I’ve calculated the rent for the place I am looking to rent and with my part time job I can actually afford to pay my part of the rent so I wouldn’t even need housing benefit.

Just to be clear, it’s not a question of you passing the checks or not. I wouldn’t be allowed to rent to anyone in receipt of housing benefit as per the terms of my mortgage. Even if your part time salary was enough to cover your share on its own and you passed all checks, it still wouldn’t be allowed because of the mortgage T&Cs. Unfortunately this is likely to be the case for a lot of rentals as it’s a very common clause of buy to let mortgages. Of course if you went full time and were no longer receiving any housing benefit then it would all be fine. It might be worth making some soft inquiries to letting agents but ultimately keeping the lease in your cousin’s name might be your best bet. Good luck!

Okay I think I get it now! I don’t actually get the housing benefit paid directly too me so I won’t be declaring housing benefit at all. I think maybe getting it in my cousins name may be the best bet! Thank you for your help

Are you bidding on council properties? It's worth finding out what your realistic chances are of being housed in the near future. Also check you're in the right band and whether there's any way of increasing your priority. It would be a shame to pass up the chance of a secure tenancy if you're getting near the top of the list.

I don’t actually get the housing benefit paid directly to me
?? Is it paid to your landlord? Can you see the fatal flaw in not declaring the fact that you’re on benefits?

I think OP meant she would stop her claim?

Oh, ok.

The proposed arrangement sounds extremely precarious OP. You wouldn't be named on the tenancy - what if you fell out with your cousin? She could just kick you out.

If you do decide to rent privately it would be much better to find somewhere you can rent in your own name and keep your HB claim - they do exist although they can be harder to find. It's worth asking the council to help. They can end their housing duty if they help you find suitable private rented accommodation so it's in their interests.

I was bidding on private properties but I was so far down in the list I just kinda gave up. I also have issues with the area I’ve been placed in. It’s so far from my job and also any support networks but the council don’t seem to want to help at all! They’ve already stated it could be years before I find anywhere permanent.

Can I just add I do not plan on lying about receiving housing benefit i ask up front if they accept it. I am not planning on getting any housing benefit anymore just simply working full time and sharing the flat with my cousin

Just make sure your name is on the tenancy. There's no reason not to if you're coming off HB. Conversely you couldn't claim HB if you were not on the tenancy anyway, because you need to show you are liable to pay rent.

Good luck!

Ive just found out that we can both be put on the tenancy so I’m thinking this is the best thing to do. Thank you!

In the past I was in temporary house for five years and then got a direct offer which was a 3 bed house in the area I wanted. If you go into private accommodation you have No security, rent will be higher. At this point the council have a duty to house you you will get at property in time but I guess the wait is stressful.