Advice On Benefits

[Budlet]

Quick question - my son has managed to get a job which is only 12 hours a week. He rents a room in a 4 bed house, the other rooms are rented by students. He has been told that if he wants financial help for rent and council tax payments he needs to provide proof of income for the other three guys. If he is a joint tenant renting from a private landlord, how is the financial arrangements of the other three relevant to his claim?

[murraymints]

If they are splitting a rent 4 ways it could be relevant..as opposed to having his own rent book for his own rent paid to landlord !

[Budlet]

They are all liable joint and severally for the monthly rent (they all have separate contracts).

[murraymints]

If his contract stipulates what his individual rent is then it may not be relevant what the others pay or earn....has he produced this at housing benefit office ?

[Budlet]

He had a meeting last week where he was told that he has to provide details of the other tenants financial details from the Student Loans company and their bank details. How on earth do they expect him to provide bank details? I'm sure if I was asked I would tell him to get lost it's none of his business!

[murraymints]

Does his contract state how much he has to pay or does it just say equal share in total rent ?

[Budlet]

The contract lists each tenant separately with the monthly amount and states 'Each Tenant will be solely responsible for his or her individual monthly rent'.

[murraymints]

Has he shown this to housing benefit ?

[rockyracoon]

This is incredible seeing as most councils are now insisting that anyone under 35 will only get enough housing benefit to pay for a room in a shared property. Do they really think all the other tenants will hand over their earnings amounts and bank details.

[murraymints]

It may hinge on the contract absolutely stating how much he is responsible for ..ie if total monthly rent is £ 800 his contract should clearly say ..£200 .....not just his share of the total if you see what I mean !

[Budlet]

murraymints - It clearly states the name of each tenant and the amount they have to pay each month against their name.
rockyracoon - 'Do they really think all the other tenants will hand over their earnings amounts and bank details' - I know. I wouldn't!

[murraymints]

Then it's not a shared obligation and it ought not matter about the others....he should make that quite clear..produce the written confirmation about his own obligation....ask to speak to manager or senior supervisor in housing benefit office..

[Budlet]

He needs to go back and speak to someone about this.
Thanks very much for taking the time to help. I am really grateful.x

[Peter Pedant]

actually it is very clear he DOESNT have a joint tenancy
but does have a tenancy in common:

Principles of Land Law - Page 117 books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=1859414729. Martin Dixon - 2002 - ‎
4.2.2 The four unities Before a joint tenancy can exist, the four unities must be present (AG Securities v Vaughan (1988)), and it is the presence (or absence) of these factors that enables us to distinguish a joint tenancy from a tenancy in ...(common)

The unity that isnt there in your sons case which is fatal to the jointure is the listing of separate rents.

Budlet says "The contract lists each tenant separately with the monthly amount and states 'Each Tenant will be solely responsible for his or her individual monthly rent'."

Go back and say they are clearly as a matter of law (see Ag Sec - it is all over the internet) it is a tenancy in common and therefore the rents of the others are irrelevant.

I agree they cant possibly interrogate the other tenants and I think they are being unreasonable - thus appeal the decision.

The bad news is.... the council tax position is that the students now become liable - but keep quiet about that one.

[DJHawkes]

it could be that they want confirmation that they are all srudents, who are exempt from council tax t must still register and apply for that exemption.

[DJHawkes]

students are liable for council tax but must apply for the exemption, 3 quarters of the council bill will therefore be exempted and the fourth quarter, your son will get an amount towards if his claim is upheld but may have to pay a nominal percentage,

[murraymints]

The form will ask who else lives in the property and their status ..

[DJHawkes]

asking the 3 students for a copy of their uni registration form should be sufficient to prove exemption too

[Budlet]

Regarding council tax, he gets a 25% discount on the full amount (£1076). It unfortunately doesn't work out that he only pays 25%.

[murraymints]

He will get a reduction on the 75% liability

[plowter]

Think there may be a misunderstanding between sharing a houshold and sharing accommodation. Flatmates share accommodation but don't share income. Families or partners share a household and are expected to share income.

He should have put down that he is the only person in the household. There may be other people in the accommodation but they're not part of his household.

All he has to do is state his relationship to the other residents, ie. not part of his household. He shouldn't need to ask for or provide any other information about the other tenants.