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?

[buildersmate]

Unless the rules on Council Tax has changed in the last 8 years then Hawkes and Pedant are wrong. What happens when a house let to students changes as one of the students ceases to become one is that the house becomes liable for assessment for CT, but less that discount offered for a single person occupancy (the non-student). This is often 25%.

The Council will go after the person in whose name the property is registered for CT - which will be one of them - not all of them - the one who registered for CT expecting that the 100% student discount would apply.

The situation regarding joint tenancy or tenants in common regarding the lease doesn't have a bearing on the liability of all the students to pay for the CT - and clearly they are unlikely to want to pay since it is the non-student who has created the liability for assessment of the property for CT in the first place.

It becomes a messy situation.

[DJHawkes]

what do you mean he gets 25% of the full amount, is the council charging each tenant a seperate group A bill?

[buildersmate]

The HOUSE becomes liable for CT payment, but discounted by 25% as there is only one chargeable person (the non-student). In short, the non-student has created a situation where the house has a liability for 75% of the normal rate.

It is normally an issue when students share a house, one drops off the course and starts working. Result: Council what 75% of their pound of flesh.

[murraymints]

But son will get council tax benefits as well as housing and will be required to pay whatever the balance is

[DJHawkes]

ahhh yes i recall asking about that for my son a couple of years ago when he shared with 2 lads and one was a student, they ended up dividing the bill equally between them, they still had to show that they were students though using their registration forms