Can i claim housing benefit for a house owned by my father

[hiblingz]

i recieve housing benefit for a house which i rent from a private landlord.

he has told me that the mortgage payments for the house i am renting from him have gone up

I spoke to the council and they told me i have to cover the shortfall myself as i allready recieve the maximum ammount of benefit.

There is no way i can cover the shortfall so my father has aggreed to buy a house and let it to me (buy to let)

Will i still be able to claim housing benefit?

[joko]

yes me too OTT...but in my case, my dads business is being a landlord...he owns numerous properties, bought with the intention of receiving rent - from whoever can pay it

id have been pisht off if he hadnt allowed me to live in one

and i dont know many fathers who wouldnt have wanted their daughters in a safe nice house, where they know they are not at the mercy of dodgy electrics or gas or weirdo landlords etc

the only extra benefit for me an my dad is convenience and security...theres no scam he gets no extra money from it and neither do i...just peace of mind

[overthetop]

Joko, if you or the OP, are paying your own rent, that's absolutely fine. But if either are receiving housing benefit (which it seems that you both are and which the tax payers are paying for) then I think it's out of order.

[cassa333]

Joko, One of the things wrong with this system is that it may not be legaly wrong but it is moraly wrong to get the tax payer to pay your fathers income.

It may seem unfare but family is family and if at his age (90ish I believe) he can't let you live rent free then I don't think much of your dad.

[joko]

you see, that makes no sense...being related to someone does not mean they are obliged to keep you...i would not expect my dad to do that.
this is not temporarily putting me up for a few months...this is my home and has been fpr 15 years...

oot...so its fine for me to get my rent paid to some other landlord who is a stranger....?
what exactly is the difference? what does it matter who gets the rent?

if i lived elsewhere and he had someone else for a tennant...the outcome would be the same for me and him...we but both have rent paid...so seriously - whats the difference...
the difference appears to be only the paper work!
(kindly remember this post is not about the rights and wrongs of housing benefit...its about being related to your landlord)

by me living there free i would be depriving my dad of an income...thats his business

you see, its all knee jerk...you say its wrong, but your reasons amount to nothing more than "it just is"

and please dont spout the 'morally wrong' rubbish...as i say, the monetary outcome is the same as if he had strangers as tennants and if i lived in a house with a stranger for a landlord...morals dont come into it.

and the fact that my dad is 81 (not 90ish) means he cant afford to just give a house away unfortunately

your 'arguments' make no sense

[joko]

i would also add, that my dad would allow me to live rent free...he hates taking it from me when i am working an it is coming from my own pocket...but hes 81 and i insist
he has paid his taxes and so have i, so why shouldnt he be entitled to the same as any other landlord?

[overthetop]

Who is paying your rent Joko?

[joko]

err...who do you think? me when i am working and for inbetween jobs the housing...

[overthetop]

Me then?

[joko]

yup..an me.

you are still missing the point though...this is not about housing benefit...its about being related to the landlord

you still haven't managed to give me one good reason why its ok if you're strangers but not if you are related...

[overthetop]

So your father wants you to have a nice, safe place you to live. As long as somebody else pays for it. He has a number of properties. There doesn't seem to be any poverty here. Just greed and milking the system.

[ummmm]

Does your father still rely on an income to get by at 81? Should have invested in a decent pension...

[joko]

sigh. still no logical reason.

I can see you just want to believe you are right and are convinced this situation is somehow dodgy...yet you cannot give me a proper reason why other than 'it just is'
i have explained numerous times now why it makes no difference but you choose to ignore that.

as already, why should I expect my father to support me free of charge?
he is not poverished...but he is an oap and not everyone can just afford to support other people and i am amazed that so many here just think parents should house their adult kids for free

ummm...his pension is irrelevant - why should he just give me a house to live in?
why should he forego rent just because we are related?
it is only what id get if i lived elsewhere, and what hed get if someone else lived there.


look at it this way...if they decided to change the law and made it illegal for people to get housing benefit on a property owned by a relative...what exactly do you think would change?
do you think it would would somehow be different?

no...nothing would change - other than an bit of inconvenience for some people...

all that would happen is i would move out of the house...and move into somewhere else owned by a stranger...and then get the housing to pay them for my rent...

and all that would happen to my dad...is he'd get another tennant - a stranger - and get rent off them instead...

so you see...no change whatsover...expect some mild inconvenience...

the end outcome would be the same....

why is this so hard for people to grasp?

also this post is not about me or my situation...its about the law in general...and the law can see that its not fair to expect this, even if you cant...

[ummmm]

Joko...his pension is not irrelevant. My Grandad gave my Mum a house rent free until she could get back on her feet. We lived there for 3 years. He could afford to do this as he had enough income. Asking my Mother to pay rent wouldn't have entered his head.

To clear something up though...I couldn't give a hoot who pays your rent. I just understand where OTT is coming from.

[overthetop]

Why don't you just get off housing benefit, then you can pay your Dad as much as you want. Then we wouldn't have anything to say about it. But while we're paying ..... we have our opinions.

[joko]

and you are entitled to them of course...but at least have all the facts and consider things properly before you come to them...you are clearly ignoring the relevant facts....and you have still not come up with one decent reason why being related to the landlord matters one bit...?

ummm...quite simply he cannot afford to, and that is up to him...he is entitled to rent his house out to whoever he wants and get the rent for it.
it is the very reason he bought it in the first place!
i dont know many people who would just buy a house and then more or less give it away...family or not!
This house is not a stopgap for me...its my home and i intend to stay here indefinitely...

i am freelance and i am only on housing benefit on odd occasions when work is sparse - my father and i pay taxes too, and housing benefit exists to help in these circumstances.

lost of people claim housing... that is not the point here.

its clear people only think this is wrong becaue they just dont like the sound of it...there is no logical reason why it matters, yet so many just rear up an make accusations...
all i can say is think it through instead of jumping to conclusions

[ummmm]

I don't personally think it's wrong. Just understand where OTT is coming from. Maybe they haven't read many of your posts as I know you work when work can be found. If I invested in a property I would rather rent it to family than to strangers.

[overthetop]

No. I'm struggling quite badly at the moment, having paid taxes etc for 40+ years. Who will pay my rent? Nobody. Would your dad like to adopt me?

[TheTruthHere]

Joko is just milking the system like a lot of others ,
joko
(02:37 on Wed 18/Aug/10)
Question Author
cassa...the house is mine...it is willed to me and i have lived here 15 years...its has been given to me in all but the deeds. it will not be going anywhere,

payed for by us the taxpayer

[TheTruthHere]

The cut in housing benefit next year is to little to late

The cuts which take effect from next April will cut the maximum housing benefit which can be claimed from £103,000 to £20,800 a year, or £400 a week.

If i could get the taxpayer to pay my rent i could go freelance and stay on here most days in fact why work at all.

[overthetop]

A child is for life, not just for Christmas. Go out and earn your own living and stop claiming housing allowance. Your family do not appear to be hard up.