can my boyfriend rent his house to my mother if she receives housing benefit?

[zooble]

i live with my boyfriend, who owns his own home, and our child. he is going to change his mortgage to a 'buy to let' one soon, as we need to move to a different area so are going to rent for a while. my mother wants to become his tenant once we're in our new place, but i'm unsure if she can, as she receives housing benefit. would the government pay her rent? we are not married, so legally she is not related to him.

[joko]

yes she can. its irrelevant that they are related - in this circumstance he is a landlord and she a tenant

[joko]

family are not required or expected to fund the living arrangements of relatives and offer free housing

[notlynx]

Don't be too sure about the landlord/tenant thing. if he was a relative she would have to declare that and I don't think she would be given HB. But she's not actually related. is she?

[themas]

This should be perfectly OK - but there has to be a proper formal tenancy agreement at a normal market rent. It would be a good idea to check beforehand with the local council which deals with the housing benefit, but if they are difficult go to the CAB, who should be able to advise impartially.

[joko]

notlynx - i rent from my father - never once been queried or questioned about it, i have claimed HB numerous times over the years...

it is perfectly legal

i am 39 and under no circumstances is my father expected to house me for free for the rest of my life just because he is a landlord

why do so many people have such a problem with this notion?

its not different to renting from a stranger - dont see why so many seem to perceive some sort of illegality about it

[notlynx]

Well, you see, Joko, no one said you would be expected to house a relative for free, what it means is that the relative is required to pay the rent, rather than have it paid for them in the form of HB. I can assure you that's certainly how it is where I live, so you have been fortunate.

[joko]

it makes no difference that people are related as to whether they need and get HB...

its a common misconception...not sure why

how do you know thats how it is by you? have you tried it? or is it just what someone else has said? where do you live?
i find it hard to believe the government would happily pay for strangers but not pay just because they are related - that woudl be ridiculous and illegal.

[notlynx]

Sorry,Joko, perhaps you would like to check out www.direct.gov where you will find that it is perfectly "legal", and also probable. However, the person zooble enquired about is not related to the potential landlord and would not fall foul of this ruling anyway.

[NOX]

I have rented a flat to my son's girlfriend and she disclosed that I am her quasi-father in law on the form ( just to be straight as she's a deadly honest sort of girl). As long as you disclose as Joko says there is no problem whatsoever.

[notlynx]

Definition of relative in this instance "A person related by blood or marriage".Your son's girlfriend is not your relative, and clearly the Council see that.

[joko]

notlynx - i cant see anything on your link that states that you cannot rent property to family members...perhaps you can link directly to that section?

perhaps you mean that it would not be allowed if for instance an 18 year old son, tried to change his status to lodger and tried to claim HB for his bedroom in his family home? - that would of course not be allowed...
but if the parent bought a house with the intention of renting flats out to someone, and his son decided to claim HB and take on the lease then there would absolutely nothing wrong with that - as it is only what he would do with an unrelated landlord, so it amounts to the same thing

i know it is not wrong because i have done it myself.

[JoolsTwo]

A friend of mine, who's partner was renting a property he owned, to her daughter (who was on benifits). She had to move out because her mother lived with the person she was renting from and was had to pay back the housing benifit she had received. So I don't think you would be able to. I would check with the local authority first.

[JoolsTwo]

I hasten to add I don't know all the details - I was only told the bare details. So there could be other reasons for this happening.

[joko]

there may have been some other reason then jimjools, because i have done this on and off for about 15 years, in between jobs, and its never even been questioned...and i have declared it quite clearly.
if the daughter claims HB for another property, and the landlord rents to a stranger, the outcome for the HB is the same - so what difference does it make?

was she living in the same house as the mum?

I know that is a different issue.

[JoolsTwo]

No, she had been living with her grandmother. She was a single mother too, as I said I don't know all the details but the reason quoted by my friend/acquaintace was that it was because she lived with the landlord and they wouldn't allow the housing benefit under those circumstances. It could be different with each authority I suppose, I don't know.

[notlynx]

I'm beginning to think the benefit departments don't know themselves, Joko. I put the question to them, "if my son receives HB now, would he still receive it if he rented one of my properties (as if I had them!!) and they said no, he would not, because I am a blood relative. But I also looked on the Shelter website where it states that as long as I (as the landlord) did not also live there, he would still be eligible! That seems perfectly reasonable to me, but either different councils have different rules or they simply don't know how to interpret them. I give up!

[themas]

The rules are national but unfortunately sometimes some staff in local authorities seem to have limited knowledge of them, as notlynx says.

It is not possible to claim HB if you & your landlord are closely related & live in the same property. If your landlord is a relative but lives elsewhere then you can claim provided the local authority is satisfied the arrangement is a commercial one, which generally means there has to be a proper tenancy agreement at a reasonable market rent level & including the normal terms concerning action if there are rent arrears etc.

There are various other restrictions, including that you cannot claim HB if you owned the property concerned within the last 5 years unless you had no alternative but to sell it - i.e. you would otherwise have been evicted.

[in a mo]

No problem with that ,the deal is between your boyfriend and your mum no need to bring your name into it ,just remember the Benifit have a limit now also the things sometimes get a little bit difficult if one rents to family members ,you would have to set up a contract obtain a rebt book ,I think that the pllace has to be checked before you can let it . Make sure you find all these things out .There is more to it than just renting his property.

[joko]

i think perhaps its a widely felt assumption, and even HB staff think they know the answer automaitcally and dont bother to actually check themselves before answering people

as themas says, as long as its a proper arrangement there is no reason at all why an adult should not rent from their parents if they have the proprty available...it actually makes more sense than having a stranger in...

i am an adult an have to live somewhere and he has to have a tenant and my dad would only have rent it to someone else and i would only have to live somewhere else and get HB for that place - so the outcome is the same for all parties so whats the difference?
the only extra benefit for me and my dad is purely that i get a good and trusted landlord and he gets a good an trusted tenant

in terms of the OP, they are not even related so i cant see there being a problem

Zoobie - i would suggest when you investigate this, do not take only one persons answer, seek out as many as you can to get the truth

actually i woudl just apply...the people who actually assess the forms probably know more about the rules than the general clerk on the phone

if it helps at all, perhaps he could set it up as a business - ie, give himself a company name? just something like zoobies properties, just to make it extra clear its a proper arrangement

jimjools - prehaps she didnt declare it? and they found out?

[Lindylou]

I was close to having a nervous breakdown as every six months or so we would have to move because we rented under shorthold tenancies and were unable to obtain a longer letting period. Everytime we moved the rental requested would increase. No Council housing available for us in our area. My son eventually bought a house, in his name, and we rent it from him. We receive housing benefit via our local Council. We told them the exact situation, i.e. we rent from our own son, and there's never been a problem with us receiving HB. And now we don't have to move a couple of times every year.