Housing advice

[nagapie]

A friend of mine used to live with her child in a two bedroom housing association property.
Child has now moved out so she has a spare room. Housing benefit now saying they will not fund £250 of her rent as she has a spare room.
We haven't checked but think it's unlikely the HA will allow her to rent out the room but she can't afford this.

Does she have no choice but to move? She's unlikely to find something affordable as it's London.
If she asks the HA to rehouse her will she have any choice about where she goes? But also she already has some rent arrears so in the past they've refused to move her until they're cleared.

 

[marty21]

She can rent out a room , has to declare it to HB as income so will reduce her HB & other benefits. She can ask the HA to downsize to a one bed flat , they may have a financial incentive (the council I work for pays about £1500 per room downsized.)

She could also look into mutual exchange, basically swap her tenancy with someone in a 1 bed , homeswapper is the main website for this .

She should also be able to apply for a downsizing payment if he swaps .

If she has rent arrears that could be an issue , but she can apply for discretionary HB which can cover the bedroom tax reduction for a limited period. She can get more advice from Shelter or CAB , the HA may have a Welfare Rights department too who can also advise.

The incentive payment can be paid direct to the rent account if there are rent arrears

Most London HAs will be part of the Choice Based Letting system (CBL) so once she registers for a move , she will be able to bid for a property via the Local Authority. The HA may be able to give her a Direct Offer (they need 2 beds for other tenants)

 

[marty21]

PM me if you want , if she lives in my borough , might be able to engineer a swap , I have plenty of tenants who need a 2 bed . And she can swap nationwide if she fancies a change of scene. She should not give up the tenancy , going into private rent would be a world of pain.

 

[nagapie]

PM me if you want , if she lives in my borough , might be able to engineer a swap , I have plenty of tenants who need a 2 bed . And she can swap nationwide if she fancies a change of scene. She should not give up the tenancy , going into private rent would be a world of pain.

Thanks for all that advice.

She's not in your borough.

 

[scooter]

Lodger income is ignored for UC purposes - if she is receiving UC Housing Element rather than HB, which is more likely these days.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

agree with what marty21 says. when it comes to lodgers, generally it's ok - although different councils / HA's will have different policies, so it's worth checking tenancy agreement first. some places it's OK so long as it doesn't cause the place to be (legally) overcrowded, some places you just have to tell them, some places you need to ask permission.

the sort of 'sub-letting' that is (generally) a no-no is where the official tenant moves out and rents the whole place to someone else.