Perils/pitfalls/drawbacks of T who's HB/LHA/DSS claimant

[Dee]

Hi, I have recently bought a property and had hoped to let it to working people, but after several months, I feel I need to widen my net to include DSS tenants. Pease can you tell me what the pitfalls are and how I can avoid them. Can't thank you enough. Dee:

[ajr]

Point to watch for your next investment is 'doing the due dillegence thing'. If you are having difficulty letting to private tenants look a bit harder at the lettings market,demand, tenant profile etc.

One nasty point to watch out for, is some local authorities have a claw-back clause which you as landlord must agree to if you accept housing-benifit tenants. This basically enables the local authority to claim back from you any over-payments that may have been made to your tenant. ie if the authorities discover that your tenant has for example, been falsely/under declaring income or has taken black economy work etc. Yes, thats right, they will ask you to repay money your tenant may have falsly claimed!

Another factor to be wary of is that many local authorities are appallingly slow at processing HB claims,expect a wait of anything upto 3 months to get your rental flow.

Good luck

Tony

[susan 2]

Dee - Unless you are really desperate and unable to let your property, do not take DSS. I know this seems hard, there are good ones. I did take them when I started, but the hassle with the council, and the fact that only part of the rent is paid by the council with the tenant having to make up the difference (which they often didn't) caused me so many problems. Better to lower the rent slightly and take a working tenant.
However if you absolutely have to, then what ever you do make them sign a letter to the council stating that they will allow you to discuss their case with the council. Without this you will be unable to find out what is happening. I found this out the hard way. I charged a tenant £50 a week, he was claiming £100! The council rang me to accuse me of overcharging and profiteering! Best of luck.

[Dee]

Hi Tony & Susan, Thanks for your advice.Some very useful information. My letting agent is advising me to take a young tenant with 1 child and an other on the way in 3 months. She has 3 CCJ's & a large debt. I feel this is too risky, but they are saying it's OK. as the coucil will pay the rent.(although not directly to me) What do you think?

[Worldlife]

My thoughts are........... boy friend or ex-partner trouble.

With a bad financial record the Housing Benefit will probably be used for other things. Has she got references from a previous landlord?

Wouldn't request the benefit is paid to you in this sort of case - you could be liable to pay it back if there is any overpayment.

Don't touch it with a bargepole.

[Dee]

Hi Vic. Yes You're right about the boyfriend trouble. I don't think I will touch it. Thanks

[Jonboy]

My letting agent is advising me to take a young tenant with 1 child and an other on the way in 3 months. She has 3 CCJ's & a large debt. I feel this is too risky, but they are saying it's OK

sack your agent NOW, it is probably them that is causing the lack of tenants!

who in their right mind could reccomend a tenant with 3 ccj's and large debts, beggars belief!

[Dee]

Just checking. I've never dealt with DSS before so wondered if this was par for the course. You've put my mind at rest, and yes I am looking at another agent, but they all seem as bad as eachother in that area. Not encountered this problem before. Thanks again Dee

[susan 2]

Dee - why don't you let the property yourself, then you do not have to worry about the agent. It's not difficult truly. I have done my own letting for 20 years. Plus you can evaluate any tenants yourself.

[Dee]

Hi Susan, thanks for the thought, but unfortunately I live about 3 hours drive away. I'll just keep trying.

[Robin]

DSS tenants need vetting. Some can be like Wayne & Waynetta Slob, in which case I'd rather not deal with the filthy layabout morons that breed at our expense. Bring back the work house for them & adopt their sproggs into decent middle class homes to break the cycle I say, pip pip.
Or some DSS tenants can just be someone who is on low salary or just hasn't had breaks in life or have mild disability so they can't work & are completely respectable people.
In Southampton there are sufficient working people looking for accomodation & I so don't have to bother with DSS. If I had to, then I'd think about profit taking & sell the flats.

[chaldea]

As per the reply re clawbacks, this is partially true.

If the local authority (LA) pay the HB to the tenant who then pays you, then the LA subsequently discovers that the tenant is not entitled to HB (IE working cash in hand etc..) then the LA will clawback the overpaid amount from the tenant.

If, however, the LA pays you directly, then they will chase you for the overpayment.

I've had a few clawbacks in my time but woulr rather risk this than have the tenant get the rent then have me chasing them for it.

[strangey]

For what it's worth, 7 mnths ago I took on my first dss tennant, I do not use a letting agent for any of my properties and I chose this tennant purely on instinct as I do with private tennants, I had been warned about lengthy waits for payment from the LA, so I asked the prospective tennant for double the deposit, they agreed so I took them on, this tennant after a slightly shakey start, has been good tennant. I suppose what I am saying is that it is about the individual case not an entire grooup is good or bad.
Hope this may have helped

[Gigi]

DSS tenants need vetting. Some can be like Wayne & Waynetta Slob, in which case I'd rather not deal with the filthy layabout morons that breed at our expense. Bring back the work house for them & adopt their sproggs into decent middle class homes to break the cycle I say, pip pip.
Or some DSS tenants can just be someone who is on low salary or just hasn't had breaks in life or have mild disability so they can't work & are completely respectable people.
In Southampton there are sufficient working people looking for accomodation & I so don't have to bother with DSS. If I had to, then I'd think about profit taking & sell the flats.

:D

Spot on! I hear what you are saying that there are good and bad but as LL we are not social workers. Was in a similar situation when a tenant asked for his cousin to take over the tenancy. He wouldn't trust his own cousin but expected me too!

Bargepoles did not touch!

[lisa264]

Hi
Just wanted to say that Dss tenant's are not all Bad.
I have 5 children all who are very well behaved,doing well at school don't hang round the streets till all hours.
The only reason we have to claim the benefit is that my husband is waiting for a hip replacement and is unable to work.
We have a chihuahua and fish but cannot get any where decent for my family to live.
All i want is to bring my children up in a nice neighbourhood and make sure they don't get into the wrong crowd.
We have approached loads of letting agents and have asked them that if we pay the rent untill the housing benefit comes though would they be able to let the house to us.
They won't.
We have rented from landlords before and have always been good tenants doing the property's up etc
Now we have had to take a flat from the council up three flights of steps with neighbours from hell, drug addicts, music on till all hours.
Because of these kinds of people me and my family are stuck in this hell hole and decent landlords won't touch us

[justaboutsane]

Lisa, not all decent Landlords shy away from DSS, the majority of the properties I manage are DSS tenants. We also work closely with Social workers and bond schemes to house vulnerable people like yourselves. Unfortunatly I don't think we have a house big enough for your needs but there are good people out there who would welcome your family. We have had good and bad DSS tenants and good and bad employed tenants... the difference is we often get more money from DSS tenants before they do a bunk!!

[lisa264]

Most of the landlords we have appoarched normally say no straight away even before meeting us, as soon as you mention dss it's a No.
I do understand the some landlords have had a bad time with dss tenants.
There is a house just up the road from us it's just behind my husbands sister it has been up for rent for the last couple of months.
Kids are in and out of it making it a mess and it is just stood there empty going to waste, but will they rent it to me no just because we claim housing benefit.
I have tried to come off the dss and at the job centre last week i was told to go home and look after my kids and husband lol
My husband is waiting for a hip operation and at the moment is on crutches he cannot have the op as yet the reason being he will have to be in a wheelchair for a week or so and there is no way i can get him up the three flights of concrete steps we have to climb get in the flat.
Unless i pull him up with a rope dangled out the window lol.
we are in a no win situation at the moment with no light at the end of the tunnel but hopefully something will come along in the end

[justaboutsane]

:eek: I can't believe a landlord would allow a property to remain empty for months and allow it to be wrecked at the same time rather than take tenants who at least will pay something towards the mortgage! ... Even if you do wreck the place (not saying you will!) but at least the landlord will be getting some costs back! ... at the moment he has nothing!!

[delb0y]

hi all

does anyone know how to get dss tenents? someone a while back told me you could notify the HB office of your property and they may have a list of people looking for re-housing? is this true??

right now im just advertising in the local papers etc

[justaboutsane]

We use Bond schemes as a way of locating DSS tenants ... one web page you can view is http://www.nrdf.org.uk/ I also put bond schemes into a search engine and you may be able to come up with something in your area. Give me a shout with the areas you cover and I may have a contact number.

The bond schemes will advertise through Job centres and Social workers as well as having a list of clients. We have one set of flats that is tenanted solely through an organisation called Cearphilly move on and we are always getting calls asking for properties in this area!

[ivrytwr3]

My property is the lincoln area, any contact numbers? I have a 3 bed semi which is now hard to let even though it is immaculate! (due to many new builds in the area and many being for let).

[Martin1976]

Hi there, Im a 30 years of age and living with my 63 year old mother after the passing of my father not so long ago, we are both classed as disabled both for differing reasons, we are both on benifit but need to move for a fresh start, we have a labrador dog which we got for company for my mother when im not there etc. we have tried moving via the council but there next to useless and there take an absolute age to do anything. we need a bungelow in lincoln with at least 2 bedrooms and a rear garden which would take a dss tennant on. please email me at lambert927@btinternet.com if you are able to pass on any information, many thanks.

Martin

[karl_123]

hi there i am wanting to move back to lincoln with my wife and 1 year old daughter i am on dissability benefit at the moment due to an accident at work while working for royal mail. i am ready to start back in work but it would be easier once i am in lincoln rather than start here in mansfield and have to quit and start again once i move.
me and my wife keep a tidy and well looked after home and can send photos of our current home to prove this. if there is any possiblity you would consider us for renting your property or any other landlord with property in the area please email me on bob.on@live.co.uk any emails would be gratfully answered thanks karl

[powellk]

Hi Susan, thanks for the thought, but unfortunately I live about 3 hours drive away. I'll just keep trying.
Hi Dee, I have started looking at the issues with DSS tenants. I have had my apartment for 4 years, and have had 2 sets of Private working tenants. I am looking into the feasibility of my next tenants being DSS. Single mum with young baby (Very young).

1. I did hear the one about having to pay back any excess/fraudulant moneys to the council. I assume I will need to be appraised of the initial tenant application.

2. If the tenants have no credit history as she has been living with her parents, I have no idea if she is a good or bad debtor.

3. She viewed the apartment with the babies father. But if she only claims, then she should be the only person on the contract.

I was thinking of speaking to the local council, not about the specific tenants, but as a general advice issue. Is there anyone else I should speak to before making my decision.

Thanks

[Izzycam]

Susan, whatever you do don't accept anyone with this background (3 CCJ's) this would be crazy.Why would they recommend this kind of client . An idea would be to put an advert in the local paper yourself (even though you are 3 hours away this shouldn't be a problem), vet them as best you can using your common sense, then let the letting agency weed out the best when you are down to a few good one's.Hope this helps....PS some DHSS are fine it's just finding the right one's.

[KitKat87]

I am sorry to put this on here but i have read many of your replys. Excuse me to the person that says take your kids off you and give them to working people. Am sorry but i am an unemployed woman that is due to have a baby in march. I am desperatly looking for a house to rent in Lincoln so i can have a nice home for my baby to come into. Unlike all of you who have your degrees in what ever thing it is you do. I have not been as fortunate as you. I have a boyfriend but he away in the army so his money is tied with the army rental bit. I would only be claiming Local housing allowenec until 5 months after the birth of my daughter for which i am then going out to work. So dont you dare insult me saying we are all the same flob about people who dont care. Because i care about my daughter even tho she is not born i want the best for her. And its like stuck up people like you who wont except DSS in your houses that end up coursing more problems. I am mean jesus you think because you see like that Shannon Matthews were all the same. I live in a very small town and there are NO jobs i have no means of transport as i have no money to do my driving. I am moving to a city so i can go out to work and provide for my daughter.

Sorry for saying this so blunt but it upsets me getting nasty stuck up people who think were all the same. Thank you tho to those who take the chance with nice young couples wanting to have the best for there family.

[rajeshk4u]

With DSS it is a mixed bag. You can get good ones and bad ones. T

Though, I have been nearly in tears when I saw one DSS tenant trash the property, this was after I spend ££££ on refurbishing the place. The lady looked presentable and on day one, I like the fact that she was cleaning the place, but within two years the place was ruined. She even got two vicious dogs and the garden is spoiled and the garden door is totally scratched up with dogs trying to jump on it. The gutters are always blocked. Rubbish in the garden.... As the can't dry her clothes in the garden due to the dogs, the living room has a clothes line!.

They delibratly spoilt a house, so that the landlord is forced to evict them and to get a Council House, but I think that people who delibratly trash a property, should be given the worst Council Homes. Whislt those that have been patient, should be given the best Council Homes.

After months with the Courts, the baillifs will be going in January.... But such people spoil it not only for me, but for the next tenant.

I think she even got a Dog, so that she could get a Council House with a garden.

[Rodent1]

First Q:

Should i let my property to someone on HB ?

ANS: NOT without a fully referenced Gaurantor.


That should cut out 90% of the problems!


The Rodent

[Nelly30]

Even with a guarantor I am having problems..

I certainly will not be taking any more tenants on any support. The Local Authority I am dealing with are useless and keep referring to and "hiding behind" the Data Protection Act.

[jax2503]

I have to say that personally I have no problems with the HB office. I find them helpful when they know that you know more than them on HB regulations. I also find that when I have the full info for the claim and I take it in by hand that they can assess it there and then and advise that it is finished and will send out award letter.

I spent along time argueing with the HB offices about there lack of help and support and over the past year they have really picked up. I deal with 9HB offices and have noticed a vast improvement on them all.

A fully referenced guarantor, well if the tenant is going to sting you then they will sting you wether there is a guarantor or not. I find it best going down the route of 5personal references. Friends and family, that way if a tenant is playing games, you can also start leaving messages at friends and families for them. It will put them under some pressure if need be. Also gives you 5 places to start looking for them if need be.

I will continue to rent to HB tenants and will look at every case as an individual one.

Jax

[Michael Clayton]

Hello. My name is Michael Clayton (not to be confused with the film or that rather ugly actor who stole my name).

I am the newly acquired Housing Benefit expert. Please bear with me until I get used to the forum.

Local authorities adhere to the DPA. Otherwise, individuals who disclose/breach the act can be prosecuted; without any protection from the LA employer. As such, I don't blame LA staff for complying with the law.

I offer a unique service. I receive referrals from landlords (thus you maintain control) that enables me to guide claimants through the HB process. It is a win-win situation.

I generate income by applying my expert HB knowledge whilst, at the same time, take away the DP issues. How? I ask my clients (the tenants) to sign a consent form. This form allows me to act on their behalf and gives me the chance to interrogate (where necessary) their HB case files.

This has been useful in sell and rent back cases, whereby the tenant (and formerly the home owner)
is faced with some tough obstacles in the pursuit of HB.

[Rodent1]

Even with a guarantor I am having problems..

I certainly will not be taking any more tenants on any support. The Local Authority I am dealing with are useless and keep referring to and "hiding behind" the Data Protection Act.

If G has been properly referenced, credit checked etc Then why are you even bothering to deal with LA ??

ALL G to HB clients are made aware that i will contact them for immediate payment 48 hrs after rent due date looking for full and immediate payment, they are also made aware that HB has a habbit of stopping for no fathomable reason, and can be put on hold for several months whilst "they investigate" i call a spade a spade and if they are not happy to sign to agree then T can go live somewhere else. End Of.

The Rodent

[MaryQK]

Jax - where do you find the HB regulations? I am in constant "battle" with the HB dept - they are completely inept and find most of the time i need to tell them what they did wrong and how to rectify it.

[Nelly30]

If G has been properly referenced, credit checked etc Then why are you even bothering to deal with LA ??

The Rodent

I cannot get in contact with the guarantor (who is a home owner) and will be reading up on how I can chase the debt (over 5 months now)...

Jax - I would be interested to know where the reg are as well..

Thanks

[jax2503]

Hi All,

Alot of the information is on the DWP website http://www.dwp.gov.uk/housingbenefit/claims-processing/claims-guidance/

But if i'm honest most of it is just knowlege. I have been dealing with them for years and have picked up most of it along the way. If you have any particular problem post it on a new thread and i'll more than happy answer any question for you and find the relevant legislation or advise you on how to proceed and bring the claim forward for you.

Jax

[Michael Clayton]

Hello again.

The HB Regulations were revised in 2006. We now have 'working age' regulations (www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/uksi_20060213_en.pdf) and 'state pension credit age' regulations (www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/uksi_20060214_en.pdf).

I am not averse to any guidance material written on the subject but I tend to find that certain guidance is slanted towards the HB practitioner, the claimant and/or any person acting on their behalf.

Having written over 130 legal submissions to the Tribunals Service, I very much take the view that you are better taking directly from the regulations than any interpretation i.e. guidance material.

I would also suggest that particular attention is taken to legal precedents from courts or commissioners; in other words 'case law'. Such cases are legally binding and have been established on a point(s) of law.

Please refer to www.osscsc.gov.uk for a list of relevant decisions.

HB is ever evolving and is a complicated subject. Please feel free to ask any questions.

[Rodent1]

I cannot get in contact with the guarantor (who is a home owner) and will be reading up on how I can chase the debt (over 5 months now)...

Jax - I would be interested to know where the reg are as well..

Thanks


Send LOA to G, warning that if funds not received 7,10,14 days etc that Case will be passed to professional debt collector and DC fees will be payable by G....(for the future) get G agreement re written to include breakdown of your "proceedure" for non payment ............if you havent got one , then what are you doing in a boat with out a rudder ?!!


The Rodent

[ryouga]

Id say the likelyhood of getting a bad DSS tenant isnt much higher than someone who works as just because someones working doesnt mean they will be willing to pay rent each week. I remember a few years back when I was on JSA and had to stay in a grotty flat with a dodgy landlord who preferred people on benefits as he knew they were easy to mess around, I remember him doing no repairs and claiming I hadnt paid him despite the rent going direct to him so told the council but he sent a forged letter to them saying I agreed to change it back to him and the HB section said the landlord said I was months in arrears so they paid him!

Anyway when someone I made friends with got a job they gave their notice right away and found a place around corner, £10 a week cheaper PLUS including bills(the current one had meters in each room) bigger rooms, just been refurbished and had a living room with a big tv, ps2 etc.

Friendly landlords that at least pretended to care and low deposit but I spoke to them and said I was on HB right now as I lost my job and they thought I was a good person and told me when I start working to phone them up and they will be happy to rent to me, they were just worried about people on benefits bringing friends around and staying up late each night keeping the working tenants awake.

[mummyto5]

well after reading all the posts i must be one of the lucky ones,
im a single mum of 5 and have just signed my first tenency agreement for 3 years,the landlord wants a long term tennet and the council helped me find this place,im on hb and im a very clean person etc,i think its disgusting that some people and so far up the own ass that they look down on people like me,i was married for 14 years my husband died 6 months ago in a car crash so now im on benefits,i think people should give dss tenents a chance as we r not all the same

[jeffrey]

well after reading all the posts i must be one of the lucky ones...
I think people should give dss tenants a chance as we are not all the same
That's good to hear. Yes, you may be lucky; yes, not all claimants are the same. Few people ever are!

But it remains true that an unreasonably large proportion seem to con landlords almost as a matter of policy or principle. LZ's unhappy threads tell tale after tale of tenants failing to pay the lawfully-due rent; instead, they divert the funds (publicly provided by taxpayers) to other ends. Scarcely fair, wouldn't you agree?

[mummyto5]

no i agree with u its not fair at all on those landlords,
i was lucky the council checked that hb would pay that left a small amount for me to pay each week and i have just set up a standing order with my bank so that the payments go straight to him as i wanted this but the council now dont do it???
really there should be a law that the landlord has to get the hb put into his account and the tennet does not get it that way those tennets who abuse this cant do it,
why this is not done i dont know.

[riju78]

hi guys..i am going to get a new tenant through the council and just wanted some advice on the deposit protection scheme..do i need it with dss tenants...and how long should i sign the AST for 6 or 12 months?? is there anything else to check and do??..thank you guys

[jeffrey]

hi guys..i am going to get a new tenant through the council and just wanted some advice on the deposit protection scheme..do i need it with dss tenants...and how long should i sign the AST for 6 or 12 months?? is there anything else to check and do??..thank you guys
Deposit protection applies to every new AST, no matter whether rent is funded by T or LHA/HB.

[jg1]

Looking for some advice on letting my property. Can anybody recommend DSS tenants or is it more hassle than it's worth? i.e. is it more likely that you will not receive rent payments? Reasion that I ask is that some people will put "No DSS" in their advertisement. I am letting it through an agent and have requested the rent guarantee insurance so am hoping there will be minimal problems this time (famous last words)

Any advice gratefully received (I have just been through a lengthy eviction of the previous tenants via a section 21 due to non-payment of rent, so am probably a bit more cynical than usual!)

[tom999]

Reasion that I ask is that some people will put "No DSS" in their advertisement.
They do this for a reason, which you have answered here:

...or is it more hassle than it's worth?
It can be more admin-intensive, but it's certainly not a one-sded story - there are good HB/LHA tenants, but main difficulty is finding the good 'uns and the hassle of dealing with the bad 'uns.


i.e. is it more likely that you will not receive rent payments?Yes, it's a risk which LL's (particularly new one's) in this sector need to thoroughly research, just as with any other business or investment. The introduction of LHA last year has resulted in diffculties for both claimants and private LL's, with regards to rental arrears.

One of the reasons that a private LL may consider HB/LHA is that a professional/working tenant may not be interested in the area or type of property, so LL may want to fill a rental void ASAP with a HB/LHA tenant under the mistaken premise that it may be an easy option.

Research carefully, and do not be in a rush to make a mistake, that you'll live to regret. A good place to start would be by reading through the posts in the "Housing Benefit Questions (HB, LHA, DSS)" section of this forum. Also, you could get info. about LHA from your local authority.

[havensRus]

Looking for some advice on letting my property. Can anybody recommend DSS tenants or is it more hassle than it's worth? i.e. is it more likely that you will not receive rent payments?

good points made by tom999.

And it can be quite management intensive. i have several tenants on LHA, and most are OK. The few problematic ones take up most of my admin time. And yes, it can be a nightmare when problems happen as the council WILL NOT help you - you will have to know the rules well, and fight your corner hard.

I've got safeguards in place, but the odd one still slips through. :mad:

You could also ring up the Housing Options team of the council, and tell them you have a property. Those who come through them tend to be vetted etc. so you are more likely to get a more responsible one.

[RodCrosby]

A lot will depend on.

i) how confident you are; can you respond very quickly to problems?
ii) how much low-level hassle can you stand?
iii) how valuable/expensive the fixtures and fittings in the property and common areas are
iv) how helpful the Council is. Sometimes they have a dedicated Landlord Liaison Officer. Find out and give them a call. Work out if this person sounds like they will want to help you in the future. If they sound like a dalek with a vocabulary limited to "data protection!, data protection!" you might as well not bother with DSS, since most of your day-to-day problems will revolve around trivial and arcane aspects of the benefits system, which are easily resolved with correct information. Without that info, however, small problems can easily spin out of control.
v) If you have multiple units, use common sense when housing DSS. It's better to have them all housed together than putting a DSS in amongst working tenants. This has the added benefit that the DSS often know each other, and the good uns can spot the bad uns often far more accurately than you can. Get your good uns to use the jungle telegraph and/or vet prospective newcomers.
vi) what financial safety margin do you have if things go wrong? - but get this into perspective. A "working" tenant who wants to seriously mess you around in a luxury apartment could cost you orders of magnitude more than a DSS scammer in a bedsit.
vii) generally speaking, the older the DSS tenant is, the lower the risk. The older the better! Long-term DSS are also better than someone who's just lost their job, unless they have obvious "other" problems of course.

In general, I'd say a good DSS tenant is a financial goldmine, if you do your sums right, while a bad DSS tenant is no worse than a bad "working" tenant, provided you don't put them in the penthouse. ;) The ratio of good to bad DSS is in my experience about 10:1, even better if you don't take very young lads, who are potentially the worst.

[RodCrosby]

viii) learn basic handyman skills, in particular how to replace yale and mortice locks including basic emergency woodworking, how to change a tap, where to turn-off water stopcocks, how to change an immersion heater element, where to get keys cut cheaply, cheap glaziers, cheap skips, etc. Obtain the council number for removing unwanted sofas and fridges.

[Michael Clayton]

This is not really a question that is specific to HB regulations. However, a knowledge of what is/what is not possible cannot be a bad thing. HB is a valuable source of income.

You need to take a more holistic approach. Look beyond HB. Has the 'tenant' addressed all their needs i.e. is there any entitlement to other benefits as well as HB? Have you taken references? Do you understand Housing Law?
Are you prepared to accept they have little or no resources? (Arguably this is a good thing - the needier that better?). Have you researched the Local Housing Allowance?

There are good tenants out there and you want to make sure they stay that way. Otherwise,a relationship can sour and that is when you are heading for trouble.

[Luke]

My concern that the prospective tenant is a Woman with three Children and she is currently receiving HB for a three bedroomed place where she is living now.
She wants to move to my three bedroom place . My concern is that her Children are 14, 17 and 20 ( not exactly Children) .
But are her HB entitlements liable to change (with the Children turning into adults) ?
Next year, she will only have one Child living there and her Teenager who will no longer be a Child.
The eldest one is expected to be going abroad soon.
Are her entitlements likely to change with the Children growing up .
If the two eldest didn't live there, would her HB entitlements change due to just her and the youngest one living there ?
Thnx

[Emma1973]

Lots of variables here, but the most definite would be that her LHA would indeed change if the older 2 children were not there, she would only then need a two bedroom place and would receive the according amount of money.

If the middle child did stay the amount she receives would depend on what the 18yr old did, get a job, still be at college, etc. When the eldest child turns 16 it would change again depending on what the child did after leaving school. But the absolute definite is that without the elder 2 there she will receive less LHA.

[tom999]

Are her entitlements likely to change with the Children growing upLHA entitlement will almost certainly be reduced if children leave. If you are considering letting to HB/LHA families, then single mothers with children under 10 (under 5 is better) are at least risk of having a 'change in circumstances' due to children flying (or fleeing!) the nest; which may result in benefits being changed (or reduced).