Student Houseowner

[lizzydrippin]

My neighbour rents her house from her brother who has recently given up his job to start university. He lives somewhere else in rented accomadation and since giving up his job he has been in a position of having to claim housing benefit in order to pay his rent. I know my neighbour says that her brother makes no profit from her rent payments which purely just covers the maintenance for the house but surely he wouldnt be elegible for housing benefit if he is a houseowner. Im not sure if he declares it or not but surely housing benefit check out whether claimants are houseowners or not, especially in this day of computers?

[Ethel]

To get Housing Benefit, you must have income and capital below a certain level. Capital means savings, land, property or anything else which could provide you with income. If you have more than �16,000 in capital you will not get any Housing Benefit (unless you are on Pension Credit, see below).

Are you sure he is getting Housing Benefit?
f you are a student in full-time higher education (degree level or equivalent), you cannot usually claim Housing Benefit. However, you can claim it if you are studying part-time.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/benef its/help_with_your_rent_-_housing_benefit.htm


So now you believe he is making fraudulent claims, what are you going to do?

[lizzydrippin]

Thanks very much for your answer Ethel. I don't feel really that I should do anything because for one I can't really be sure what exactly he is claiming and two, I really like my neighbour, she's a very nice person and does alot for the local pensioners (including my husband and myself) so I wouldn't want to cause her any trouble. Surely the housing benefit would have checked whether her son was a house owner so Im thinking that if they did and he still is getting help with his rent then I must have something wrong somewhere.

[lizzydrippin]

I forgot to mention that her brother is a single parent with a 12 yr old child. Would that have made a difference?