hi, this is my first time in a forum,,

my situation is i am a single mum ,

i work part time so i am claiming housing benefit, council tax benefit, working tax credits and child tax credits,

my friend has been recently kicked out of his mums house due to family problems,

he is staying from house to house at the moment,

if i was to move him into my spare room but take no rent/board off him would i be breaking the law??

obviously he would pay for his own food ect, and contribute to electric as he would be doing his own washing ect,

but i wouldnt be taking any money off him, just helping out an old friend!!

how would i stand legally on still claiming my housing benefit??

any answers would be appreciated thanku

I wouldnt advise it to be honest, the dwp will see it as youve moved your boyfriend in and are continuing to claim as a single parent.

Yes i know, hes not your boyfriend but you will have a tough time convincing the dwp of this if they were to investigate.

If he is an old friend he will understand that you would be putting yourself in a very compromising situation.

Sorry, i know this is no help for your friend but all it would take is for 1 disgruntled person to report that you MAY be cohabiting and your in the soup.

Your loyalties lie with your children.

There is a requirement to notify them of any changes in circumstances,so on this point alone,they could commence sanctions or investigation if you failed to report the change.

defo will be a problem especially if he is working or has an income.

As you won't be subletting the property and he is not a dependent, there would be a non dependent deduction applied to your housing benefit and council tax benefit. How much depends on how much he earns. If you are also getting single occupancy discount on council tax, you will lose this.

The problem is while telling them would mean you wouldn't get in trouble when he leaves it may take you a while to get your benefits reinstated.

It's not worth the hassle. Don't do it.