Definition of income for HB purposes?

[kaotician]

I am in receipt of job seekers allowance, housing benefit and council tax support. I share my home with a lodger who pays me £20 per week rent, plus then half of that month's bills. The council has decided that his bill payments constitute income, and have therefore reduced my benefits accordingly. I have explained to them that he only pays his share of the bills with that money, and that it is not a profit for me, but they have taken it off me and so I am left with a situation where effectively I am having to pay my lodgers bills myself, and so am financially worse off than I was before. Are there any grounds for appealing this decision, or is the council's interpretation of 'income' in this respect correct? Thanks very much.

Edited March 21, 2014 by kaotician

[Mr.P]

Unless the bills are in the lodger's name, then any payments made in that respect would (in my opinion) correctly be regarded as "income".

[kaotician]

Thanks for the reply. How does anyone in my circumstance actually make having a lodger pay? For all the inconvenience, I'm actually worse off and feel I have no choice but to ask my lodger to leave immediately.

[abc123def]

Until UC comes in, having a lodger doesn't pay, only the first £20 is allowed to be kept. Same with JSA, the DWP would need to know about this income too.

 

When UC arrives more rent money will be allowed to be kept, but a lodger won't count as taking up a bedoorm if that bedroom is part of social housing so there will still be an under occupancy HB reduction part of UC as if it were empty. All a bit bizarre. Until then, it's not worth having a lodger as it costs more than £20 a week to have one.

[RaeUK]

I have to be honest, I find this very confusing. I had a lodger until he passed away just shy of two years ago now. He was always included as income on my ESA forms and HB. He paid £60pw plus half bills. All declared. Indeed, HB paid me £240 each four week period. Throughout that time I had no loss of ESA and no loss of my own full HB. I can only assume I live in some sort of black hole!