Anyone know? Shared house/housing benefit

CAB should know. I suspect she may not qualify.

This from Shelter:

*If you own a property
The value of any property you own or part-own can affect your housing benefit.

The equity in the property (the amount you would come out with after deducting the costs of sale and paying off any mortgage) sometimes counts as capital.

You can't usually get housing benefit if you have more than £16,000 in capital.

The value of your property can be ignored for up to 6 months if you separate from your partner and leave the family home.

It can be ignored for longer if:

- your former partner lives there as a lone parent
- you're taking steps to sell your property*

See this link: england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/benefits/how_to_claim_housing_benefit/how_much_housing_benefit_youll_get

Correct me someone if I'm wrong but I believe that you cannot claim HB to be paid to a Landlord who is a family member,this may have changed.

I’m in a bit of a muddle. Is she renting somewhere other than the property she half owns? Or it only her living in the house she half owns and she wants to rent the other half from her brother?

I’ve researched this myself housing benefit can’t be claimed if it’s a family member.

Yes I thought that, you can't claim HB if the landlord is a family member.

Correct me someone if I'm wrong but I believe that you cannot claim HB to be paid to a Landlord who is a family member,this may have changed.

I think you are right.
When looking at buying a house, I did enquire about renting the granny flat to my elderly mother & have her housing benefit paid to me as her landlord. I got a robust NO as the answer.

HettyMaud, no, it won't work!

You can get housing benefit or help with rent if you rent a property from a member of your family who lives elsewhere.

The tenancy must be a commercial one rather than an informal family arrangement and they will look at all the circumstances, however, the fact that she owns a share will impact on this...I'd also suggest Shelter as a great source of information and advice for housing issues rather than CAB.

Thanks everyone. I will certainly look at Shelter for information and also ask the Council. Have to get this right.

Who lives in the house at the moment? Is it being rented out to a non family member? If so, who receives any rent paid?

It would be helpful to know more about the circumstances. Housing benefit/support will be refused if there's any suspicion of a contrived tenancy ie., one designed to take advantage of housing benefit.

This may help.
You can fill in different circumstances, it will tell you entitlement.

benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou