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supported accomodation HMO

gw
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Glasgow West Housing Association

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been asked by a client about possible problems relating to HB

Property will be let to 4 unrelated individuals on a Joint Tenancy.
Annual Rent will be £19,500. 
It will registered as an HMO as a large family home (but not as a registered service).
Each bedroom will have en-suite facilities, with communal living and kitchen area.
There will also be a separate support office/sleepover for carer.

There will always be a carer overnight, but the needs of the individuals are likely to be different during day-time (e.g. some may go to residential centres)
Irrespective they will all be high-need individuals and will require ongoing intensive support around daily living in community (personal care/housing support/social inclusion/maintaining relationships).
There is a strong possibility that the individuals will not have capacity to contract and signing of the Tenancy Agreement will be guardian.

will he and the other residents be able to claim HB as they will all have an individual missive/tenancy agreement?

thanks

[ Edited: 30 Mar 2017 at 08:40 am by gw ]
bigbill
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Dumfries Welfare Rights

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Dan_Manville
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Compared to even the expensive placements here in the Midlands that rent is eye wateringly high unless it’s cumulative across the 4 tenants and I wouldn’t be surprised if the HB section asked questions about whether it is unreasonably high. Even if they saw sense and separated the support costs it’s still a very high bill.

Sally63
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You say it will be let on a joint tenancy and also that they will have individual tenancy agreements.

If they have individual tenancy agreements that looks very much like supported living and they can claim HB and be exempt from the Local Housing allowance.

if they have a joint tenancy I suspect not.

Steph F - 30 March 2017 08:32 AM

been asked by a client about possible problems relating to HB

Property will be let to 4 unrelated individuals on a Joint Tenancy.
Annual Rent will be £19,500. 
It will registered as an HMO as a large family home (but not as a registered service).
Each bedroom will have en-suite facilities, with communal living and kitchen area.
There will also be a separate support office/sleepover for carer.

There will always be a carer overnight, but the needs of the individuals are likely to be different during day-time (e.g. some may go to residential centres)
Irrespective they will all be high-need individuals and will require ongoing intensive support around daily living in community (personal care/housing support/social inclusion/maintaining relationships).
There is a strong possibility that the individuals will not have capacity to contract and signing of the Tenancy Agreement will be guardian.

will he and the other residents be able to claim HB as they will all have an individual missive/tenancy agreement?

thanks

HB Anorak
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There are several questions raised here.  The first is whether they will be entitled to HB at all.  I cannot see why not: the only thing that would prevent HB from being paid is if the establishment were registered as a care home service by the Care Inspectorate.  That is a matter for them - one of the key points made by Judge Agnew in the case referred to above is that HB officers and HB Tribunals shouldn’t attempt to make their own decisions about care regulation matters.  Just go with the registration status: if it’s not registered as a care home service then it’s not a care home.

That means HB is payable in principle, but under what eligible rent arrangements?  Is this exempt accommodation, specified accommodation or neither?  This depends on two things: is the landlord a not-for-profit body?  And will any of the care/support be provided by the landlord (or someone who is answerable to the landlord)?  If the landlord is a private individual or commercial company the HB claims will be paid at normal private sector rates (LHA if meals are not provided; LRR if they are).  If the landlord is a not-for-profit body it will be either exempt or specified accommodation.  The best category is exempt, which requires the landlord to provide or commission more than minimal support.  If the landlord provides no support or a very small amount of support it will only be specified accommodation which is better than nothing but very much second best behind exempt.

The third issue raised is HMO v joint tenancy.  I cannot see that this makes much difference to be honest.  The HB rate will tend to be the same either way

gw
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Glasgow West Housing Association

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thanks folks,
I was assuming he would be exempt from LHA due to his health condition? 19yo…

HB Anorak
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Depends who the landlord is.  Might have a higher rate of LHA due to disability, especially if entitled to SDP, but it will still be LHA if his landlord is a private individual or commercial company

gw
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RSL non profit making..

HB Anorak
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In that case LHA never applies - we can forget LHA.

Next question is whether the RSL itself provides or commissions care/support/supervision: if yes, it’s exempt accommodation and less risk of any HB restrictions.  If not, the Council could pay the full rent and claim full subsidy but will have to explain to auditors why they didn’t refer to the Rent Officer and restrict rent to Local Reference Rent.  All in all, life is easier for the Council if it’s exempt because it’s much easier to justify non-referral.  In theory they should still refer to RO for subsidy valuation in an exempt case if they think the rent is unreasonably high but they will try to avoid that as they will almost certainly end up losing subsidy.

So: who will be providing care/support/supervision and to whom are they answerable?