Prisoners and HB

I have a client who is currently in prison on remand, the HB on his home is continuing to be paid as he is within the 52 week absence period however as he has been on remand now for more than 5 months, if he is convicted and sentenced his HB will end and he is likely to be issued with a large overpayment.

He has a girlfriend, who is now living in the property, she is not on the tenancy but she is using the property as her main home. She is claiming JSA. I have further questions about when she moved in, did they have a joint JSA claim before etc but I wondered whether my client could close his claim for HB and his girlfriend could make a HB claim in her name?  CPAG seems to suggest that if another person lives in the property and it is reasonable for them to be liable to pay the rent then they can claim while the orginal claimant is in prison, however as he is still able to receive HB for the time being would this cause a problem?  Are there any other issues I should consider?

That is the conventional solution in these cases, yes.

There shouldn’t be any risk of an overpayment by the way - the 13-week limit on absence is not retrospective, he will simply lose his entitlement going forward from the point when he no longer falls within the 52-week groups.