Any risk to UC for single to joint tenancy for family

Hi
a tenancy generally cannot be changed once it has been signed - its a legal comntract for a period of time- landlord and tenant would have to agree for current tenancy to end and then a new one start - but that may mean theat landlord want to credit check/ask for a security deposit from the son, as he is a new tenant,

if/when her current tenancy ends, a new joint tenancy was drawn up between mum and son, then she would get the 2 bed LHA rate because they form a common household.

think the son would get 1 bed LHA as he is on PIP and therefore I think the SAR doesnt apply to him., but prob best to check this as Im n ot 100%

How much is the LHA rate for 1 and 2 beds in your area?  any award is capped atthe % of the rent, so if the rent is £2000 a month and there are two tenants in a 2 bed property,  HB and UC would usually assume each tenant was paying 50%, £1000 per month/ £230.79 per week
  the Hsg element will be capped at the Lower of either the the LHA rate or the rent charged so you would need to work out how much difference it would make to them.

You might find the landlord takes it out of her hands when the tenancy is next up for renewal: it is very common for landlords to offer a new shorthold term as joint tenants to parents and grown-up children who were still under 18 when the previous agreement was signed.  This gives the landlord more options for collecting arrears and managing the tenancy: two people to sue for joint and several liability, two people accountable for their behaviour etc.

Forcing it prematurely however could be seen as creating a contrived liability, so I would say it’s best to wait until the issue of the tenancy comes up in the normal course of events and not to surrender the tenancy before the term expires.  Even then, if the landlord is not insisting on a joint tenancy at renewal, UC might take the view that it would be a contrivance to ask for one.

As far as the rate of housing element is concerned, the “common household” loophole referred to by Prisca works for HB but if I have understood your question correctly both of them are on UC.  In UC, a joint tenant can never count for bedrooms on the other J/T’s claim so they would get the s/c1B rate of LHA each (I’m assuming the mother is >35 and as Prisca says the sone is exempt from the shared accommodation rate).

Yes, they are both on UC so would the mother get the one bed and the son the shared accommodation rate of the other way around?

The yeary contract was renewed in May 2022.

They would both get the self-contained 1B rate: the mother because she is 35 and the son because he is on PIP(dl).  If they are in London they will just about have the budget for the full rent between them.

May 2023 is a long time to wait.  But the risk in surrendering the tenancy now in exchange for a JT is that UC sees this as contrivance.  There was a recent HB case in the UT where the Judge said reconfiguring the tenancy to maximise HB would be creating a liability to take advantage of the HB scheme - not identical facts but similar-ish.  They would have to hope that DWP doesn’t think about these things too deeply.  The outcome could be that only one claim for housing costs is allowed, so they end up with just the 1B rate between them and worse off than they are now.

Thanks, sorry I was mistaking the self contained to be shared accommodation, doh!  Yes, I am worried about the possible contrivance…the DHP was refused and they dont want to move as her son’s specialist care is in the same borough. 

Are there any arguments we can use if the client decides to go down this route?  The homelessness team have said that the family would be rehoused outside of the borough or London if they can no longer afford the rent and their DHP was refused.

As far as UC is concerned I think it is unlikely that the creation of a joint tenancy in this instance would lead to a question of contrivance. Either tenant can take the new tenancy agreement into the Jobcentre where a Work Coach will go through the questions on the ALP flowchart ( Agent led process ).

Question 3.3 Is the claimant in a non-commercial agreement with their landlord? What the Work Coach is trained to look out for is relatives or friends as the landlord.

It is so difficult to find a tenancy these days that there are a lot of anomalies in the rental market ( eg paying 6 months to 1 years rent upfront )

This is Version 7 of the ALP , so it is a few years out of date but I think little has changed recently.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/355161/response/873803/attach/4/3145%20Verification%20of%20PRS%20Housing%20Costs%206.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1

Thank you UB40!

What about exploring the “room for additional carer” option.  Is there anyone who sleeps/ could sleep overnight to give the mother a break? This should give LHA for 3 rooms. I am aware that there aren’t 3 bedrooms in the accommodation but this was explored in an early Bedroom Tax case and it was found to be irrelevant. It was acceptable for the carer to sleep, for instance, in a put up bed in the living room. I will try to find the case law on this and post it.

Just tracked down the case I referred to.  It is Bolton MBC v BF (HB) [2014] UKUT 0048 (AAC).  Please note in particular paragraph 18.  I don’t know, however, if a similar case has ever come up since.