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Housing Benefit with a child with UC ( gross income and deduction )

Mark_St

I hope everyone is well and safe.

Background :

Parents have housing benefit component ( council - legacy style )

Child - Non-dependant over the age of 25

The child gets UC standard allowance only ( does not work due to illness )

The council was notified about the child UC and few days later received a letter saying that the child is considered to have a gross income of about £90 weekly ( despite the child is not working )

The question is - can the child's Universal Credit be considered as a gross income on the parents' housing benefit ?

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Comments

poppy123456

If the person is 25 they are not a child, they are an adult. There's a £15.95 per week non dependent deduction when claiming housing benefit, if the person has no earned income.

If either of the parents receive a disability benefit such as PIP daily living or DLA care there won't be any non dependent deductions.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/benefits/housing_benefit_deductions_when_living_with_non_dependants

Mark_St

Good afternoon @poppy123456 ,

Many thanks for your message.

I totally agree with you about the £15.95 deduction - but is the UC amount considered as a gross income on the parents' housing benefit letter?

Thanks

poppy123456

No, it's not gross income at all. UC standard allowance is £74.70 per week. On the letter how much does it say the non dependent deduction is?

Mark_St

@poppy123456 On the letter from the council it says -

Deduction : £15.95 ( which makes sense - not working rate )

But then ...

Gross Income ( weekly ) - £90

I was left a bit confused to where this £90 weekly figure is coming from as the non-dependent is unable to work due to illness - which made me think perhaps UC is treated as gross income

poppy123456

UC is not taxable income so i have no idea where they got that from, even if it was, it's not £90 per week. I wouldn't worry too much because the deduction is correct anyway.

Mark_St

Hi @poppy123456 many thanks as usual - and very helpful of you.

May I ask one last question:

Is the deduction still at the figure of £15.95 ( weekly ) if the non-dependant is awarded LCWRA - also if the non-dependent is later found to be awarded PIP - does this deduction still take place?

Many thanks for the immense help and time you are providing

poppy123456

Mark_St said:

Is the deduction still at the figure of £15.95 ( weekly ) if the non-dependant is awarded LCWRA - also if the non-dependent is later found to be awarded PIP - does this deduction still take place?

Yes, the deduction is a standard amount from someone with no earned income. (See link i posted) The deduction will still apply even with a PIP award.

It's a contribution they are expected to pay when living at home. If they lived by theirself then the bills would be an awful lot higher.

Mark_St

@poppy123456

Thank you so much for explaining this to me.

I was under the impression that UC is considered as an earned income due to the error made by the council - everything makes sense now.

Thank you again

poppy123456

No worries

calcotti

poppy123456 said: Yes, the deduction is a standard amount from someone with no earned income. (See link i posted) The deduction will still apply even with a PIP award.

Interestingly UC is better than HB in this regard. Under UC no non dependant deduction is made if the non dependant receives Daily Living PIP.

Mark_St said:

The child gets UC standard allowance only ( does not work due to illness )

have they reported their health condition and are they waiting for a Work Capability Assessment?

poppy123456

calcotti said:

poppy123456 said: Yes, the deduction is a standard amount from someone with no earned income. (See link i posted) The deduction will still apply even with a PIP award.

Interestingly UC is better than HB in this regard. Under UC no non dependant deduction is made if the non dependant receives Daily Living PIP.

Yes indeed. Although UC is far from perfect, it does have it's good points.

Mark_St

@calcotti

Many thanks for pointing this out to me.

Yes, the non-dependant adult is waiting for the wca - has long term ill health, let's see how it goes

Thank you

poppy123456

Mark_St said:

Yes, the non-dependant adult is waiting for the wca - has long term ill health, let's see how it goes

Although that will make no difference to the non dependant deductions in the housing benefit.