Council Tax/Housing Benefitt

[CYNthesys]

Friend recently separated from his wife and moved in temporarily with his mother. His mother is a pensioner in receipt of guaranteed pension credit and she therefore does not pay rent or council tax. Am I correct in thinking that any non-dependents deduction is deferred for 6 months?

[Wylderose]

Yes, a Non-dependent deduction delay of 26 weeks would be applied to her benefits claim, but she would lose her single person's discount/

[CYNthesys]

So are you say that she would be liable for 25% of the council tax even though she is in receipt of guaranteed pension credit?

[Wylderose]

Yes she would. Because he is resident she loses her Single Person's Discount. Single person's discount is just that, a discount because you live on your own. If you have someone who is over 18 living with you, you are not entitled to it.

In her case, she would not be living on her own, so she would lose the single person's discount as Council Tax regulations do not mirror housing benefit regulations. She may end up with a non-dependent deduction on her council tax bill as a result but this deduction varies from Local authority to local authority dependent on the council tax reduction scheme that is in force. It also depends on how much income he has declared on his mother's benefits claim.

Once he has been resident for 26 weeks the ND Deduction delay ends and she would have a reduction in her housing benefit because of a Non-Dep deduction based on his income. This could be a minimal deduction based on him having benefits in payment to a full deduction of £102.85/wk if he is earning over £470/wk.