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A family claiming housing benefit are having an argument with the council regarding how many people live in the house.
The problem is that the occupents are a married couple with a 13 year old son and an 18 year old girl who is studying for a degree at Norwich University and living in halls. The coucil will only allow the couple and the son when calculating the local housing allowance which only counts as 3 rooms being needed. If they treat the household as the couple, son and daughter, the requirement goes up to 5 rooms. This means that on a weekly rent payable of £160/week the council is allowing a maximun benefit of £116/week, whereas if it is treated as 5 rooms thw benefit is a maximun of £140/week.
What is the legal home status of the 18 year old student? She comes home on a regular basis and has her own room with almost all her possessions in it. She cannot live in the halls during the holidays and does not consider this home, but a necessity for studying her chosen degree. The council says that according to Zebedee, halls are treated as her home and that the couple cannot claim her home as being the home address.
It is the only home and surely a family cannot be made to change the size of their rented accommodation to something smaller when the room is needed because it is the students home until she finishes her degree.
Any definative information of this would be gratefully appreciated.
MB
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