Step three: deductions for non-dependants
An amount is deducted from your maximum rent if you have a ‘non-dependant’ living with you.
A ‘non-dependant’ is someone, usually a friend or adult relative, who lives with you but not on a commercial basis. A deduction is made to reflect an assumed contribution from her/him to the household, whether or not s/he pays anything. There is no deduction for:
1Regs 3 and 74 HB Regs•a full-time student during the academic year (whether or not s/he works);
•a full-time student during the summer vacation (but there is a deduction if s/he starts working 16 hours or more a week unless her/his student support covers the summer vacation);
•a full-time student at any time if you or your partner have reached pension age;
•a joint occupier or joint tenant;
•a resident landlord;
•a sub-tenant;
•your partner or dependent child;
•anyone under 18;
•anyone under 25 if s/he gets universal credit (UC), provided s/he does not have any earned income for UC purposes, or if s/he gets income support (IS), income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), income-related employment and support allowance (ESA) without a work-related activity component (or who is not in the ‘work-related activity group’) or support component (this usually only applies in the first 13 weeks of an ESA claim);
•someone who gets a youth training allowance;
•someone who normally lives elsewhere;
•someone in hospital for more than 52 weeks, or in prison;
•a live-in paid carer from a voluntary organisation;
•someone on PC.
No deductions are made for your non-dependants if you or your partner are registered blind, get the disability living allowance care component, personal independence payment daily living component or attendance allowance.
For anyone else, fixed deductions are made based on the non-dependant’s income. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for details and amounts. Note: if your non-dependant is working, you should provide the local authority with evidence of her/his gross income. If you do not, the local authority may make the highest deduction.
If you or your partner have reached pension age and do not get IS, income-based JSA, income-related ESA or UC, the deduction is not made until 26 weeks after the non-dependant moves in with you. Likewise if her/his income goes up, increasing the deduction, the increased deduction does not take effect for 26 weeks.