I have a property (morgage free) that is not selling as people nowadays cannot get a morgage. I do not want to rent as I will then lose my child tax credit and then have to tell the taxman.There is a family of 3 having to leave a rented property as they no longer can aford the rent, needing a place to stay. (I don't want to leave the property vacant,as I think someone living in the property would look after it.)

What would happen if they moved in and paid £250.00 a month in cash and said they were living in the property rent free.It's very tempting to do this but I don't think I have the guts to do this. Does anybody know if this family declared this on a rent rebate would the taxman get in touch with me ?

Mrs Tottle

OK, welcome to the brave new world.

You're asking people on a public forum about whether you should commit a crime. Here's my advice. Don't.

If you leave the property vacant your biggest problem is not crime but your local authority seeking an EDMO over the property. Hate to be moralistic, but that would be right and appropriate, and it could lead to you losing control of your property, although you would get some income back after costs - since your objective is to avoid having income so that the rest of us have to subsidize your lifestyle I imagine that's not an outcome you desire..

You need to speak to a benefit advisor about the problem of your intentionally depriving yourself of income (from the house) in order to maintain your level of benefits. It's a complex area but it can lead to you losing your benefits anyway. SO yo may not get what you want, even if you and your local authority do nothing.

Rent rebates haven't existed since the 1980s. It's called housing benefit now, and HB records are automatically matched with DWP records, so yes, if they claimed housing benefit your details would automatically go to the DWP / Revenue and Customs. Whci I imagine is not what you want.