Worry

[wielded]

Hi, my husband is Canadian and moved on a youth mobility visa before we were married. I live in a housing associate house and claim universal credits as I am also a carer and self employed.

One of the questions is over accommodations:
Home details
Do you own or rent your home?
You only need to provide this evidence if:
you are exempt from meeting the income threshold
you are responsible for some housing costs such as rent, mortgage or council tax

The rent is in my name, I put him on my universal and they switched it to singular claim. I informed the housing association and asked if it was ok they said it was over the phone. We moved to another house owned by them and he stood with me as I signed the contract, I signed up to bid with 2 people would be living in the property and included his name.

How do I obtain proof that he is allowed in the property, do I even need it? He is not on the council tax as I get a tax reduction and I did tell them he was in the property but he was never added.
We married without issues, he works full time, we meet over the pay requirement.

I emailed over the council tax to make sure I am doing everything legally and I am waiting on a response. Finding information on this is difficult.
I contacted Citizens advise and I am waiting on a call from them.
I also contacted the housing association and they said they don't do letters or emails of what I'm asking, they even sent me to a housing officer and they gave me their email, I did not yet hear back from them.

I am rather worried and I am sorry if this is all over the place.

[walker]

In terms of just the accomodation element, with the property you live in being a housing association property should not be a problem.

You will have to provide the requested evidence - tenancy agreement.

In terms of your partner having permission to live at the address, advise that you have contacted the housing association over the phone and they have confirmed he can live at the property but will not provide his in writing.

[JB007]

He is not on the council tax as I get a tax reduction and I did tell them he was in the property but he was never added.

He must pay his taxes and must be added to the property you live in for Council Tax purposes. You can't claim as a single person (claim the 25% single person discount) as that is benefit fraud.

As he is No Recourse to Public Funds and Council Tax Reduction/Allowance/Benefit is a public fund, you might want to read this article about the problems of claiming welfare benefits with a partner who is NRPF. The following is the part on Council Tax Reduction/Allowance/Benefit -

Finally, council tax reduction (CTR) can be claimed with UC, but the rules are different. CTR is also a public fund; however unlike UC the Local Authority cannot separate the partner with NRPF from the award, and CTR is a single claim with a partner included. This may result in additional public funds being paid to the partner with recourse, which could then breach the NRPF condition. An exception could be if the amount of CTR is the same for the claimant even if the partner is included, for example if the claimant would still be passported to full CTR.

Also there is an additional problem if the person with recourse were entitled to a single person discount in their council tax, in which case CTR is calculated on 75% of liability. If the presence of the partner with NRPF results in the loss of the single person discount, CTR is then calculated on 100% of liability, which could result in additional public funds being paid to the claimant.

Again, specialist immigration advice should be sought before advising a claim for CTR,or indeed in any circumstances where there may be a concern about breaching the NRPF conditions attached to a partner’s leave.
....

Carlos Hagi works in the Welfare Benefits Expert Advice Team at Citizens Advice, with thanks to input from John Donkersley, Immigration Expert.