It is irrelevant what the RSL charges for the meals – the deduction is applied acccording whether its full or part board or breakfast only – no matter those meals actually consist of or cost to produce.
It’s a never ending battle (every year) to try and explain to landlords that the meals deductions are just fantasy figures from the DWP and are not intended to relate to the actual costs involved – just what their tenants have to contribute (whether they eat them or not!).
As I see it the problem often gets worse because landlords try to provide breakdowns of rent quoting the standard deductions as the actual cost – often making the rent look very high – when in actual fact the rent includes the cost of the equipment and facilities and staff etc which for a small project can easily run to £hundreds a week.
I have been invited on a rent setting course with a landord in a few weeks so it will be interesting to see what they are being told to do.
Dave
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