Housing Benefit Query

eshie

I have a HB query and would be very grateful for an answer.

My wife and I have lived with my son for a few years now and our only source of income has been the rent from the flat which my wife and I own but have let out to private tenants.

My son is no longer able to accomodate us due and we cannot afford to rent anywhere so we'd like to claim HB.

My question is will the ownership of the flat (even though its rented out to provide us with an income of around £12000 p.a gross) negatively influence our claim ?

I'm worried because in the HB Claim form, it states that property ownership counts towards capital in the same way as savings.....

Btw, I am over 60 years old in case this is relevant.

Many thanks in advance.

cw18

firstly, the income from the rent will count against you -- as it's income

and yes, ownership of any property will also count against you as capital

in theory you have to terminate the tenancy and move into the property yourself. if the property isn't suitable then you have to sell it and buy somewhere that is.

eshie

Thanks.

The problem with moving in is that it would deprive us of our income which is why we want to claim HB.

healy

eshie wrote: »

Thanks.

The problem with moving in is that it would deprive us of our income which is why we want to claim HB.

You would then have your income plus HB (now Local Housing Allowance for private lets) which is rather like having your cake and eating it.

eshie

Its a catch 22 because if I move into the property, we'll have a home but no income but if we dont move into the property, we'll have an income but no home. This does not seem fair to me !

cw18

but if you lose the income (and are below what the government says you need to live on) you can claim Income Support

McKneff

it seems extremely fair to me.

why cant you
a. move into the home
b. look for work (yu give not details of your age etc so sorry to assume that you are able to do this.) if not you can then claim benefits.

It wouldnt be fiar on the rest of us if you get £1000 a month rent and get state benefits.

good luck

Errata

eshie wrote: »

Its a catch 22 because if I move into the property, we'll have a home but no income but if we dont move into the property, we'll have an income but no home. This does not seem fair to me !

It's quite fair, why should taxpayers with a smaller income than yours, like pensioners, contribute through HB to your rent ?

eshie

Thanks, we are both over 60. Therefore, if we were to move back into our property, we would have ZERO income. What benefits would we be entitled to ? I take it HB is out of the question now so is there income support benefits for over 60's ?

DaisyFlower

You're getting £1000 a month from the rent but think the government should pay for you to live elsewhere and feel this isn't fair - of course its fair.

You have two choices, either move back in and work until retirement age (you dont mention you are in ill health) or rent cheaper elsewhere and live off the income - plenty of people could manage on that amount of income a month - you can always increase the rental income by working.

bunny999

You can claim JSA if you sign on and are actively seeking work. If your wife has paid NI contributions she should claim retirement pension.