Housing Benefit if I own another property

happygirl5

Hi everyone,
Hope I can get some help 1st time on here. I have found myself having to look for somewhere to rent but I own a home with an ex boyfriend, he is still living there paying the mortgage.

Can I claim housing benefit on a new rental property if I own the house which he is still living in and paying for, I have no intention of moving back there.

If I removed my name from the deeds (cant get name off mortgage yet) will that help me in getting Housing Benefit as technically I wont own a property?

Help pllleeeaasse x

robpw2

you would have to remove your name from the property

[Deleted User]

happygirl5 wrote: »

Hi everyone,
Hope I can get some help 1st time on here. I have found myself having to look for somewhere to rent but I own a home with an ex boyfriend, he is still living there paying the mortgage.

Can I claim housing benefit on a new rental property if I own the house which he is still living in and paying for, I have no intention of moving back there.

If I removed my name from the deeds (cant get name off mortgage yet) will that help me in getting Housing Benefit as technically I wont own a property?

Help pllleeeaasse x

cant you force him to buy you out,that would possibly get you some cash and you wouldnt need h/b???
just a thought
btw welcome to MSE just in time for the christmas party:beer:

robpw2

yes i would agree with woodbine

zzzLazyDaisy

Yes you can claim LHA (which has replaced HB) for private rented if you own another property but are unable to live in it because of a relationship breakdown.

The Council will ask you what is being done about it, and eventually he may have to put the house on the market or buy you out, but houses are not selling so nothing much is going to happen.

More worryingly, from your point of view, if you remain on the mortgage and he defaults, the lender can come after you, as joint owner, for the whole amount. So you do need to get this sorted, for your own sake.

LizzieS_2

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Yes you can claim LHA (which has replaced HB) for private rented if you own another property but are unable to live in it because of a relationship breakdown.

The Council will ask you what is being done about it, and eventually he may have to put the house on the market or buy you out, but houses are not selling so nothing much is going to happen.

Just to add if your share of the equity after sale takes you above the savings limits, you may have to repay some HB.

zzzLazyDaisy

LizzieS wrote: »

Just to add if your share of the equity after sale takes you above the savings limits, you may have to repay some HB.

I can only speak from my own experience, but I was told that if I planned to buy another house, then my share of the equity following the house sale, would not be taken into account for 26 weeks. This is to enable the person to buy another home.

happygirl5

Hi ya,

I wish I could end up with a lot of money by making him buy me out but unfortunately he put in a lot more financially to the house than I did and the value has dropped from when we bought it a year ago. What he is suggesting (through his solicitors advice) to me is to get my name of the Deeds and pay me a small lump sum half of what I put into it, his argument is if I wait till when we can transfer the mortgage to his name or sell it I probably wont get anything out of it as property as it is depreciating in value and plus the court would look at it and say he put in a much higher percentage than me. I think for the short term I am going to get my name off the deeds get a disclaimer from a solicitor to safeguard me with regard to the mortgage payments and that way it makes it a lot easier in claiming housing benefit. Plus I get some money out of it, I have learnt my lesson.

Thanks for your advice, what do you think?

sammyjammy

It sounds to me like your ex and his solicitor might be trying to shaft you, what are the numbers like? How much you bought for? How much you both put in and how much it might sell for now? If you put 20% of the depoist down then you would be entitled to 20% of the profit after costs.

happygirl5

well I put in nothing to the deposit I put in £10k towards doing the house up etc, he sold his place and put down nearly £50k on the deposit and other fees etc, I found out from an agent the house has lost about £25k in a few months and if we were to sell now after the mortgage paid off would prob make £15k, surely a court would look at who put what in and apportion it on a percentage basis. He is offering me now just under £5k to take my name off and I will get a disclaimer from a solicitor to say that he cant try and come after me for the mortgage payments that is a risk I take I guess.

dmg24

I would be very surprised if your lender allowed you to remove your name from the deeds, but remain on the mortgage. The loan is secured on the property, and therefore you need to have an interest in the property.