Benefits if returning from abroad.

krisskross

A neighbour of ours who is still in Spain approached her local housing authority and was assured she would be offered a retirement type home should she feel that she needed to return to the UK. They weren't even interested in whether she owned her property in Spain, it made no difference.

Obviously if she wanted to claim any means tested benefits the property in Spain would be an issue.

krisskross

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Agree with others re sale of house, given their situation, sell it for whatever they can get, even if as krisskross says, it is only the fare for the flights back (although a couple of grand for a deposit on a rental place might be good too).

I believe property prices in Spain will fall a lot further yet.

seven-day-weekend

Yes, so do I krisskross, although not so much on the inland village properties as those on the coast.

Someone here in the village is advertising their property for less than they paid for it two years ago (although I personally believe it was vastly overpriced then and still is now).

We paid 50,000 euros for ours plus £17,000 euros for the little wreck next door and have spent about 12, 000 euros doing them up. So if and when we sell, if we can make 80,000 euros we get our money back, but if we don't then we'll still have had the years of living here. That's how we look at it anyway.

krisskross

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Yes, so do I krisskross, although not so much on the inland village properties as those on the coast.

Someone here in the village is advertising their property for less than they paid for it two years ago (although I personally believe it was vastly overpriced then and still is now).

We paid 50,000 euros for ours plus £17,000 euros for the little wreck next door and have spent about 12, 000 euros doing them up. So if and when we sell, if we can make 80,000 euros we get our money back, but if we don't then we'll still have had the years of living here. That's how we look at it anyway.

That is what we thought when we sold our Spanish home. Lots of people told us we had sold too cheaply. That was 3 years ago. Their properties are still unsold and unlikely to make anything like what ours did assuming they can even find anyone to buy it.

Janey51

krisscross they are 51 and 52 so a bit to go to retirement.
No medical problems...yet. They both smoke like chimneys though so I can see problems brewing.
And there are no Council houses/Housing Association houses around here. The private rental market is also very small and expensive.

Thanks everyone for your continued interest.

krisskross

Janey51 wrote: »

krisscross they are 51 and 52 so a bit to go to retirement.
No medical problems...yet. They both smoke like chimneys though so I can see problems brewing.
And there are no Council houses/Housing Association houses around here. The private rental market is also very small and expensive.

Thanks everyone for your continued interest.

Oh dear they really will find themselves in a pickle then. Won't be able to smoke if they come back here, fags are getting on for £6 a packet!

For private rental they will need a hefty deposit then and perhaps even a guarantor if their credit check returns some nasty results. Perhaps they will have to go elsewhere in the country, after all if you can go to Spain you can't say you need to be near to family for support etc.

seven-day-weekend

Assuming they pass the Habitual Residency Test |(should do, ) they may be able to claim Income-based Jobseekers' Allowance when they return. I think it is £94 for a couple.
http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/Dev_015272.xml.html

If they do manage to find a place to rent before they have jobs, they should be eligible for Local Housing Allowance (Rent) and Council Tax Benefit.

All the above are means-tested benefits, so if the value of their house is included in the calculations they may not be entitled to them.

Other than that I don't think they will be entitled to anything.