Housing Benefit/Income Support

giddygiddy

thanks for your kind replies!!! for the record i was in the council hse before i got the 2nd property, which is not suitable to hse my 4 kids! and i'm claiming housing benefit for the council house i live in and always have lived in, not for the 2nd property, this is being paid for by rent.

bunny999

giddygiddy wrote: »

thanks for your kind replies!!! for the record i was in the council hse before i got the 2nd property, which is not suitable to hse my 4 kids! and i'm claiming housing benefit for the council house i live in and always have lived in, not for the 2nd property, this is being paid for by rent.

None this alters the fact that you are getting benefit you are not entitled to and you are committing fraud. I suggest you tell the truth NOW. YOU CAN GO TO PRISON FOR BENEFIT FRAUD.

Shelldean

giddygiddy wrote: »

thanks for your kind replies!!! for the record i was in the council hse before i got the 2nd property, which is not suitable to hse my 4 kids! and i'm claiming housing benefit for the council house i live in and always have lived in, not for the 2nd property, this is being paid for by rent.

sell the second house and live off that income????

Shelldean

should add that when you apply for benefits you have to declare EVERYTHING!! including kids accounts etc so am pretty sure by not declaring your 2nd house then you getting a benefit you're not entitled to. Housing benefit is means tested, so the amoung you get relates to you what you have.... you have a house so should get nothing

giddygiddy

its in negative equity otherwise i would, i'm kind of stuck!!! My only way to pay the mortgage is to rent it! If i try to sell it i would be in about £50k of debt.

fluffymovie

HI Giddygiddy,

I am still failry new to this site so if I falling into a troll trap, ah well!

When you claimed HB, you will have made a declaration that the information you have either the council or jobcentre, was true and correct.

I have worked in benefits for 8 years and have never heard that a DWP employee would advise someone NOT to declare a 2nd property.

I would therefore suggest that you contact the Local CAB as well as your local council as they will most likely want to interview you under caution for failure to declare a material fact like owning a property.

Also, I am curious what you would have said if you had not been in negative equity. If you were getting rent that more than met your mortgage payments, would you have also thought that it was ok not to tell people who are paying the rent for your current accomodation?

I don't mean to be critical or nasty but if I came across your claim in my council, I would have no option other than to refer you to Fraud. Best to own up and get advice now.

Jowo_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Personally, I think it's a scandal that you have been given a council house when you actually own a property, but maybe that's just me.

We can debate the ethics of it but on some HA/council application forms you just have to list on the application form if you are an owner occupier (therefore getting extremely low priority) so I assume that investment property or holiday homes can legitimately be excluded.

Indie_Kid

giddygiddy wrote: »

its in negative equity otherwise i would, i'm kind of stuck!!! My only way to pay the mortgage is to rent it! If i try to sell it i would be in about £50k of debt.

Rent it then.:rolleyes: As far as DWP/council are concered, if you have a second property, you can make money out of that by selling it or renting it out.

Caz3121

Someone should be able to confirm whether the neg equity part comes into it but the rental you receive is an income and should be declared as such...not sure how it works when it is being paid back out to cover the mortgage

giddygiddy

hi fluffymovie and thanls for your points. I accept that i am wrong and need to come clean, truth of it is i thought i would be back in work after a few weeks and would therefore sign off and having gone on several months, i dont want this to get out of control! I am concerned that either way i will get done, the rent earned literally cover the mortgage with no excess. I dont want to be seen as one of those that abuses a much needed system, but if my housing benefit was stopped, i couldn't afford to pay the rent. The fact that the property is in negative equity and does not generate income surely is questionable as to whether it would affect HB i get on the house i live?