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Housing Benefit

louisaj28
Posts: 154 Forumite
Hi, hope someone can help,
My mother-in-law retired through ill health around 10 years ago. She has been on incapacity benefit and previously had housing benefit to pay her rent. Around 2.5 years ago, my husband bought her flat through the council's right to buy scheme and has been paying the mortgage ever since. MIL hasn't been paying anything towards this (not that we'd ask her to).
I just wondered if she should still be entitled to the housing benefit as previously her rent was being paid and now she's lost that benefit?
It's getting to the point where she is really struggling with the location of her flat (as is on the second floor), what happens if she has to move out, would she be entitled to be placed in a more convenient property due to health reasons?
Any help would be most appreciated
Thanks
My mother-in-law retired through ill health around 10 years ago. She has been on incapacity benefit and previously had housing benefit to pay her rent. Around 2.5 years ago, my husband bought her flat through the council's right to buy scheme and has been paying the mortgage ever since. MIL hasn't been paying anything towards this (not that we'd ask her to).
I just wondered if she should still be entitled to the housing benefit as previously her rent was being paid and now she's lost that benefit?
It's getting to the point where she is really struggling with the location of her flat (as is on the second floor), what happens if she has to move out, would she be entitled to be placed in a more convenient property due to health reasons?
Any help would be most appreciated
Thanks
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Comments
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Hi, hope someone can help,
My mother-in-law retired through ill health around 10 years ago. She has been on incapacity benefit and previously had housing benefit to pay her rent. Around 2.5 years ago, my husband bought her flat through the council's right to buy scheme and has been paying the mortgage ever since. MIL hasn't been paying anything towards this (not that we'd ask her to).
I just wondered if she should still be entitled to the housing benefit as previously her rent was being paid and now she's lost that benefit?
It's getting to the point where she is really struggling with the location of her flat (as is on the second floor), what happens if she has to move out, would she be entitled to be placed in a more convenient property due to health reasons?
Any help would be most appreciated
Thanks*SIGH*0 -
Hello
Your MIL wouldn't be eligible for Housing Benefit as she doesn't have a liability to pay rent.
She would be entitled to make a claim for Council Tax Benefit however as long as the owner is not resident.
Housing Benefit isn't an income as such so can't really be used for other things. It is benefit paid to help people with their rent and as your MIL doesn't pay rent, she wouldn't be eligible.
If her SIL was to create a tenancy, it is most likely that HB would class this as contrived and not pay and your MIL might find herself in a worse situation.
If the accomodation isn't suitable, she needs to put herself on the housing register and look to find something else. If she did find a private rented without the 'baggage' she could look to claim HB or LHA then,I currently manage a Housing Benefit service and have been working in Housing / council tax benefit (as was) since 2001.
All views expressed in my posts are my own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.0 -
Google 'contrived tenancy' to understand why local councils do pay housing benefit (now Local Housing Allowance) to relatives who are landlords of tenants but why they refuse it in some circumstances when it appears that the tenancy is being set up to take advantage of the housing benefit system.
If she did receive Local Housing Allowance, this would be expected to go to the landlord (with the exception of approx £15 which I think tenants can keep if the rent is less than the LHA rate and this is a temporary measure which could get scrapped). How would applying for LHA leave her any better off?
Have a look at the Shelter website to understand about social housing allocation and how people are assessed. While the disabled and those in housing need are priorities, the social landlord will inevitably want to understand how someone who previously had a secure tenancy is now in housing need and can't find a new private accommodation that can meet their needs. Most social housing applications want the applicant to detail their previous addresses and type of tenure.
Have a look at the Entitled to website to see if there are any additional benefits she could apply for.0 -
Hi, hope someone can help,
My mother-in-law retired through ill health around 10 years ago. She has been on incapacity benefit and previously had housing benefit to pay her rent. Around 2.5 years ago, my husband bought her flat through the council's right to buy scheme and has been paying the mortgage ever since. MIL hasn't been paying anything towards this (not that we'd ask her to).
I just wondered if she should still be entitled to the housing benefit as previously her rent was being paid and now she's lost that benefit?
It's getting to the point where she is really struggling with the location of her flat (as is on the second floor), what happens if she has to move out, would she be entitled to be placed in a more convenient property due to health reasons?
Any help would be most appreciated
Thanks
How did he buy the property? Did he still live there at the time?Gone ... or have I?0 -
thanks for all your responses, I really have no clue about the benefit system and just trying to help her out.
yeah, my husband lived in the property at the time of purchase, he moved in with me about a year and a half ago.
she is struggling in the property she is in at the moment and wants to move elsewhere, we can't sell the property until after 3 years so that's not an option at the moment0 -
There really is nothing that can be done or claimed then0
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thanks for all your responses, I really have no clue about the benefit system and just trying to help her out.
yeah, my husband lived in the property at the time of purchase, he moved in with me about a year and a half ago.
she is struggling in the property she is in at the moment and wants to move elsewhere, we can't sell the property until after 3 years so that's not an option at the moment
Is there anything that could be done to adapt the flat to make life easier for her until it can be sold? If she is disabled has she applied for disability living allowance? If there are adaptions that can be made, it is possible to get these paid for if you look into it.0 -
krisskross wrote: »Will you be buying her somewhere else when it is sold or will MIL be homeless?
I'd happily lay a bet that the OP's husband sells the property, pockets a nice fat profit and his mother will declare herself homeless and expect the LA to house her again - and HB to pay her rent.0 -
I'd happily lay a bet that the OP's husband sells the property, pockets a nice fat profit and his mother will declare herself homeless and expect the LA to house her again - and HB to pay her rent.*SIGH*0
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