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Housing Benefit

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
«1

Comments

  • DX2
    DX2 Posts: 8,275 Forumite
    louisaj28 wrote: »
    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
    Sorry are you expecting the council to rehouse her again after you and your husband bought her flat with her council discount.
    *SIGH*
    :D
  • fluffymovie
    fluffymovie Posts: 1,417 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    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.
  • Jowo_2
    Jowo_2 Posts: 8,308 Forumite
    edited 9 March 2010 at 4:00PM
    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.
  • dmg24
    dmg24 Posts: 33,920 Forumite
    10,000 Posts
    louisaj28 wrote: »
    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?
  • louisaj28
    louisaj28 Posts: 154 Forumite
    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
  • karenx
    karenx Posts: 4,988 Forumite
    There really is nothing that can be done or claimed then
  • krisskross
    krisskross Posts: 7,677 Forumite
    louisaj28 wrote: »
    we can't sell the property until after 3 years so that's not an option at the moment

    Will you be buying her somewhere else when it is sold or will MIL be homeless?
  • AngelBadger
    AngelBadger Posts: 413 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    louisaj28 wrote: »
    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.
  • viktory
    viktory Posts: 7,635 Forumite
    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.
  • DX2
    DX2 Posts: 8,275 Forumite
    viktory wrote: »
    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.
    Surely that would be classed as intentionally making yourself homeless, so the LA would have no obligation to house her.
    *SIGH*
    :D
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