How to help unemployed single mum onto the housing ladder?

BT_man

richgirl wrote:

Am I the only one wondering why the state should pay for your sister to buy / own a house ?

Housing benefit should not be used as a means of purchasing property even through the backdoor !

No you are not.

I agree...

jyonda

Touche!

If the state provided the social housing that's required then no individual would be profiting.

Help your sister into work by all means then she can get a part ownership housing trust property. Wouldn't paying an over inflated price just exacerbate those prices further making it more difficult for others in her situation?

devils_advocate

So if relatives club together and buy the house, rent to your sister, and the boiler breaks down the week before Christmas?

Similarly, if the relatives rent out and house prices go down 30% (as they have done in the past) who takes this loss? Your sister? DSS as they pay the housing benefit?

There are risks and rewards of ownership. In the past few years its been little risjk and high reward. That doesn't mean that this wonderful sitiution will continue!

clairehi

I think your sister is very lucky to have a brother who cares that much and is in a position to help. Like the others here though I wonder whether buying a house is the best solution. I would explore all the options with her (there must be other things she needs help with?) about how to help her through college and into work, before making a decision.

heathcote123

richgirl wrote:

Am I the only one wondering why the state should pay for your sister to buy / own a house ?

Housing benefit should not be used as a means of purchasing property even through the backdoor !

Yes, you'd think some people would be thankful the state (read tax payer) pays their rent & living costs at all, let alone buy them a house as well.

I guess having a few more kids to whack up the CB may help towards the mortgage?

seven-day-weekend

richgirl wrote:

Am I the only one wondering why the state should pay for your sister to buy / own a house ?

Housing benefit should not be used as a means of purchasing property even through the backdoor !

No you are not

clutton_2

in terms of state aid for housing costs, there is a huge difference in the way that property owners and tenants are treated.

If a tenant becomes unemployed and cannot pay their rent, and are entitled to benefit, they are entitled to HB from the date of their application.

If a home owner is in a similar position they cannot claim mortgage interest repayments from the Benefits Agency for 9 months - by that time they will have been repossessed.

I do get cross when folks accuse private landlords of creaming off state money via HB. If the local authorities were providing social housing, and had not sold off their own housing stock, there would be housing available for folks. As it is, we landlords who DO take HB folks, are offering a good public service

i get LESS rent from my HB tenants than i do from my working tenants for an identical house, as HB levels rarely agree with current market rents, and most HB folks cannot afford a decent top-up. IF one of my HB tenants gets caught cheating on their application (usually this means working) i can have ALL their housing benefit clawed back. AND if i refuse, they will stop paying me HB on any other property i have in their area till it IS clawed back.

Why am i in this business ???

heathcote123

clutton wrote:

:

Why am i in this business ???

I have no idea!

Give it a few IR rises, and I bet you won't be

clutton_2

heathcote - thanks for that little snidey remark - my question was a bit tongue in cheek, a bit rhetorical !

i am an exceptionally astute property person, and bought all my properties at the right price. i recall the 15% interest rates of the early 1980's, so i very carefully built in a lot of slack into my calculations.

When mortgage interest rates went up 5 times in 2004, it did not bother me anywhere near as much as others who had financially overstretched themselves.

I'm a professional.

jakehamble

clutton wrote:

i recall the 15% interest rates of the early 1980's, so i very carefully built in a lot of slack into my calculations.

Surely 'a lot of slack' equates to 'a lot of profit'.

Wouldn't a welfare system be more productive if that 'profit' were distributed in a way to help those in need become self-sufficient.

Haven't people investing in buy-to-let properties priced those on lower incomes out of the housing market?