Can anyone help with info? Not sure where to turn

elizabeth01

Hi all

As the title says, I need some info and just don't know where to turn for help.

I have been self-employed for three years but the business I am in (I’m a mobile beautician) has suffered greatly in the recession and consequently I have struggled in recent months. I am behind with Council Tax payments (they're taking me to court), a month behind with the rent, and on top of everything else we have to be out of our home by the end of this month (the landlord has sold up, he served me with the 2 months' required notice - this was before I owed him rent, by the way - before this month, all rent was paid in full and in advance).

I am a single mum with two children aged 6 and 2, and I have bipolar disorder but have been stable now for about a year. When I was served with the notice by my landlord, I suffered a setback in my mental health (I won't bore you all with the details, but basically I haven't been able to work now for about 4-5 weeks). I am getting £20 a week child maintenance as well as child benefit and some tax credits, but am now in the position where I've used every last penny of savings I had and we are basically living off these benefits. As I type, I have £30 in my purse and £30 in the bank, and by the end of this month we will be homeless. I have no more work coming in, and no bookings/appointments lined up. It was bad before I fell ill again, and now it's non-existent.

I own (mortgaged) a small flat which I rent out to a young couple. My sister tells me to sell up but even if I could sell the flat (difficult in these times), I am reluctant to - I feel it's the only thing I have to leave to my children when I die. I know we could go back the flat to live, but I need to also give the young couple who are there 2 months’ notice, which I haven't done yet. Plus if we went back to the flat, I am led to believe I wouldn't be entitled to housing benefit and I don't know how I'd pay the mortgage (at the moment, the rent I get pays the mortgage in full, and leaves me with about £60 a month in profit).

As a last resort, I just got a form online to apply for income support, but there is a question on the form to the effect: ‘do you own any property’ and of course I have this little flat. Does this mean I won’t be entitled to income support? Does anybody know what benefits I am entitled to? Am I missing something? Or does the fact that I own this flat mean we can’t claim for anything? I don’t even think if I sold the flat I would make any money on it, the way things are at the moment. I bought it five years’ ago, and am still paying off the loan I took out for the deposit.

Sorry for the lengthy post and thanks for reading. If anybody knows what benefits I might be entitled to (if any) I would be very grateful for your advice.

NASA_2

Have you been paying class 2 national insurance?

The property will count as capital unless there is some reason it can be disregarded such as it being on the market or being unsuitable to live in etc.

elizabeth01

Yes, I've been paying NI.

The problem with the flat is that by law I need to give the couple who are living there 2 months' notice, but we have to be out of our current home by the end of this month. I'm worried sick about it.

karenx

You should give them notice now, then you only have a month to worry about living somewhere.
Have you been claiming housing benefit on the current property?

Oldernotwiser

elizabeth01 wrote: »

Yes, I've been paying NI.

The problem with the flat is that by law I need to give the couple who are living there 2 months' notice, but we have to be out of our current home by the end of this month. I'm worried sick about it.

You can wait to be evicted from your current place; that'll give you a bit of breathing space.

elizabeth01

karenx wrote: »

You should give them notice now, then you only have a month to worry about living somewhere.
Have you been claiming housing benefit on the current property?

I've just given them notice.

No, I've not been claiming housing benefit.

elizabeth01

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

You can wait to be evicted from your current place; that'll give you a bit of breathing space.

Thanks - do you know roughly how long eviction proceedings take?