My savings are stopping me affording a home

Ince_2

Because I have savings I do not know which way to turn!! regarding housing, work, future.
At the age of 42 years of age I am living out of a suitcase back in England with my 2 year old son - who's father is Turkish, living in Turkey so I can get no financial help from him.
I live between family members & have good savings (over £16,000) from a property I owned prior to selling up & giving up my job 4 years ago.
If I had no savings the government would pay my rent & probably give me more than the £20 a week I get. Because I have savings I am eating into my saving which I cannot afford a house with anyway, as I need this money to live on, I do not wish to work until my son goes to school (he has been through alot for a little man).
Can someone advise me whether I have the right to give my money away to a relative I trust, as this would seem my only way forward.:mad:

HappyMJ

Ince wrote: »

Because I have savings I do not know which way to turn!! regarding housing, work, future.
At the age of 42 years of age I am living out of a suitcase back in England with my 2 year old son - who's father is Turkish, living in Turkey so I can get no financial help from him.
I live between family members & have good savings (over £16,000) from a property I owned prior to selling up & giving up my job 4 years ago.
If I had no savings the government would pay my rent & probably give me more than the £20 a week I get. Because I have savings I am eating into my saving which I cannot afford a house with anyway, as I need this money to live on, I do not wish to work until my son goes to school (he has been through alot for a little man).
Can someone advise me whether I have the right to give my money away to a relative I trust, as this would seem my only way forward.:mad:

Why don't you rent somewhere then? Once you have paid 6 months rent in advance you won't have quite so much money on hand and can probably then claim housing benefit. You can then spend a few thousand furnishing the house and then how much would you have?

You do not have the right to give money away to claim benefit but you can always spend it on necessities and a deposit and rent in advance is acceptable.

cattie

NO! You cannot give the money away to a relative. Not only would this be fraud in the eyes of the DWP, it is considered intentional deprevation of assets and you would receive no benefits as you would still be considered as having the money.

You say you need the money to live on, well isn't that what paying the rent with some of the money would be doing, living on the money?

I know it's tough having to spend savings in this way, but when your savings get below a certain limit, you will qualify for benefits without the need for every penny having to be spent.

I too had to bring a child up alone with absolutely no support from my ex husband, so know how hard it is, but you can find some good help and advice on these boards on how to cut your spending on bills and things to make every penny go as far as you can.

Have you put your name down on the council waiting list? It may be a long time before you could get a place, but when you do at least you know you'd have a very cheap rent.

Gottodothis

Clearly this must be a joke.

If you have £16k you do not need benefits.

I was a single parent, no family and no support from the father. I didnt claim any benefits and I managed. All be it 20 years ago.

Use the £16k to rent a house and support yourself and your son, untill such time that you NEED help

I have four children at home (not mine but they have to live with me), a mortgage and i am taking a year off..........I am using my savings to fund this.

heathcote123

Ince wrote: »

Because I have savings I do not know which way to turn!! regarding housing, work, future.
At the age of 42 years of age I am living out of a suitcase back in England with my 2 year old son - who's father is Turkish, living in Turkey so I can get no financial help from him.
I live between family members & have good savings (over £16,000) from a property I owned prior to selling up & giving up my job 4 years ago.
If I had no savings the government would pay my rent & probably give me more than the £20 a week I get. Because I have savings I am eating into my saving which I cannot afford a house with anyway, as I need this money to live on, I do not wish to work until my son goes to school (he has been through alot for a little man).
Can someone advise me whether I have the right to give my money away to a relative I trust, as this would seem my only way forward.:mad:

They'll probably check relatives accounts. I'll look after it for you - message me for my western union account.

BigAunty

Means tested benefits are payable for those with no means. You have rainy day money and don't wish to work so this is your rainy day.

Assuming you pass the habitual residency test, you should be eligible for benefits like child benefit and child tax credits.

If you give away your capital, you will be treated as if you still have it (known as notional capital) because of deprivation of capital rules which are there to deter people from squandering their savings in order to qualify for benefits.

elvis86

Ince wrote: »

Because I have savings I do not know which way to turn!! regarding housing, work, future.
At the age of 42 years of age I am living out of a suitcase back in England with my 2 year old son - who's father is Turkish, living in Turkey so I can get no financial help from him.
I live between family members & have good savings (over £16,000) from a property I owned prior to selling up & giving up my job 4 years ago.
If I had no savings the government would pay my rent & probably give me more than the £20 a week I get. Because I have savings I am eating into my saving which I cannot afford a house with anyway, as I need this money to live on, I do not wish to work until my son goes to school (he has been through alot for a little man).
Can someone advise me whether I have the right to give my money away to a relative I trust, as this would seem my only way forward.:mad:

Diddums.

Honestly, some people that post here are beyond a joke. I'll suggest an alternative way forward; get a job and support your kid rather than sitting on your backside expecting the rest of us to work to support you.

Where do people get this weird idea that taxpayers' money should be used to pay their rent and to feed them and their kids, when they have access to money from elsewhere?

DaisyFlower

Your child is two, most two year olds wont remember anything much so no reason not to work. Use your savings to pay for rent and the rest to live off until you find work.

FBaby

If you don't want to work probably more for your own benefit than your son's then you face the consequences. You can't have it all not working, supported by tax payers AND keeping your savings one has to go and rightly so.

BurnleyBob

The biggest and easiest tell (to use a poker term) that the initial post in this thread came from the same person who created the thread 'I spent my savings as Dss were taking so much off my benefits' which is also currently on the first page of this forum is their inability to separate paragraphs.

It wouldn't be so bad if s/he could be a tad more creative instead of these ludicrous scenarios that are doubtless meant to rile users.

pmlindyloo

The UK has a reciprocal agreement with Turkey to enforce child maintenance orders. You need to explore this as the father should be supporting your child.