Housing benefit help

Anubis_2

The neighbour, are they renting or have they bought?

MissMoneypenny

When Universal Credit comes in from next year, it seems that 16K and over capital in a house you own but don't live in, will stop any income based welfare you claim, including any tax credits. Some income based welfare payments are already affected by the 16k capital.

Another problem is that I doubt anyone would want to go the expense of renting the house and all the costs of moving in, if they know you are selling it. If you don't tell them, then you run the risk of them refusing to let any prospective purchasers view, under the law of Quiet Enjoymnet of their home, which every tenant enjoys.

Even if they do decide to help you and let people view, they can't be made to tidy up or clean the house, unless you offer them a cash incentive to do so for each viewing.

Which buyer in their right mind would want a house when there is a tenant living there, as it might take you months to get your tenants' out if they don't want to move: then the buyer might lose the buyer on their house and their mortgage offer. Their solicitor would advise them of the pitfalls of the house having a tenant in situ.

Then there is all the cost of setting up a rental, when you are really only looking to sell it. i.e.

• Consent to Let from your mortgage lender.
• Landlord insurance (may be void on a claim if you don't have the above consent to let).
• Gas safety Certificate
• EPC
• Fee to find a tenant (if you use an agent to do this)
• Monthly fee to an agent (if you continue to get the agent to act for you)
• Others costs I have have forgotten (you can ask about the costs on the renting board).

It might work out cheaper and a lot less hassle, if you price to sell while you are living there. Then you can ensure the house is clean and tidy for every viewing

Littlemee

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

When Universal Credit comes in from next year, it seems that 16K and over capital in a house you own but don't live in, will stop any income based welfare you claim, including any tax credits. Some income based welfare payments are already affected by the 16k capital.

Another problem is that I doubt anyone would want to go the expense of renting the house and all the costs of moving in, if they know you are selling it. If you don't tell them, then you run the risk of them refusing to let any prospective purchasers view, under the law of Quiet Enjoymnet of their home, which every tenant enjoys.

Even if they do decide to help you and let people view, they can't be made to tidy up or clean the house, unless you offer them a cash incentive to do so for each viewing.

Which buyer in their right mind would want a house when there is a tenant living there, as it might take you months to get your tenants' out if they don't want to move: then the buyer might lose the buyer on their house and their mortgage offer. Their solicitor would advise them of the pitfalls of the house having a tenant in situ.

Then there is all the cost of setting up a rental, when you are really only looking to sell it. i.e.

• Consent to Let from your mortgage lender.
• Landlord insurance (may be void on a claim if you don't have the above consent to let).
• Gas safety Certificate
• EPC
• Fee to find a tenant (if you use an agent to do this)
• Monthly fee to an agent (if you continue to get the agent to act for you)
• Others costs I have have forgotten (you can ask about the costs on the renting board).

It might work out cheaper and a lot less hassle, if you price to sell while you are living there. Then you can ensure the house is clean and tidy for every viewing

Thanks for all of your help, today has made me decide to stay put, price to sell and that way i am not faced with extra hassle from tenants etc. I have put up with the horrid neighbour for 5 yrs now so a few more months is do-able. All else fails i will move to my parents whilst i wait for a sale. Its in a good area and hopefully an investor will purchase who probably wont even care about the neighbour even tho it has been declared. I appreciate all of your help x

fluffymovie

real1314 wrote: »

If the OP doesn't live in it, and it's not a business; it would be treated as capital. Income from capital is ignored.

It would be the capital value that counts.
:cool:

Hello

Realise that the OP has stated they probably won't move but would say that for HB purposes, the above isn't quite right.

ALthough a 2nd property rented out is not a business, the rental income would be used as capital for HB purposes as well as the capital value of any property. We would, for example look at a 6 month tenancy and calculate income from this - say £1000 per month for 6 months = £6000. We would then deduct costs for mortgage, insurances, agents fees etc over this period and use the remainder as capital so the income from the capital asset would be counted and could affect an entitlement to HB.