Question about buying property, Deprivation of capital & JSA

papasmurf13

Hi there everyone,

I've joined the forum in the hope someone maybe be able to answer a question for me.

Basically due to to an injury I was laid of from my job about 8 months ago and haven't been able to find a new as of yet, as a result I'm claiming JSA. But a close relative has just passed away and I will stand to inherit around £70k ish once the estate is sold.

I hope to spend around £45-50k of that money on a flat for me to live in (living with parent at present in council owned property) and then to live off the rest of the money whilst continuing my quest to find work.

But my question is what would happen if after say 18 months I have run out of money and still not managed to find a new job? would I be eligible to claim JSA again or would they class buying the flat for myself was deprivation of capital? I hope someone can give me a definite answer as I am quite worried and can't seem to find much information about the subject.

Thanks for any help given.

princessdon

I think houses are fine (saves on them paying housing costs) -

papasmurf13

princessdon wrote: »

I think houses are fine (saves on them paying housing costs) -

Thanks for the quick reply, I hoped that would be the case.

I find it strange that there isn't more official information about this subject on the net and found my local job centre staff about as useful as a chocolate tea pot!

princessdon

It's down to a decision maker to see if you got rid of money to claim benefits. As this will reduce benefits paid they *should* look at it differently. Give them a ring or email before such a large purchase.

zzzLazyDaisy

Good luck with them a ring before a large purchase - they won't generally discuss the issue until after it has happened.

Having said that, buying a house to live in would not normally be counted as deprivation of capital, as it satisfies a genuine housing need, and is not motivated by a wish to dispose of capital in order to claim benefits.

In any event, it may never happen. You will buy a place to live, and you may be lucky enough to find work before your savings get down to means tested levels. Even if you do have to claim benefits again at some point, their interest will be in how you spent the balance of the capital after buying the house.

papasmurf13

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Good luck with them a ring before a large purchase - they won't generally discuss the issue until after it has happened.

Having said that, buying a house to live in would not normally be counted as deprivation of capital, as it satisfies a genuine housing need, and is not motivated by a wish to dispose of capital in order to claim benefits.

In any event, it may never happen. You will buy a place to live, and you may be lucky enough to find work before your savings get down to means tested levels. Even if you do have to claim benefits again at some point, their interest will be in how you spent the balance of the capital after buying the house.

Thanks for the detailed reply, its a bit of a minefield out there and all this is very helpful.

One other question, I would have the option to buy my Mothers council house (where i'm currently living) it would cost about the same as a flat, but I'm not sure whether there would be a problem with the fact it would have to be purchased in my Moms name as she is the official tenant? and with the new 'bedroom tax' due to hit in April it would also help my mom out greatly! but I'm not sure about any complications down the line.

Thanks.

lighting_up_the_chalice

papasmurf13 wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed reply, its a bit of a minefield out there and all this is very helpful.

One other question, I would have the option to buy my Mothers council house

Unless you are a joint tenant with your mum, you don't have that option.

HappyMJ

papasmurf13 wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed reply, its a bit of a minefield out there and all this is very helpful.

One other question, I would have the option to buy my Mothers council house (where i'm currently living) it would cost about the same as a flat, but I'm not sure whether there would be a problem with the fact it would have to be purchased in my Moms name as she is the official tenant? and with the new 'bedroom tax' due to hit in April it would also help my mom out greatly! but I'm not sure about any complications down the line.

Thanks.

I don't see a problem with you giving your mother the money to buy the flat. You may be hit with deprivation of capital but you and your mother will have somewhere secure to live. I'd do it and worry about deprivation of capital rules another day.

zzzLazyDaisy

HappyMJ wrote: »

I don't see a problem with you giving your mother the money to buy the flat. You may be hit with deprivation of capital but you and your mother will have somewhere secure to live. I'd do it and worry about deprivation of capital rules another day.

I wouldn't.

In my view, this would be clear deprivation of capital. OP would be giving away a huge chunk of money to his mother, for her to buy a place in her own name, which he would have no financial interest in, or right to live in.

That is a massively different scenario to OP buying a place, in his own name, to provide a home for himself.

OP, if you intend to buy your mum's house you must be a joint tenant and your name must be on the deeds of the house once you have bought it, otherwise, in the eyes of the DWP, you have literally given the money away, and there is a very high risk that you will be treated as still having the money for benefits purposes.

papasmurf13

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

I wouldn't.

In my view, this would be clear deprivation of capital. OP would be giving away a huge chunk of money to his mother, for her to buy a place in her own name, which he would have no financial interest in, or right to live in.

That is a massively different scenario to OP buying a place, in his own name, to provide a home for himself.

OP, if you intend to buy your mum's house you must be a joint tenant and your name must be on the deeds of the house once you have bought it, otherwise, in the eyes of the DWP, you have literally given the money away, and there is a very high risk that you will be treated as still having the money for benefits purposes.

Thanks for the above, I thought there would be a problem with the DWP in that scenario.

Solitaires

You don't have to inherit, you can apply for a 'Deed of Variation' on the will and have the money left to your mother.

I've no idea how this would affect the deprivation of capital situation, but might be worth investigating.