entitlement to housing by Local Council/Authority

moneybags_3

Hi Alex Mac I shall be contacting the solicitor as soon as they open after the New Year and I shall be telling him that I at least want to stall the sale of my house until I find another house either to buy or rent.


This problem has caused me a lot of anxiety, panic attacks and sleepless nights. It ruined my Xmas. I live alone and I had no one to support me. I am going to the doctors to ask for some help for the way I am feeling.


I am a person who is over 60 and has already got chronic health problems for which I may be classified as a vulnerable person.

BigAunty

moneybags wrote: »

I will have to rent privately. I am not on benefits and I get an occupational pension. It is not a fortune but is above benefit level. .

You can still apply to your local council as homeless and see what they say, stay put until the completion date, keep your friends offer as a last resort until the council make their decision (as if you are accommodated by them, you will no longer be considered in housing need until such point that they serve notice on you to leave).

Check your benefit entitlements by entering your details into the Turn2us online benefit calculator which will detail if you have any entitlement to things like council tax benefit, housing benefit (in your next property), pension credit (not sure of age/income criteria for this). I believe that capital from a house sale is ring-fenced from HB for 6 months if you are actively looking to buy a new house - ask for the exact details of this on the benefits forum.

Re your poor health. If you have care/mobility issues, look into PIP (see the Direct Gov website), again I don't know the age criteria for this but this is not means tested. If you are under the state pension/Pension Credit age and are too ill to work, look into ESA.

You may find that if you delay the completion of your house sale, your original buyer may want to drop out so consider the risk of doing this. Finding a new place to buy, even if you find a new property quickly, might add on another month or two because of negotiation, survey, conveyancing. Even finding a rental property might take a couple of weeks once you find a suitable property because of credit checks/tenant screening. At least you've got the interim option of staying with a friend while your property is sold so you've got breathing space to find a new place to buy, without getting locked into a private rental contract.

littlesparkles

When I was selling AND buying at the same time like you, I signed all of the contracts etc for selling my house before everything was ready to sign for my new one. Signing didn't mean anything. It's exchange that counts. The solicitor wouldn't have exchanged on the sale until my purchase contracts were ready to be signed too. You said that the sale was dependant on you finding somewhere to buy so I am thinking that your solicitor won't have exchanged contracts with the buyer's solicitor yet. If this is the case then you can pull out of the sale with no penalty. Your solicitor will be able to confirm this. I hope it all works out.

moneybags_3

Thank you for your reply. The solicitor is not open until 2nd Jan so I will be trying to find out what is happening regarding the on going problem with the house that I was trying to buy. I have been to the housing dept. where I live and I have made my case to them for accommodation for over 55s but I'll not hold my breadth waiting. If I must sell, I may have to rent privately. I am going to view a couple of houses in the rental market in the next week but I cannot sign up until the sale of my house is completed, as if the sale fell through (which I do not think it will) I'd be caught in a rental agreement.