Housing Benefit after Right to Buy

Poppie68

Your mother has maintained this home for god knows how many years until you and your wife decided to invade her privacy for the 1 year you needed too so you could purchase your mothers home. Without her you wouldn't have this cheap home. Your mother had a home for life before you and your wife took advantage, now you want to throw her out of her home penniless and want the tax payer to pay her rent. If your wife and mother don't get on it's yourself and your wifes fault, when making a decision to move into your mothers home it goes without saying the 2 woman would have issues and now you will have to become the peacemaker as no child should take their mothers home then throw her out.

northerntwo1

Please tell me this is a wind up

Okydoky25

Why don't you move out and rent?

Dvalin

I'm really just looking for advice, from experts if there are any. We may move out, we may sort things out, we may sell the house and split the money. Mistakes were made, I'd just like some actual advice on the legal situation. There isn't anything I have not considered, practical or moral. You all seem to be making a lot of rash assumptions and I do not want to go into the private details. Any advice, practical is welcome, and be assured I absolutely do not want to leave my mother high and dry.

NYM

Dvalin wrote: »

I'm really just looking for advice, from experts if there are any. We may move out, we may sort things out, we may sell the house and split the money. Mistakes were made, I'd just like some actual advice on the legal situation. There isn't anything I have not considered, practical or moral. You all seem to be making a lot of rash assumptions and I do not want to go into the private details. Any advice, practical is welcome, and be assured I absolutely do not want to leave my mother high and dry.

If you find now that living together with your Mother isn't ideal, you can agree to sell and repay whatever discount you received.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/292273/Your_Right_to_Buy_Your_Home_A_Guide_March_2014.pdf

If you have bought your home under the Right to Buy, you can sell it whenever you like. But if you wish to sell within the discount repayment period specified below you will usually have to repay some or all of the discount.

If you sell within the first year of purchase, the whole discount will have to be repaid. Four fifths must be repaid if you sell in the second year, three fifths in the third year, two fifths in the fourth year and one fifth in the fifth year. After 5 years, you can sell without repaying any discount.

In addition, the amount of discount to be repaid if you sell within 5 years of purchase will be a percentage of the resale value of the property, disregarding the value of any improvements. For example, if your home was valued at £100,000 at the time you bought it from your landlord, and you received a discount of £20,000, that means that your discount was 20 per cent.

If your home is valued at £150,000 when you wish to sell it, and you want to sell within the second year of purchase, you will have to repay £150,000 x 20 per cent discount x 4/5 i.e. £24,000.

lighting_up_the_chalice

Dvalin wrote: »

I'm really just looking for advice, from experts if there are any. We may move out, we may sort things out, we may sell the house and split the money. Mistakes were made, I'd just like some actual advice on the legal situation. There isn't anything I have not considered, practical or moral. You all seem to be making a lot of rash assumptions and I do not want to go into the private details. Any advice, practical is welcome, and be assured I absolutely do not want to leave my mother high and dry.

Then buy her out of her share of the property. You can raise funds by borrowing against the value of the property and she can then live off the money raised elsewhere. Alternatively, why not rent elsewhere yourselves?

There is no magic solution where you get to keep everything and have the housing costs covered by the public purse.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Wouldn't give the Mother a penny Housing Benefit. I would consider she has deliberately and purposefully deprived herself of her home and the capital of the value of the home to try and claim benefits elsewhere. Lots of case law already where people have appealed and lost against similar circumstances.

jetplane

HBO would you be classing her as having the whole property because the value would need to be split, minus selling costs therefore if the mother lived alone, was in receipt of Attendance Allowance and no one claimed carers allowance for looking after her, with a basic state pension and £40k notional income (OP's estimate) she would receive guaranteed pension credit and could be passported to Housing and Council Tax benefit.

A few ifs but perfectly possible.

Dvalin

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

Wouldn't give the Mother a penny Housing Benefit. I would consider she has deliberately and purposefully deprived herself of her home and the capital of the value of the home to try and claim benefits elsewhere. Lots of case law already where people have appealed and lost against similar circumstances.

If we were to buy her share of the house and give her say £40k and if she were to move out and privately rent would she become entitled to HB once her savings fall below the threshold?

lighting_up_the_chalice

Dvalin wrote: »

If we were to buy her share of the house and give her say £40k and if she were to move out and privately rent would she become entitled to HB once her savings fall below the threshold?

Depending on how those savings were spent, yes. She can't, for example, buy you a new car, or an expensive holiday, or a new kitchen just to get her savings below the threshold.