Selling a house and buying another while on benefits, advice needed

Pompeyfan

The situation is this, I suffer from Agoraphobia, very severe OCD and depression and am in receipt of ESA Support Group (means tested) and DLA at the lower rate for both components and am not very mobile due to piling on weight since being house bound (although am trying to lose it and have shed about 5 stone so far), and lived with my father in his house, so he has been paying most of the bills like Council tax, gas, electric, water, house insurance, home serve maintenance insurance etc.


He had been thinking of selling up and moving, and getting a bungalow for the past 2 years as he couldn't manage the stairs and I'm struggling, but he was then diagnosed with lung cancer so the idea was postponed as it became inoperable and he got steadily worse till he passed away last Sunday.


The house - a 4 bed detached has been left to me as I'm the only child (my close family are now all abroad) and I now have to take over all the bills out of my benefits - I can get the Council Tax paid, but that's all - there's no rent to worry about and no mortgage as the house was built by my grandfather in 1938.


I've done a budget and my outgoings will be higher than my income so the only solution really is to sell up and buy a bungalow as planned, that will be cheaper to run/maintain and insure and easier to look after, but I'm not sure how this will affect my benefits as I'll obviously have over the £6k savings limit after selling and until I buy another property, I also have to take into account all the costs related to moving which will have to come out of the house sale money plus what will be needed to spend on the new place (eg I'd need a wet room adding as I can't get in/out of a bath). I don't have any savings and the money dad has left will be used to pay for his funeral which is going to be over £3.5k there may be a bit left over but not much (I'm the executer for the will). The house is valued at £245-£260k, but does need some work so I doubt I'll get that for it, and the bungalows are £190-£210k, so I reckon I'll have £20-£30k difference to cover all the selling fees, moving costs, surveyors, wet room, stamp duty and other expenses, if I'm lucky, but if I lose my benefits I'll need that money to live on. So does anyone know what the rules are or where I can find them? Cheers

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Capital is disregarded for 26 weeks if being used in home purchase - can be extended if delays in buying. Council may request evidence actively engaged in purchasing property. If can't prove buying property then no disregard.

GirlFromMars_2

Usually when selling and buying a new property you would be part of a chain, and the contracts for selling your old property & buying your new property would be exchanged on the same day. And everyone in the chain would agree a single moving day.

So the money from the sale would immediately go on to fund the purchase.

Do you have somewhere to live in between selling & buying if you choose to do it one at a time?

Are you worried about solicitors fees, estate agents fees and survey costs? They aren't actually terribly expensive, and a solicitor would bill you as the sale goes through. There are fixed price solicitors who will deal with the sale/purchase for a fixed fee even if a sale falls through and it moves on to another one. And the bulk of an Estate Agent's fee would also come from a completed sale.

As you would have cash left over after the sale/fees/moving expenses this may impact on means tested benefits for a short period, but if you can demonstrate a need for a wet room I don't see why paying for that would be considered Deprivation of Capital.

I'm sorry for your loss. Hopefully a move will help you get more from life.

SailorSam

It's a bit similar perhaps to when my Mum died. I'd planned to sell my own house and sell my buy my Mums, and i was the sole executor to the Will. So untill the houses were bought & sold and everything shared out, i had over £200k in the bank. But the Dwp accepted this was a temporary thing and it never stopped me getting my 'sickness benefit' at the time.

Pompeyfan

Thank you everyone for the replies, they are very helpful and put my mind at rest.

tea-bag

How are you going to find a house if you have Agoraphobia?

lighting_up_the_chalice

Just a thought, but quarter of a million £ can buy a hell of a bungalow in some parts of the country, and your family are all far away. Have you considered re-locating to somewhere that might suit your personal needs better and be a lot cheaper?

fed_up_and_stressed

tea-bag wrote: »

How are you going to find a house if you have Agoraphobia?

Probably the the same way they posted on here tea-bag the internet is a very useful thing .... A lot of estate agents show virtual tours / plans. 21st century living has its advantages chuckle !!:rotfl:

Some people even buy new homes "off plan". Also and more probably just because someone has agrophobia it doesn't mean they are incapable of leaving their house ever and probably could do a viewing in certain circumstances.

cte1111

I think you've been a bit sharp with people racon. Many people find a good way to get through the initial grief is to deal with the practicalities ASAP. I know when we were bereaved, the day after I was sitting down with my relatives working out who would do what to start sorting out the estate.

My husband found this a bit quick but it's the way we cope with emergencies, by getting on with arrangements and the grief might well hit later. I still grieve for my late Aunt, the phone rang earlier and for a second I thought it might be her so it doesn't mean that people don't care, just that we all cope differently.

cte1111

Pompeyfan - well done for losing so much weight already and also for dealing with your Dad's death so far. I hope everyone's posts have helped you and you continue to post on here, if there is anything else that people can maybe help explain.

Pompeyfan

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

Just a thought, but quarter of a million £ can buy a hell of a bungalow in some parts of the country, and your family are all far away. Have you considered re-locating to somewhere that might suit your personal needs better and be a lot cheaper?

I had considered that but I've lived on the IOW all my life, plus looking on the mainland would prove extremely difficult.

tea-bag wrote: »

How are you going to find a house if you have Agoraphobia?

I can go out as long as I'm accompanyed by someone I know and trust, I just can't go out alone.