Retired parents renting their house from me and cannot afford to pay

Pixie5740

thesaint wrote: »

I bought my parents house for the value of the mortgage(substantially less than the real value), and have been renting it out to my pensioner father for several years who claims housing benefit.

People can quote what they like as to what they heard/believe. I know they are talking nonsense.



So you decided that if they have lived in it longer than they are not entitled.
You have added 2 + 2 and coming up with 5.

Just because your father is happily committing benefit fraud doesn't mean people on this thread are talking nonsense about deprivation of assets and contrived tenancies.

tlc678910

Whether you will get housing benefit past the council I don't know but morally giving away thousands of pounds in your property to then ask the public to pay for you to live in it is unreasonable. The money could have been used to pay rent or buy a smaller place with no reliance on the public purse.

I know people will say "high horse" etc but really! Anyone on a low income could gift their properties left, right and centre and then ask the public to pay their rent increasing the wealth of their children at no loss to themselves if they can remain in the family home and the public will pay for it.

Tlc

thesaint

GwylimT wrote: »

The question asks how long they have lived in the property, the length of time doesn't impact on claiming HB, unless they have owned the property during any time in the last five years.

So, you are saying that previously owning a house does not prevent you from claiming housing benefit for it, and much like all things, it "depends"?

Pixie5740 wrote: »

<snip> doesn't mean people on this thread are talking nonsense about deprivation of assets and contrived tenancies.

You would be wise to watch your words.

Pixie5740

thesaint wrote: »

You would be wise to watch your words.

Well life is harsh

GwylimT

thesaint wrote: »

So, you are saying that previously owning a house does not prevent you from claiming housing benefit for it, and much like all things, it "depends"?



You would be wise to watch your words.

It doesn't depend at all, I'm very surprised that an adult finds the HB form so incredibly confusing. It quite clearly states that all assets over £6k must be declared, as your parent sold a house well below market value this is clearly a deprivation of an asset. So for example if the house is worth £100k at the time of sale, he is considered to still have assets worth £100k.

If he has owned the home he rents at any period during the previous 5 years he cannot claim housing benefit for that property even if he doesn't have any assets.

So the only way your father can claim housing benefit on the house without commiting fraud would be if the house was worth less than £6k and sold for less than £6k and he waited for five years after the sale before putting in a claim for housing benefit.

Or if it was sold for more than £6k and he spent the money sensibly, as spending the money too quickly would also be deprivation of an asset, he could then claim housing benefit after five years if his savings then fell below £6k to claim full HB.

It must feel awful taking all that money from your dad who has so little he has to rely on HB in his retirement.

thesaint

GwylimT wrote: »

It doesn't depend at all, I'm very surprised that an adult finds the HB form so incredibly confusing. It quite clearly states that all assets over £6k must be declared, as your parent sold a house well below market value this is clearly a deprivation of an asset. So for example if the house is worth £100k at the time of sale, he is considered to still have assets worth £100k.

If he has owned the home he rents at any period during the previous 5 years he cannot claim housing benefit for that property even if he doesn't have any assets.

So the only way your father can claim housing benefit on the house without commiting fraud would be if the house was worth less than £6k and sold for less than £6k and he waited for five years after the sale before putting in a claim for housing benefit.

Or if it was sold for more than £6k and he spent the money sensibly, as spending the money too quickly would also be deprivation of an asset, he could then claim housing benefit after five years if his savings then fell below £6k to claim full HB.

It must feel awful taking all that money from your dad who has so little he has to rely on HB in his retirement.

So you are saying "It depends"?

Tammykitty

GwylimT wrote: »

It doesn't depend at all, I'm very surprised that an adult finds the HB form so incredibly confusing. It quite clearly states that all assets over £6k must be declared, as your parent sold a house well below market value this is clearly a deprivation of an asset. So for example if the house is worth £100k at the time of sale, he is considered to still have assets worth £100k.

If he has owned the home he rents at any period during the previous 5 years he cannot claim housing benefit for that property even if he doesn't have any assets.

So the only way your father can claim housing benefit on the house without commiting fraud would be if the house was worth less than £6k and sold for less than £6k and he waited for five years after the sale before putting in a claim for housing benefit.

Or if it was sold for more than £6k and he spent the money sensibly, as spending the money too quickly would also be deprivation of an asset, he could then claim housing benefit after five years if his savings then fell below £6k to claim full HB.

It must feel awful taking all that money from your dad who has so little he has to rely on HB in his retirement.

For the 2nd time deprivation of assets depends on intention and the need foreseeable need for benefits/assistance at the time of depriving yourself of an asset.


The following provides interesting reading


https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/365783/hbgm-bp1-assessment-of-capital.pdf


P1.700 Treat a claimant as possessing notional capital if they have deprived themselves of the capital for the purpose of receiving or getting an increase in HB and/or CTB.


[FONT=Frutiger LT 56 Italic,Frutiger LT 56 Italic][FONT=Frutiger LT 56 Italic,Frutiger LT 56 Italic]HB(SPC) Reg 49 & 50; CTB(SPC) Reg 39 & 40


[/FONT][/FONT]It also states that if parents give a child money to prevent their house being repossessed, it is not deprivation of capital, as the possibility of claiming benefits was not a significant motive. So their is a high possibility that gifting assets to stop you own house being reposed would also not count a deprivation of capital.

thesaint

^^^Please don't let facts get in the way.

NYM

urbanhim wrote: »

....
They are both in their 70's, my mother is a cleaner but struggling due to age, my father is not healthy enough to work. ....

If they had claimed certain benefits such as Pension Guarantee Credit they could have kept their own home by claiming SMI.

Tammykitty

urbanhim wrote: »

It wasnt... My father remortgaged his house to fund his building business which did not workout, being of a certain generation and in some respect an idiot, he thought a hand shake was strong enough but unfortunately it was not and he lost a fortune. Having remortgaged and only paying interest on the property the time came on his 70th birthday where the bank said we want the mortgage paid in full now. .

NYM wrote: »

If they had claimed certain benefits such as Pension Guarantee Credit they could have kept their own home by claiming SMI.

The bank wouldn't let them keep the mortgage