Will all benefits stop once family home is sold?

Dawn248

Sorry, it's impossible to fit my situation in the title box! Will try to explain;
My 2 daughters and I had to leave my abusive husband earlier this year. He would not leave the family home and is still there. I could have applied for an occupation order to get him out but am not working so wouldn't have been able to run the house myself and we wouldn't have felt safe there, knowing it would make him very angry.

Because of the abuse and having nowhere else to go, the council agreed to pay me housing benefit while the family home is up for sale. We are now in a privately rented flat. I'm looking for work of course but found nothing yet, so we are completely reliant on benefits, also maintenance from ex. Please don't judge, it's far from ideal. It was this or a homeless b&b.

Now the house has a buyer. The council have said they may agree to pay HB for longer to give me time to find somewhere, even though I will have a fair amount of equity once the house sale goes through.

Does anyone know what will happen to my other benefits when the house sale goes through? Will they automatically stop because of the equity I will have?

I currently claim JSA and get Child Tax Credits and Council Tax Reduction.

Also , the amount of equity I will get may just about buy me outright a small flat. If I am still not able to find full time work, can I buy a flat and still get JSA and CTC while I am looking for work?

We have only been in our flat a month and I have seen the improvement in my children just through having their own room and a calm, settled home. I am so nervous about calling the DWP, I just want a heads up, so I have an idea what to expect. I am also trying to fund a divorce so a change in circs now is going to be difficult.
I would appreciate non judgemental advice from anyone in the know. Thanks X

Caz3121

the capital from the property sale can be ignored for 26 weeks (sometimes longer) if you are planning on using it to purchase another property to live in

Darksparkle

It won't affect tax credits. However if the money is gaining interest than anything over £300 for the year needs to be declared to tax credits.

Voyager2002

Why on earth would anyone be judgemental?

As posted above, the capital will not affect your tax credits. The other benefits would eventually be reduced, perhaps to nothing, unless you use your capital to buy a new home or eventually use it up for ordinary living expenses.

You can certainly use your capital to buy a new home if you have enough to pay for it outright (don't forget the legal costs), but are unlikely to be offered a mortgage. Your home is not counted as part of your capital, so you would then continue to receive the benefits that you mention.

On the question of divorce, note that legal aid is still available in situations involving abuse and/or domestic violence, so that might be worth exploring.