Inheritance and ESA

Shiny_Pebble

Hello lovely people,

Currently I receive income-related ESA and housing benefit for a long term illness. I live alone in rented accommodation.

My mother recently died and left me £50k in her will. The cheapest homes in my area are also £50k so I was considering moving into one, however, would I no longer receive ESA if I do that?

Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Alice_Holt

Using the inheritance to purchase a home should not be considered deprivation of capital.
I would expect your IB ESA to continue.

Do bear in mind the maintenance costs involved in owning a home though!

epitome

You should notify ESA & Housing Benefit as soon as you have been paid the inheritance into your account. Yes this will stop ESA IR & Housing Benefit from being paid, but will not stop any ESA C that you have.

When you have bought a house you notify ESA again, they will need proof, and your ESA IR will start again from the date you bought it.

It may be a few months between having the money and buying the house, you will not have ESA IR or Housing Benefit for this period, and you will be spending/living off the money you want to buy the house with.. So you will have to be very careful not to spend too much.

As mentioned a house requires maintenance, you will have to decide, can I live on my own house on benefits?
Or Shall I live on the savings until they are below 16K and then tell ESA they are below 16K

Housing_Benefit_Officer

If the executor delays settling the estate the money is only counted when you receive it...

Londonsu

Also you will have to factor in the costs of buying which can be expensive, you could do your own conveyancing and there are links on the net to help, but it can be a mine field, as you wont have a mortgage the usual reports a lender would do would be something you would have to pay for yourself, a homebuyers report is the best way to go forward https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/a-guide-to-homebuyer-surveys-and-costs


So if you have 50k pot and a house costs 50k unless you have savings to cover the cost of buying you would need to buy a house that's less than the 50k you have

Shiny_Pebble

Thank you so much everybody. :happyhear

You've really helped me out and I'll look into each of the points raised. I'll read into homebuyer reports tomorrow at the library.

I think apartments a couple of miles away might be slightly cheaper so I'll do my best and look into things I can cut.

konark

Is probate of your mother's will being handled by solicitors? If so, don't expect the money to hit your account any time soon.

Shiny_Pebble

konark -- yes but it's nearing the end after a 16 month wait. I can certainly understand what you mean about it taking its time!

I would definitely advise people that receiving an inheritance can take a while (though we had issues with a property being sold, so hopefully most people don't need to go through that).

[Deleted User]

Shiny_Pebble wrote: »

Thank you so much everybody. :happyhear

You've really helped me out and I'll look into each of the points raised. I'll read into homebuyer reports tomorrow at the library.

I think apartments a couple of miles away might be slightly cheaper so I'll do my best and look into things I can cut.

Keep in mind that apartments can come with a monthly service charge (friends pay £60 a month), although this maybe payable by housing benefit.