Private pension - council rent after retirement

xylophone

Have you obtained a new state pension statement?

What does it say?

You are contributing to a workplace pension?

http://www.justadviser.com/documents/means-tested-benefits-and-pension-flexibility-1312231.pdf

karben

Thanks badmemory and xylophone, both good points I need to follow up. Been a council tenant for well over 10 yrs so max discount, but I'd have to move far away to bring the prop value down. In a way, badmemory, your concern is exactly the one worrying me, only I hadn't seriously thought about right to buy. May look at moving - I have close family in the midlands.

Alice_Holt

If you have a reasonable estimate of your retirement income, you could try putting those numbers into a benefits calculator to see if (under current regulations) any HB would be payable on your income on retirement.

https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou

But a lot can change in 13 years.

NoNoDrama

People come here for advise not to be told to use a benefit calculator.

badmemory

NoNoDrama wrote: »

People come here for advise not to be told to use a benefit calculator.

No, they normally come on here to work out how they are going to survive in a particular scenario, which may well need to involve receiving benefits. Whilst most of us would really rather live (as opposed to exist) without the need to use benefits this is not always possible, especially for those in low income unpensioned jobs. Which I might add included me for most of my life.

So for some or indeed many a benefit calculator can be a massive source of relief. Even if not for the OP then for someone who comes on here and reads what is available. Don't knock it & maybe think "there but for the grace of god go I".

karben

Alice, thankyou for your advice, which I will take up, though thanks to several changes of job over the years and recent legislation I now have several private pensions, mostly worth one peanut each.

Karben.

Owain_Moneysaver

Be cautious about buying - if you pay rent in a secure council tenancy it is likely (of course not guaranteed) that if you can't afford the rent in future that there will be some help from benefits.

If you buy then you won't have rent to pay, but you will have to pay your buildings insurance, maintenance and repairs, upgrades such as kitchen / bathroom / rewiring which as a tenant you will get done through your rent payments -- and if you're in a flat you will have to pay your share of communal repair and upgrade bills, which can be horrendous.

On the other hand, if you can use right-to-buy in London and then get a cheap property Up North you might end up with a useful chunk of capital, maybe even a home and a buy-to-let for income. (There are rules about using right-to-buy and then moving within a certain number of years, so it wouldn't be a get-rich-quick scheme.)