Own a house = claim universal credit

poppy12345

Plantation7 wrote: »

not everybody can be switched over to UC!

Only those claiming severe disability premium are excluded from claiming UC. Homeowners can claim it.

NeilCr

https://www.gov.uk/housing-and-universal-credit/property-you-own

Extract

"If you or your partner own the home you live in and you’re eligible for Universal Credit, you could get a Universal Credit payment. This includes if you live in a shared ownership property"

tomtom256

Plantation7 wrote: »

I agree, it has been introduced across the UK but JSA still exists and their is a reason that it is not yet fazed out, the reason is simple, not everybody can be switched over to UC!

Everybody, other than those in receipt of SDP can be switched to UC, homeowners, renters, people who still live with their parents, people who are homeless, anybody.

Rubyroobs

I've helped plenty of homeowners to claim Uc recently. If they don't claim the rent element of Uc they will be eligible for the higher work allowance assuming they are eligible for a work allowance.

moo_juice

Slightly off topic but on the subject of homeownership, I cannot find out the answer to my problem.

I own my house and am on TC & WTC, not migrated To UC yet. Last year I bought a single garage (instead of renting 2 storage units) to store packaging materials and stock as well as some Bikes and odd junk/household items. The garage is 1/2 a mile away. I do not rent it out or earn money from it or claim it as an expense. I still owe 6k on a loan paid for it.

I cannot find out if UC will take the value of the garage and add it to our savings - If they did take it into account it would take us over the 16k allowance, If the garage came with the house we lived in, I wouldnt be worried, but as it is some distance away and could theoretically be sold separately I am worried owning it will stop much needed family income. The garage was bought to save the business throwing rental money down the drain and make more profit once the loan was paid off - thus less relying on topups.

tomtom256

moo_juice wrote: »

Slightly off topic but on the subject of homeownership, I cannot find out the answer to my problem.

I own my house and am on TC & WTC, not migrated To UC yet. Last year I bought a single garage (instead of renting 2 storage units) to store packaging materials and stock as well as some Bikes and odd junk/household items. The garage is 1/2 a mile away. I do not rent it out or earn money from it or claim it as an expense. I still owe 6k on a loan paid for it.

I cannot find out if UC will take the value of the garage and add it to our savings - If they did take it into account it would take us over the 16k allowance, If the garage came with the house we lived in, I wouldnt be worried, but as it is some distance away and could theoretically be sold separately I am worried owning it will stop much needed family income. The garage was bought to save the business throwing rental money down the drain and make more profit once the loan was paid off - thus less relying on topups.

As it is a seperate dwelling then it is technically a second property and should be classed as capital, had it been on the same plot as your house it wouldn't be.

calcotti

moo_juice wrote: »

Last year I bought a single garage (instead of renting 2 storage units) to store packaging materials and stock as well as some Bikes and odd junk/household items. The garage is 1/2 a mile away. I do not rent it out or earn money from it or claim it as an expense. I still owe 6k on a loan paid for it.

I cannot find out if UC will take the value of the garage and add it to our savings

What is the nature of your business? Is it a separate legal entity or are you self employed (and if so is this declared to DWP)? If the garage is only used for business purposes and/or is owned by the business it would logically be a business asset. Business assets are not taken into account as capital. If you are also storing household objects/junk in the garage you are blurring things.

Incidentally, it would have been better to start a different thread rather than piggy back on an existing one as your question is different.

NedS

Plantation7 wrote: »

According to my DWP partner, you can only claim Jobseekers Allowance if you are a homeowner, you can't get UC if you own your own home. JSA allows the property to be dismissed as an asset if you are living in it but when JSA is fazed out who knows?

As others have said, this is not the case now.

However, I suspect this advice stems from the days of Universal Credit Live Service (the version of UC before Full Service) when initially only single non-householders could make a claim for Universal Credit Live Service. So the advice was once correct a year or more ago depending upon the area in which you lived.

calcotti

NedS wrote: »

....I suspect this advice stems from the days of Universal Credit Live Service (the version of UC before Full Service) when initially only single non-householders could make a claim for Universal Credit Live Service. So the advice was once correct a year or more ago depending upon the area in which you lived.

Had forgotten that initial gateway condition but that certainly provides a possible explanation of where the misunderstanding has come from.

UC rules keep changing (but at least they are now consistent across the whole country)!

11krage

Just chiming in. As others have said home owners are on UC in their masses. Perhaps your partner was referring to people who own a second home. If you own a home in addition to the one you live in, it's taken into account as capital (with a few exceptions). When someone is not able to claim UC due to having over 16k in capital they are often referred to claim new style JSA or ESA.