UC and equity from house sale

Paulm1978

Right I’ve been renting for about a year since the marriage fell apart and have equity from sale of family home which was split and is in the bank I claim child benefit for one of our two sons and get £87pm 
just did a few different options through the entitledtoo calculator 

And it works out that if I bought my own home my I stay the same with the same benefit but have no savings
but if I go on a spending spree and spend all my capital I have from the house sale 48k I would get just over £400pm with child benefit ??

I work full time 41hrs  so too and was just shocked that I would get all this if I didn’t have this money is there a bug with the calculator??

I spoke to a UC adviser online who said this was probably to help with the rent on line who told me I could get a 6m grace if I was actively seeking a property for them not to include my capital at this time 

Spoonie_Turtle

Paulm1978 said:

Right I’ve been renting for about a year since the marriage fell apart and have equity from sale of family home which was split and is in the bank I claim child benefit for one of our two sons and get £87pm 
just did a few different options through the entitledtoo calculator 

And it works out that if I bought my own home my I stay the same with the same benefit but have no savings
but if I go on a spending spree and spend all my capital I have from the house sale 48k I would get just over £400pm with child benefit ??

I work full time 41hrs  so too and was just shocked that I would get all this if I didn’t have this money is there a bug with the calculator??

I spoke to a UC adviser online who said this was probably to help with the rent on line who told me I could get a 6m grace if I was actively seeking a property for them not to include my capital at this time 

No, because spending savings unnecessarily before claiming means-tested benefits will most likely be deemed deprivation of capital, they'll treat you as still having the money and you won't be eligible for help.

Yes there is a disregard for capital from the sale of a property in some circumstances if it is intended to be used to buy another property.  Was there any particular reason you didn't claim UC before but have looked into it now?  (No judgement, just wondering.)

calcotti

Paulm1978 said: I spoke to a UC adviser online who said this was probably to help with the rent on line who told me I could get a 6m grace if I was actively seeking a property for them not to include my capital at this time 

How long is it since your former home was sold? The six month disregard for money from a property sale and intended for another property purchase applies from the date of sale. (but can be extended at the discretion of a Decision Maker).
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/932331/admh2.pdf

Amount to be used to purchase premises
H2119 Where a person has received an amount within the past 6 months which is to be used to purchase premises that the person intend to occupy as their home, that amount can be disregarded from the calculation of that person’s capital where it
1. is attributable to the proceeds of the sale of premises formerly occupied as their home ...

Is it reasonable to disregard for longer
H2120 The DM may decide it is reasonable to disregard the amount for a longer period if, for example
1. people have tried but not found premises which are suitable for their or a member of their family's needs (in particular, if one of them is disabled and needs a certain type of accommodation)
2. the person has found premises and the
2.1 sale has not been completed or
2.2 seller later decides not to sell.

Paulm1978 said:.. if I go on a spending spree and spend all my capital I have from the house sale 48k I would get just over £400pm with child benefit ??

As poppy says, you would be treated as if you still had the money (quite apart from any discussion on the merits of spending £42,000 in order to gain £400/month).

poppy12345

calcotti said:

As poppy says, you would be treated as if you still had the money (quite apart from any discussion on the merits of spending £42,000 in order to gain £400/month).

It was Spoonie Turtle that made the other comment, not me lol. Although, i can't imagine why someone would just spend £42k just to claim £400 per month.

calcotti

poppy12345 said: It was Spoonie Turtle that made the other comment, not me lol. 

Ha! Apologies to Spoonie (think I’d just read one of poppy’s posts in a different thread).

Paulm1978

Thanks for your comments and info. Let’s get things put right first I’m not going to spend my money just to get £400 a month I’ve worked since I’ve left school and am now 42 so I’m no sponger. I never get anything for free and have always had to work for it so please don’t judge 

The house sold last year so I doubt I’ll even get help with the 6m thing. 

I just annoyed that as always it’s always people  like me that never get help. It’s always wasters who play the system so they don’t need to work and get hands out all over. Even though I can not help the situation I’m in and paying £800pm but because I have the equity I can not get help

the reason I choose to see what UC I might get was because I used a benefit calculator to see if it was best to buy or stay rented so I played with the savings part and found out I got help renting but no help if I bought a property from UC that’s all

Rubyroobs

Paulm1978 said:

Thanks for your comments and info. Let’s get things put right first I’m not going to spend my money just to get £400 a month I’ve worked since I’ve left school and am now 42 so I’m no sponger. I never get anything for free and have always had to work for it so please don’t judge 

The house sold last year so I doubt I’ll even get help with the 6m thing. 

I just annoyed that as always it’s always people  like me that never get help. It’s always wasters who play the system so they don’t need to work and get hands out all over. Even though I can not help the situation I’m in and paying £800pm but because I have the equity I can not get help

the reason I choose to see what UC I might get was because I used a benefit calculator to see if it was best to buy or stay rented so I played with the savings part and found out I got help renting but no help if I bought a property from UC that’s all

You want help with your rent with 48k in the bank ? 

Rubyroobs

If you put the money into buying your own property and you have a child on your Uc claim then you would receive a higher work allowance meaning the first £512 a month of earnings is disregarded before your earnings reduce your Uc. However if the benefit calculator is still saying no entitlement to Uc then it is because your wages are too high. I'm just saying this to point out that on UC people with a child/ children and a mortgage do get some extra help in the form of the work allowance being higher even though Uc doesn't specifically give you any help towards a mortgage like it does with the rent element.
Using the money to buy your own home i do not think would class as deprivation of capital.

poppy12345

Rubyroobs said:

Using the money to buy your own home i do not think would class as deprivation of capital.

No it won't but because the house sold last year then it's very unlikely to be disregarded now.

poppy12345

Paulm1978 said:

I just annoyed that as always it’s always people  like me that never get help. It’s always wasters who play the system so they don’t need to work and get hands out all over. Even though I can not help the situation I’m in and paying £800pm but because I have the equity I can not get help

Just so that you're aware, very few people "play the system" as you put it. You have £48,000 which is a huge amount of money and if you decide not to buy a house then you need to use that money to live off. Once is drops below £16,000 then you can claim UC, if you're entitled. Although there will be a deducted for £4.35 per month for every £250 (or part there of) over £6,000.

Paulm1978

poppy12345 said:

Paulm1978 said:

I just annoyed that as always it’s always people  like me that never get help. It’s always wasters who play the system so they don’t need to work and get hands out all over. Even though I can not help the situation I’m in and paying £800pm but because I have the equity I can not get help

Just so that you're aware, very few people "play the system" as you put it. You have £48,000 which is a huge amount of money and if you decide not to buy a house then you need to use that money to live off. Once is drops below £16,000 then you can claim UC, if you're entitled. Although there will be a deducted for £4.35 per month for every £250 (or part there of) over £6,000.

Depends where you live I guess as what you see goes on . And yes it huge amount of money to I get that I don’t usually have this type of money in the bank and I didn’t get it from a nice experience in my life
 I’m in good place in terms of money I get that
and no I won’t get any help with UC as apparently I earn too much 28k a year so 
so what would you guys do as I can not get a big enough mortgage to get a nice house yet the mortgage payment won’t be no way as much as the £800 I spend a month or stay in a my rental which is a lovely property which I would never afford now