unemployed and rights to buy

alisonnpaul

both my with and i are unemployed claiming housing benefit can we purchase a property with the help of friends and credit..? how would this affect us benefit wise?
good afternoon 
my wife has been disabled for some 20 plus years now
my wife receives benefits of personal independence payment & employment and support allowance i myself claim carers allowance and all but a minimal reduction of full housing and council tax benefits/rebates
for 10+ yrs we have rented privately at £400mth our local housing allowance is £423.84 we may need to move in the next few weeks as the house is going to auction
we have searched for a suitable house to rent but to no avail without funding an extra £80-£100 extra a month towards the rent 
we survive quite comfortably allowing us to have saved close to £6k are we allowed to buy a property with the help of friends, family and the odd credit card if need be?
how would this arrangement work would it be a shared ownership with those involved if so would we still be entitled to benefits?
over time could we buy back shares from the involved parties as our funds in the bank grew again?
I feel this would save the government a substantial amount of housing benefit due to the time we would be on benefits my wife is 51 and myself 46 as you can imagine that weekly figure of 97.81 would grow to over £150k if we lived on benefits for another 30 plus years

dimbo61

Right to buy is normally available to people who have been Renting for several years from the local council or housing association.
You say you have been renting privately for the last 10+ years and the Landlord is about to sell it and make you homeless !

Exodi

I fear you are mistaken - the right to buy scheme only applies to council tenants purchasing council houses.

It unfortunately does not enable you to buy any private property you rent for a discount.

MovingForwards

Some benefits are acceptable for calculating how much a lender would lend you. Some lenders will only include them if the first applicant is working.

Housing benefit (HB) would not be as that's expected to stop when you're a homeowner, unless you're in housing association shared ownership property then it can help towards the rent element.

I doubt you would be able to claim HB to pay the other owners 'rent' as it would be deemed a contrived tenancy.

Aside from HB, your other benefits wouldn't change.

The main issue you will find is being able to secure enough of a mortgage to actually afford a property. Generally it's 4.5x income, less debts and subject to credit history.

Even having friends assist, either by being party to the mortgage application or lending you money, those are added complications eg additional stamp duty of already a homeowner and lenders don't like borrowed money or from friends.

You're better off contacting the council and local housing associations to see if they have any suitable properties.

london21

As others have said right to buy mainly council property which you have lived in for at least 3 years.

PIP payment is not income assessed so can get without affecting anything.

Other benefits having assets over a certain threshold might mean will not be entitled.

theoretica

While not the question you asked, have you had good advice about your rights to stay in your current home?  Until your landlord has all paperwork perfect, and gets the court to agree to evict you you have the right to stay, and as a tenanted property another landlord may well be the purchaser.  Just because it is being sold does not mean you have to leave.