Housing benefit, inheritance and purchasing a property to live in

HillStreetBlues

Could the person put the £100k inherence and get a SMI  for the other £100k to buy property?

Looking at options for the OP

Spoonie_Turtle

HillStreetBlues said:

Could the person put the £100k inherence and get a SMI  for the other £100k to buy property?

Looking at options for the OP

Would a 70-year old with no income other than benefits even be able to get a mortgage though?

elsien

HillStreetBlues said:

Alice_Holt said:

Doesn't sound a sensible scheme to me. 

No HB payable as the LA would view such an arrangement as a "contrived" tenancy, and deprivation of capital are all potential snags. 

May be worth checking if there are any available local social housing sheltered schemes, and use the inheritance to make his life more comfortable.

Just on the the single issue, would it be deprivation of capital if the reason for making the purchase is to stop that person being made homeless?

With 100 K in the bank he wouldn’t need to be homeless, he could rent somewhere else if he was evicted from where he is now. Which is by no means certain anyway.

HillStreetBlues

Spoonie_Turtle said:

HillStreetBlues said:

Could the person put the £100k inherence and get a SMI  for the other £100k to buy property?

Looking at options for the OP

Would a 70-year old with no income other than benefits even be able to get a mortgage though?

One of the qualifying benefits is pension credit, so might be a long shot  but if the person wants to stay in property any avenue is worth exploring.

HillStreetBlues

elsien said:

HillStreetBlues said:

Alice_Holt said:

Doesn't sound a sensible scheme to me. 

No HB payable as the LA would view such an arrangement as a "contrived" tenancy, and deprivation of capital are all potential snags. 

May be worth checking if there are any available local social housing sheltered schemes, and use the inheritance to make his life more comfortable.

Just on the the single issue, would it be deprivation of capital if the reason for making the purchase is to stop that person being made homeless?

With 100 K in the bank he wouldn’t need to be homeless, he could rent somewhere else if he was evicted from where he is now. Which is by no means certain anyway.

So are you saying it would be deprivation of capital? (just want to check)

poppy12345

HillStreetBlues said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

HillStreetBlues said:

Could the person put the £100k inherence and get a SMI  for the other £100k to buy property?

Looking at options for the OP

Would a 70-year old with no income other than benefits even be able to get a mortgage though?

One of the qualifying benefits is pension credit, so might be a long shot  but if the person wants to stay in property any avenue is worth exploring.

I can’t honestly see a 70 year old getting a mortgage. 

In some areas it’s possible to buy a small property for less than £100k so they could look at that. Of course it will depend on where they live. 

elsien

@HillStreetBlues  Whatever his reasons, and I understand that he doesn’t want to  move from somewhere that he settled, but the bottom line is he would be giving his money to someone else and then claiming benefits to stay there. What else would you call it?

calcotti

HillStreetBlues said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

HillStreetBlues said:

Could the person put the £100k inherence and get a SMI  for the other £100k to buy property?

Looking at options for the OP

Would a 70-year old with no income other than benefits even be able to get a mortgage though?

One of the qualifying benefits is pension credit, so might be a long shot  but if the person wants to stay in property any avenue is worth exploring.

Yes PC is a route to SMI but it isn’t to help to get a mortgage in the first place and would in case only provide limited help and becomes a further charge on the property.

FallingLeaves

Yes I had ignored the option of them getting a mortgage themselves - I'd assumed it wouldn't be possible. And the SMI is a small amount.

HillStreetBlues

elsien said:

@HillStreetBlues  Whatever his reasons, and I understand that he doesn’t want to  move from somewhere that he settled, but the bottom line is he would be giving his money to someone else and then claiming benefits to stay there. What else would you call it?

HillStreetBlues said:

FallingLeaves said:

If they used the inheritance as the deposit / pay for 50% of the house, but didn't claim any ownership of it (i.e. 100% owned by me) would that change things? I assume that could be a commercial rent, but does it become deprivation of capital as they 'gave' the inheritance away, even though they then lived in the property?

Yes, it would.

I didn't ask about if someone gave money away, I asked  if someone used money from their inheritance to buy (or part buy) their home would it be deprivation of capital?