The peoples pension and housing benefit on retirement

Albermarle

Kim1965 said:

Unfortunately i think there is a whiff of truth in what the op mate has said. 
 Someone who goes into retirement as a renter is more likely to have not had the means to buy. Im guessing that person is also less likely to have amassed a huge pot to cover their rent. Hope i am wrong because as i understand it, the trend is that more people are retiring as renters. 
 I bet not many regular posters rent?  Just to cover rent alone of £600 pm, a pot of £150kplus is needed. Being mortgage free is a must before retirement. 
 

There is some truth in what the OP said ( ignoring the stuff about Peoples pension and government plots)
Like in the tax system , the benefits system can throw up some cliff edges/anomalies, where some gain and some lose out.

By the way Housing Benefit can also be paid towards mortgage payments, so this issue can also affect homeowners as well as renters.

Silvertabby

Albermarle said:

Kim1965 said:

Unfortunately i think there is a whiff of truth in what the op mate has said. 
 Someone who goes into retirement as a renter is more likely to have not had the means to buy. Im guessing that person is also less likely to have amassed a huge pot to cover their rent. Hope i am wrong because as i understand it, the trend is that more people are retiring as renters. 
 I bet not many regular posters rent?  Just to cover rent alone of £600 pm, a pot of £150kplus is needed. Being mortgage free is a must before retirement. 
 

There is some truth in what the OP said ( ignoring the stuff about Peoples pension and government plots)
Like in the tax system , the benefits system can throw up some cliff edges/anomalies, where some gain and some lose out.

By the way Housing Benefit can also be paid towards mortgage payments, so this issue can also affect homeowners as well as renters.

But in the case of housing benefit for mortgage payments, wouldn't that just be a loan, to be repaid when the house is sold?

Albermarle

Silvertabby said:

Albermarle said:

Kim1965 said:

Unfortunately i think there is a whiff of truth in what the op mate has said. 
 Someone who goes into retirement as a renter is more likely to have not had the means to buy. Im guessing that person is also less likely to have amassed a huge pot to cover their rent. Hope i am wrong because as i understand it, the trend is that more people are retiring as renters. 
 I bet not many regular posters rent?  Just to cover rent alone of £600 pm, a pot of £150kplus is needed. Being mortgage free is a must before retirement. 
 

There is some truth in what the OP said ( ignoring the stuff about Peoples pension and government plots)
Like in the tax system , the benefits system can throw up some cliff edges/anomalies, where some gain and some lose out.

By the way Housing Benefit can also be paid towards mortgage payments, so this issue can also affect homeowners as well as renters.

But in the case of housing benefit for mortgage payments, wouldn't that just be a loan, to be repaid when the house is sold?

Yes you are right and to be 100% accurate it is not called housing benefit, but 'Support for Mortgage Interest'
However the issue that the OP raised is relevant for this, as well as for housing benefit.

Kim1965

I take silvertabbys point about maintaining a house, but a home owner has equity wealth.
 I would lovecto see some stats on this topic. Certainly a renter needs nearer there working wage in retirement than a mf home owner. 
 It seems bizzare that an individual could be worse off for having private pension provision. 

Albermarle

Kim1965 said:

I take silvertabbys point about maintaining a house, but a home owner has equity wealth.
 I would lovecto see some stats on this topic. Certainly a renter needs nearer there working wage in retirement than a mf home owner. 
 It seems bizzare that an individual could be worse off for having private pension provision. 

On the other hand it would be equally bizarre to pay someone housing benefit, who was sitting on a big pension pot and not using it.
Maybe there could be some targeted limits in place, but it is inevitable with nearly all tax and benefit rules, that people will get caught in unfair situations, or alternatively the benefits/tax system gets fleeced. In many cases both things happen at the same time. It is very difficult to write the legislation to cover every angle, especially as it will have been fought over in the House of Commons and Lords with various amendments and deals done to get it through.
Not sure what the solution to this particular issue is.