Claiming housing benefit ( retired )

Jacksonc2114

Looking for some help or pointing in right direction 

mum is now living alone as dad is in care .. finally sorted money side of things and now mum wants to move to a rented house in a retirement living apartment .. this is as she’s older at 79 and her house isn’t in good repair and also a bit of a dodgy area … so we can sell and have started to find some rental properties but can we apply for housing benefit which she can get due to pension credits before the house sells ? As we can’t sell the house till we know she has somewhere to go .. some rental places say need to be ready to move but can we apply for housing benefit whilst we sell the house 

peteuk

Housing benefit can be claimed if of pensionable age… however if single you can claim if you live with a partner then there are caveats to a new claim…I would look further into “single” status.

You can sell the house before she moves, your solicitors will agree on a date fro completion, its that date that she has to move out by.  So you can put it on the market whilst looking. 

Keep_pedalling

I would imagine that the proceeds from the sale are going to boost her savings to the level that she will no longer qualify for PC or HB. The other impact on the house sale (assuming the home is jointly owned) is that it will trigger a financial reassessment for his care costs.

Jacksonc2114

Keep_pedalling said:

I would imagine that the proceeds from the sale are going to boost her savings to the level that she will no longer qualify for PC or HB. The other impact on the house sale (assuming the home is jointly owned) is that it will trigger a financial reassessment for his care costs.

Keep_pedalling said:

I would imagine that the proceeds from the sale are going to boost her savings to the level that she will no longer qualify for PC or HB. The other impact on the house sale (assuming the home is jointly owned) is that it will trigger a financial reassessment for his care costs.

Keep_pedalling said:

I would imagine that the proceeds from the sale are going to boost her savings to the level that she will no longer qualify for PC or HB. The other impact on the house sale (assuming the home is jointly owned) is that it will trigger a financial reassessment for his care costs.

Keep_pedalling said:

I would imagine that the proceeds from the sale are going to boost her savings to the level that she will no longer qualify for PC or HB. The other impact on the house sale (assuming the home is jointly owned) is that it will trigger a financial reassessment for his care costs.

Yes the financial assessment for dad will be done again we pay 1000 a month now and he will get 50% of the sale approx £20k as the house isn’t worth much 

we’ve done a calculators with turntous and entitled to and even with £40k savings she’s still get pension credit the gurenteed elements but it goes down £200 a month due to the extra savings from the house sale  and housing benefits still show at £800 available .. the house for context will sell for no more than £50k and the rental is around £760’for a sheltered housing 

43722

Not advice here, just a good tale.
Last year, Heritage Weekend, i visited superb accomodation for people in need, and the place was a fantastic success.
The guide was telling us of an old lady, who  could not afford to pay for repairs to her own house. She was asset rich, cash poor. She appealed to the Charity which ran the accommodation to take her in, which they did, they sorted a lovely flat for her. Two months later she sold her house, and came into a decent fortune. Good Luck to her.

Alice_Holt

I think it may be possible to claim HB whilst selling the house, on the basis of an automatic entitlement to PC. 

There is a capital disregard when selling a property that applies to PC - see:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-technical-guidance/a-detailed-guide-to-pension-credit-for-advisers-and-others#capital-disregards

However she would need to demonstrate a liability to pay rent in order to claim HB, so securing a sheltered housing rental is likely to be the first step.

Be aware that HB for private rentals is based on the LHA 
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs17_housing_benefit_fcs.pdf