UC advice for daughter & Granddaughter

skeat12

Hi,
My daughter and her partner separated last year and sold their shared ownership house. My daughter and granddaughter (3yo) both moved in with us with a view to her hopefully getting somewhere to live later.
In selling the house they both made around £20k each, which my daughter intends(ed) to use as a deposit on hopefully another shared ownership house. She works for approx 30 hours a week on minimum wage and we look after the granddaughter during most of this time.

When her partner initially moved out of their house, my daughter claimed UC which helped her a lot. However, once the sale went through and she got the money, it took her above the UC threshold so she could no longer claim.
She's currently trying to find out if she can get UC if she put the £20k as a deposit on a house. She's been to Citizens Advice who were no help, she's now having to submit financial evidence to the job centre for UC who seem to be a shambles and getting no answers.

It's a catch 22 problem, she's got a little bit of money so no UC. To get a house she needs a deposit, which would drop her below the UC limit, but she can't do that because the shared ownership companies don't factor in UC as part of her income because she doesn't get it, so won't offer her a home.

How do single parents get somewhere to live? I know she can look at rental and maybe a council house, but she'd like her own home which is understandable. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to help financially, so what are her options?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Alice_Holt

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/654111fb1f1a60000d360b54/admh2.pdf

H2119  &

H2045

May be relevant

peteuk

She can use the £20K for a deposit and it wont be looked at unfavourably in terms of deprivation of capital, however I would suggest that as it will likely be a new claim then she would need to wait until the deposit is paid.

She should have been given 6 months disregard if she had intended to purchase another house.   Not sure when her claim was closed and if it can be reopened,  

elsien

Even if it is ok to put a deposit down, has she looked at whether she will actually get a mortgage on her wages? 

skeat12

elsien said:

Even if it is ok to put a deposit down, has she looked at whether she will actually get a mortgage on her wages? 

She has looked into it and can do it on shared ownership.

skeat12

peteuk said:

She can use the £20K for a deposit and it wont be looked at unfavourably in terms of deprivation of capital, however I would suggest that as it will likely be a new claim then she would need to wait until the deposit is paid.

She should have been given 6 months disregard if she had intended to purchase another house.   Not sure when her claim was closed and if it can be reopened,  

It's over 6 months since her original claim was closed, so would be a new claim. I guess the issue is if she gets a house and then she can't claim, the UC would be needed to make the sums work.