Is the State Pension enough to live on if you are single !!

dealyboy

@zagfles said:

eastcorkram said:

zagfles said:

GibbsRule_No3. said:

My SP just about covers my HA rent, as I live in a London Borough, it does not cover my Council Tax, so I'd say no. I do have other pensions and am still working, nearly 70, my choice, for two days a week. Went to a Pension talk last week and they reckon to survive you need £14,000, fairly comfortable was £30,000 and very comfortable was over £40,000 this was based on one person, they did say you did not need to double those numbers for two people. At present with working pay I am just a bit over fairly comfortable and when I stop I won't be as low as surviving, thanks to the other pensions already in payment.

But if the state pension was your only income you'd get HB to pay the rent. 

Is this correct? I've often wondered.
Let's take the example at the start of this thread, but change it to someone who is renting and paying, let's say £900 per month. 

They have no problems with this while working. They then retire, and only income is SP. What happens next? 

You have an "allowance" called the "applicable amount", which is the amount you can earn before they start to taper HB/LHA. It's pretty much the level of the new state pension for single pensioners, depending when you reached SPA it's either £218 or £235 pw. So if income is at or below that level you'd get HB in full, assuming you don't live in a property that's excessive in size or rent for a single person. 

Shelter Legal England - Housing benefit calculation rates 2024 to 2025 - Shelter England 

... don't forget capital (savings) is assumed to provide an income (under a formula) ... so it is quite possible to only receive SP but only qualify for small means tested benefits and allowances, or indeed none at all, like me.

As a single OAP I'm with @pseudodox, I can manage quite comfortably using the OP's criteria, indeed I have an added expense of ground rent / pitch fee for my park home of about £2K a year, which also comes out of the state pension.

pseudodox

The original question specified a single person with no mortgage which I took to mean a homeowner.  Everyone in that position has a valuable asset to fall back on.  Anyone like me who put money into moving up the property ladder rather than pay into a personal pension (I could not do both on what I earned) HAS secured private means.  I was fortunate to buy 2 successive houses on the cheap, improve them (mainly DIY work) & in both cases benefitted from being in areas where properties were desirable & so was able to be mortgage free in my 40s.  Always bought the worst house in a good road.

I do more than survive on SP.  With careful budgeting & no requirement for friperaries that eat money I am quite content.  If I had £30,000 per annum I would be more than fairly comfortable & would not know what to spend it on!  I have all the things money cannot buy - good health, good friends, a view to die for from my edge of the countryside house.

I had a friend same age as me who was in a high status career, top notch salary, but lived in a modest "starter type" home on an urban estate amongst other identical properties, small garden, no view.  Putting lots of money into pension schemes & planning to move to a cottage in the country & travel extensively in retirement.  Died aged 60 - never saw a day of that planned for retirement.  No family to benefit from the years of putting money aside for those sunshiney days.

My modest emergencies savings pot is currently to big to qualify me for pension credit & all the time I am not dipping into it it is growing thanks to favourable interest rates, which is helping to keep up with increases in cost of unforeseen expenditure.

Pollycat

pseudodox said:

I do more than survive on SP.  With careful budgeting & no requirement for friperaries that eat money I am quite content.  If I had £30,000 per annum I would be more than fairly comfortable & would not know what to spend it on!  I have all the things money cannot buy - good health, good friends, a view to die for from my edge of the countryside house.

I'm quite interested in what your food budget is and what sort of things you eat on that budget.

eskbanker

pseudodox said:

With careful budgeting & no requirement for friperaries that eat money I am quite content.

Is it a long way to Friperary?

Mustbeananswer??

Am I right in thinking that Housing Benefit helps to pay for some peoples rent/mortgage ...in London this must be frightening....and some people are getting that on top of their State Pension??
Some people are getting there State Pension Propped up with Pension Credit (to cover insufficient contributions).
WHY DO POSSIBILITIES TO CLAIM ANYTHING SEEM TO PASS ME BY??
I have never claimed anything in my life!!

Tomorrow I have a PSA test ....I sure as hell hope I haven't got cancer as there is little or no support for Cancer Sufferers in the way of benefits.



 

eskbanker

Mustbeananswer?? said:

Am I right in thinking that Housing Benefit helps to pay for some peoples rent/mortgage ...in London this must be frightening....and some people are getting that on top of their State Pension??
Some people are getting there State Pension Propped up with Pension Credit (to cover insufficient contributions).
WHY DO POSSIBILITIES TO CLAIM ANYTHING SEEM TO PASS ME BY??
I have never claimed anything in my life!!

Tomorrow I have a PSA test ....I sure as hell hope I haven't got cancer as there is little or no support for Cancer Sufferers in the way of benefits.

Check what you're entitled to, at sites such as https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/

Mustbeananswer??

eskbanker said:

Mustbeananswer?? said:

Am I right in thinking that Housing Benefit helps to pay for some peoples rent/mortgage ...in London this must be frightening....and some people are getting that on top of their State Pension??
Some people are getting there State Pension Propped up with Pension Credit (to cover insufficient contributions).
WHY DO POSSIBILITIES TO CLAIM ANYTHING SEEM TO PASS ME BY??
I have never claimed anything in my life!!

Tomorrow I have a PSA test ....I sure as hell hope I haven't got cancer as there is little or no support for Cancer Sufferers in the way of benefits.

Check what you're entitled to, at sites such as https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/

Im not doubting its a  great calculator....however my entitlement was a big fat zero as usual 

Pollycat

Mustbeananswer?? said:

Am I right in thinking that Housing Benefit helps to pay for some peoples rent/mortgage ...in London this must be frightening....and some people are getting that on top of their State Pension??
Some people are getting there State Pension Propped up with Pension Credit (to cover insufficient contributions).
WHY DO POSSIBILITIES TO CLAIM ANYTHING SEEM TO PASS ME BY??
I have never claimed anything in my life!!

Tomorrow I have a PSA test ....I sure as hell hope I haven't got cancer as there is little or no support for Cancer Sufferers in the way of benefits.



 

You don't get housing benefit if you have a mortgage.

Mustbeananswer??

Pollycat said:

Mustbeananswer?? said:

Am I right in thinking that Housing Benefit helps to pay for some peoples rent/mortgage ...in London this must be frightening....and some people are getting that on top of their State Pension??
Some people are getting there State Pension Propped up with Pension Credit (to cover insufficient contributions).
WHY DO POSSIBILITIES TO CLAIM ANYTHING SEEM TO PASS ME BY??
I have never claimed anything in my life!!

Tomorrow I have a PSA test ....I sure as hell hope I haven't got cancer as there is little or no support for Cancer Sufferers in the way of benefits.



 

You don't get housing benefit if you have a mortgage.

Homeowner Pollycat....no Mortgage.Tell you what if I sell it and rent somewhere would I get rent paid by Housing Benefit...and then live off the Capital ??  

eskbanker

Mustbeananswer?? said:

Homeowner Pollycat....no Mortgage.Tell you what if I sell it and rent somewhere would I get rent paid by Housing Benefit...and then live off the Capital ??  

That's presumably a rhetorical question, but no, HB is means-tested, so if you have the capital from selling a property then you wouldn't be eligible.

However, it's intended to cover rent costs for low earners, so if you have no rent or mortgage costs then this is all academic anyway, i.e. the costs of your housing are considered to be taken care of.  That's not to say that you're ineligible for other benefits though, but if the above calculator didn't identify any then that's likely to be the end of it....