Owning a home, private renting property & claiming housing benefit

edisoneb

Hi all. 

My first post and not really sure if it’s the right place. It’s a long one.
My mum had a stroke several years ago, left her with severe mental impairment, partially sighted and poor mobility. She remained living in her home and my brother lived with her to help. 10 years later, aging and more health problems she was no longer able to manage the stairs or to get in and out of the bath. A private rent bungalow came up round the corner with a local letting agent and she got it, the plan was that the house was put into my brother’s name and he would remain there. 

My mum has been claiming housing benefit while private renting, it’s came to light today the property has never been changed ownership. Is this going to cause problems for my Mum and the housing benefit she has claimed? My brother is away out the country and the moment, I haven’t spoken to my Mum about it yet as she doesn’t really understand anything regarding money benefits etc… my brother supposedly supports with everything however I’m quite worried about it all. 

pmlindyloo

edisoneb said:

Hi all. 

My first post and not really sure if it’s the right place. It’s a long one.
My mum had a stroke several years ago, left her with severe mental impairment, partially sighted and poor mobility. She remained living in her home and my brother lived with her to help. 10 years later, aging and more health problems she was no longer able to manage the stairs or to get in and out of the bath. A private rent bungalow came up round the corner with a local letting agent and she got it, the plan was that the house was put into my brother’s name and he would remain there. 

My mum has been claiming housing benefit while private renting, it’s came to light today the property has never been changed ownership. Is this going to cause problems for my Mum and the housing benefit she has claimed? My brother is away out the country and the moment, I haven’t spoken to my Mum about it yet as she doesn’t really understand anything regarding money benefits etc… my brother supposedly supports with everything however I’m quite worried about it all. 

What do you mean by ''the property has never changed ownership''?

Who is living in the bungalow?

Whose name (s) is/are on the tenancy agreement?

You will need to answer these questions before anyone can help you.

edisoneb

The house my Mum has owned for about 18 years, my brother remained in the property and was to take ownership of it as a kind of inheritance. The forms were completed but it looks like my brother never did anything with them. 

She is named on the tenancy of her private rented bungalow, she pays rent but also claims housing benefit to help towards the cost of rent. I’m worried she is going to get in some sort of trouble for doing this, even though she has no idea what she has done. 

elsien

How did she manage to sign a valid tenancy if she lacks capacity and doesn’t know what she’s doing with regards to finances and housing? 

Is there a power of attorney or financial deputyship place? 

Your mum giving her house away and claiming benefits is likely to be considered as deprivation of assets - There is no such thing as an inheritance before someone dies - and she may be required to pay the money back if investigated. Who filled in the forms? There will have been questions around her finances savings and assets. It seems that if these were answered incorrectly.  Does she have an appointee? Because if so they would be the ones responsible for the error and any subsequent fraud investigation. 

If she genuinely doesn’t know what she’s doing, this could also be a safeguarding If people are putting forms in here and asking it to sign when she hasn’t got a clue what she is signing, or suggesting taking a house off her without her full understanding. 

Giving the house away in the knowledge that she is in poor health is also a very bad idea should she need care in the future because that could also be deprivation of assets.

if this is down to your brother, there are some serious questions to be asked as to whether he is acting in your mother’s best interests. Because on the face of it, he isn’t.

LinLui

I think she may be in some serious trouble. Did she take any proper advice before doing any of this? If you own a property, you cannot move somewhere else and claim housing benefit at the same time. And giving away a house that she owns in order to claim housing benefit is deprivation of capital. It is my underatnding that she would have had to sell the house and live off that before claiming benefits. 

edisoneb

She doesn’t lack capacity and she has never had a capacity test, she was deemed as having a sever mental impairment when she had the stroke and that is all.
She is supported by family (apparently) and singing the house into my brothers name was done so with the understanding of eventually he will give money to siblings rather than the house being left to the four of us. 

Aside from the issue around my brother and what he has done I really just need to know if there is going to be the option for the housing benefit to be paid back or is she likely to be done for benefit fraud? What I am hoping is can happen is I can repay the housing benefit she has claimed, and then she will put the property she owns on the market and sell it properly. 

edisoneb

In regards to the form I think she completed it herself, however I have been on the local council website and viewed the form and don’t believe she will have completed it with any intentional lies. It asks about assets and she will have said no as she believed the house was no longer owned by her, also savings which she doesn’t have any I would say she has a maximum of £1500 in the bank at anytime as she lives off pension and pension credit only. 

poppy12345

She should have declared owning a house when she claimed UC and then likely wouldn't have been entitled to it. She needs to report the changes to her local Authority and yes, any overpayment will need to be repaid back. 

elsien

edisoneb said:

She doesn’t lack capacity and she has never had a capacity test, she was deemed as having a sever mental impairment when she had the stroke and that is all.
She is supported by family (apparently) and singing the house into my brothers name was done so with the understanding of eventually he will give money to siblings rather than the house being left to the four of us. 

Aside from the issue around my brother and what he has done I really just need to know if there is going to be the option for the housing benefit to be paid back or is she likely to be done for benefit fraud? What I am hoping is can happen is I can repay the housing benefit she has claimed, and then she will put the property she owns on the market and sell it properly. 

and also
"I haven’t spoken to my Mum about it yet as she doesn’t really understand anything regarding money benefits etc"

So which one is it? 

As a genuine error, there should be the option to pay the housing benefit back because a prosecution isn't really going to be in anyone's interests, but that would be the decision that would be made at the time if it came to it. Coming clean rather than waiting and hoping no-one notices generally has better outcomes. 
It may very well also affect the basis on which she is claiming pension credit, so that is another area that probably needs to be explored in more detail. That will depend on your brother's circumstances as well.

If your customer or their partner own a property but do not live in it

[Legislation 23]

The value of the property can be ignored if it is occupied by:

• their or their partner’s close relative, such as a child or partner’s sister, if that person has reached the Pension Credit qualifying age or is sick or disabled; or
• a partner or former partner from whom they are not estranged or divorced (for example, if your customer is in a care home and their husband, wife or civil partner is living in the property).

A detailed guide to Pension Credit for advisers and others (April 2024) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

LinLui

I would strongly suggest that she gets (or you get on her behalf) some really good advice. Pension credit is for people who have no assets - your own home is only discounted if you live in it. Had she sold the property (as she should have) she would have had savings enough to not claim pension credit. So she may owe a lot more than just the housing benefit. It may not have been intentional, but that won't change anything other than the likelihood that she won't be charged with fraud. You can't give away your assets and then claim benefits - children aren't entitled to an inheritance. That house is her asset to either live in or to live off.

Rubyroobs

You can't just give property away worth potentially hundreds of thousands and then claim means tested benefits. What would happen if everyone did this? Hopefully they will give her the option to pay back all the housing benefit and pension credit. I can't believe these benefit departments don't do proper checks.