29,500 Inheritance. How long do I have to buy a property after inheriting when receiving UC

Wantsagoodlife

Hello, I'm hoping someone can help answer this. Has anyone been in receipt of UC and inherited a similar amount of money that they wanted to buy a house with?

After doing google searches it seems that, when in receipt of UC and inheriting money; that is deemed acceptable to use it to buy a property to live in. As you can imagine this amount of money is not going to get me and my two kids much but I am doing what I can. (I can't get a mortgage atm as I'm in between jobs.)

I currently privately rent and the rent just keeps going up and up and I really want to buy so that I can feel more secure.

I want to know two things; Once I get the money and tell them I am doing my best to buy a property; how long do they give you to do that? AND, at that point; do they stop your UC or take any of it from you while you are looking for something to buy?

I really do not want to lose this opportunity to make my life more financially secure for my children and I.

Thanks so much in advance for anyone with any information.

sammyjammy

Your UC will stop when you declare the money in your possession if its not spent by the end of your assessment period, you can reclaim when the house has been purchased.

Even in the far flung places where you can buy a house for this amount its likely to need alot of work doing to it so factor that into your decision making, you could look into shared ownership but do your homework before making a decision.

peteuk

I would add that buying a house isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and £30K isn’t going to be a massive deposit, so your payment is likely to be high.  Equally you will not get any housing element on your UC. 

Youve also need to take into account solicitor fees, and the other hidden costs of buying a house. (Potiential increase in insurance, change in Council tax etc etc.) 

TELLIT01

Although the cost of renting is going up and up, owning a home isn't cheap either and your inheritance isn't going to go far towards the purchase price once solicitor fees etc are taken into account.  Although the idea of owning your own property isn't a bad one, you need to consider whether you could afford the cost of maintaining a property.

NedS

As others have stated, as you have savings over £16,000 you must declare this and your UC will end.

Whilst you potentially have a nice deposit for a house, you are also going to need to spend parts of it to live and pay rent now that your UC will end. Buying a house is maybe a 3-6month process, and that's if you can find somewhere immediately and have an offer accepted, so you should factor in at least 6 months living costs out of that.

I understand you'd like to use the money to put towards a house and a better life for your children and yourself, but after subtracting 6 months living costs, and with little chance of getting a mortgage as you are not working, I think more realistically you will more likely end up living off your inheritance until your level of savings fall below £16,000 and you can reclaim UC again.

Do you have any debts you can clear with your inheritance? This should be the very first thing you should do.

born_again

Before you start looking for houses, have you looked at what size mortgage you could get? 
As that is going to be your limit. 
Add in if you get help with rent, that will go.

Wantsagoodlife

Thanks everyone. I've got the buying thing in order and I know all about legal costs etc. All I needed answering was the two questions I asked.

Wantsagoodlife

I'm not getting a mortgage and I'm aware I won't get help with rent once I buy a property. but then I won't need help with rent if I'm not paying any.

Even if I was getting a mortgage 30k is quite a large deposit where.

I'm also not looking to stay on UC for a long time, it's just where I am temporarily because of some difficult circumstances.

Thanks again.

HillStreetBlues

Wantsagoodlife said:

I want to know two things; Once I get the money and tell them I am doing my best to buy a property; how long do they give you to do that?  No time

AND, at that point; do they stop your UC  YES 

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born_again

Wantsagoodlife said:

I'm not getting a mortgage and I'm aware I won't get help with rent once I buy a property. but then I won't need help with rent if I'm not paying any.

Even if I was getting a mortgage 30k is quite a large deposit where.

I'm also not looking to stay on UC for a long time, it's just where I am temporarily because of some difficult circumstances.

Thanks again.

Can I ask, what area are you in (roughly) where you can buy a house for £29K?

Would be interested 👍

peteuk

Wantsagoodlife said:

I'm not getting a mortgage and I'm aware I won't get help with rent once I buy a property. but then I won't need help with rent if I'm not paying any.

Even if I was getting a mortgage 30k is quite a large deposit where.

I'm also not looking to stay on UC for a long time, it's just where I am temporarily because of some difficult circumstances.

Thanks again.

SO when you say your buying a house, its part ownership I assume as no house these days is £30K.   My two bedroom house was £290K and so £30K would be just over 10%.  Not sure many lenders do 90% loans at the moment.   (Not I said isn’t a massive deposit) 

Full info at the start of a thread leads to better advice, equally as this is a public forum the advice can also be for others in similar situations. 

As others have said as soon as you recieve the £30K, come the end of the assessment period if you have over £16K your no longer elegidable for UC.