Buying a house

Emmia

Firo09 said:

Brie said:

why would you be asked to leave? 

presumably you would be buying a house for yourselves so would leave at that point anyways.  or are you saying you might buy a house to rent out?

I just assumed that if me or my partner own a property we would not be entitled to social housing.
We wont be moving there straight away and wont be renting it out fully my father would be living there and a lodger.

How is your father going to pay the rent? Benefits? Private pension income?  Are you aware of the legal responsibilities associated with being a landlord - which you'll be for both your father and the person living with him.

Personally I think if you can afford to buy somewhere to live, you should be living in it. Not contriving a situation where you have two properties and are preventing someone who needs social housing from getting it.

Your father can live with you too in your own property if you're feeling the need to house him.

bobster2

@Firo take a look at this...

Landlord Living in Social Housing Fined for Owning an Investment Property

https://www.landlordvision.co.uk/blog/landlord-fined-owning-investment-property/

RipleyG

Does it affect your ability to stay in your current social housing property? Perhaps. It depends partly on what is written in your tenancy agreement, but also on social housing regulations. There is a requirement, hidden deep in the regulations, that requires both Councils and Housing Associations to confirm that all their tenants still meet eligibility requirements to live in social housing. In reality, it's not really happened, but reporting requirements have ramped up recently, and the regulator has introduced a new way of inspecting in the last year - I expect it won't be long before eligibility checks for existing tenants increase. This applies to all tenants in a property, not just the lead tenant - so would apply to your wife as well as you. 

There are potential issues for your wife's visa and/or your UC eligibility - either now or in the future. You mentioned your wife is on a spousal visa - so that means she is NOT currently included in your UC claim as she isn't allowed to claim public funds. However, it also means she has to continue to meet the cash savings or income requirements of the visa. If she buys the property but isn't charging rent, will she still meet those requirements? For visa purposes, her capital has to be in cash - the property won't count. However, if she subsequently becomes a UK resident her property WILL count as capital, AND will therefore be taken into account for UC as she will become part of your UC claim. It will also be considered to produce income - whether or not she charges rent, see link below. 

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/benefits/universal_credit/universal_credit_capital_rules#calculating-tariff-income-from-capital

Without correct professional advice, buying the house could risk your wife's visa status, your UC claim, or your eligibility to live in social housing. It's a very, very complicated set of circumstances and you definitely SHOULDN'T take advice from people on a website forum that don't know your full circumstances - including me*! 

(*My comments are based on my knowledge as a current Board Member with a Housing Association, and previous CEO of a Charity which, among other things, provided financial and basic visa advice. But, I don't claim to be infallible!). 

poppy12345

RipleyG said:

Does it affect your ability to stay in your current social housing property? Perhaps. It depends partly on what is written in your tenancy agreement, but also on social housing regulations. There is a requirement, hidden deep in the regulations, that requires both Councils and Housing Associations to confirm that all their tenants still meet eligibility requirements to live in social housing. In reality, it's not really happened, but reporting requirements have ramped up recently, and the regulator has introduced a new way of inspecting in the last year - I expect it won't be long before eligibility checks for existing tenants increase. This applies to all tenants in a property, not just the lead tenant - so would apply to your wife as well as you. 

There are potential issues for your wife's visa and/or your UC eligibility - either now or in the future. You mentioned your wife is on a spousal visa - so that means she is NOT currently included in your UC claim as she isn't allowed to claim public funds. However, it also means she has to continue to meet the cash savings or income requirements of the visa. If she buys the property but isn't charging rent, will she still meet those requirements? For visa purposes, her capital has to be in cash - the property won't count. However, if she subsequently becomes a UK resident her property WILL count as capital, AND will therefore be taken into account for UC as she will become part of your UC claim. It will also be considered to produce income - whether or not she charges rent, see link below. 

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/benefits/universal_credit/universal_credit_capital_rules#calculating-tariff-income-from-capital

Without correct professional advice, buying the house could risk your wife's visa status, your UC claim, or your eligibility to live in social housing. It's a very, very complicated set of circumstances and you definitely SHOULDN'T take advice from people on a website forum that don't know your full circumstances - including me*! 

(*My comments are based on my knowledge as a current Board Member with a Housing Association, and previous CEO of a Charity which, among other things, provided financial and basic visa advice. But, I don't claim to be infallible!). 

Even when someone has NRPF and can’t claim means tested benefits such as UC. This doesn’t mean they are not totally excluded from the UC entitlement in this case. The wife’s income and capital still affect the amount of UC they are entitled to.