Can I claim Housing Benefit once my house is sold?

shazier2000

Hi, im new here so i will first introduce myself. My name is sharon im devorsed and i need some advise please. I have been on income support and housing benifit for the last 3 yrs,aqt the moment I lodge with a friend in a council house. I also recieve the high rate mobiliy and care. my ex partner and i have sold my house to our daughter which, will be completed on tues. she couldnt get a 100% morgage so we put the price at 125.00 and have let her keep 25.000 as a deposit so she could get the morgage. we will recieve 100.000 and have to pay the morgage lender 35.000 it is then split in 2 leaving me with 35.000.I intend to pay of all my remaining debts and am left with approx 17.000 . will I lose all my benifits and have to live on the remaining or can i put it into saving untill I retire. any help or advise what to do with the remaining please. Or will I have to live on it until it runs out before claiming again.
many thanks

silvercar

shazier, start your own thread, may be better on the benefits board.

she couldnt get a 100% morgage so we put the price at 125.00 and have let her keep 25.000 as a deposit so she could get the morgage.

Hope the gifted deposit was declared to the lender and solicitor or she willhave committed fraud!

Voyager2002

shazier2000 wrote: »

Hi, im new here so i will first introduce myself. My name is sharon im devorsed and i need some advise please. I have been on income support and housing benifit for the last 3 yrs,aqt the moment I lodge with a friend in a council house. I also recieve the high rate mobiliy and care. my ex partner and i have sold my house to our daughter which, will be completed on tues. she couldnt get a 100% morgage so we put the price at 125.00 and have let her keep 25.000 as a deposit so she could get the morgage. we will recieve 100.000 and have to pay the morgage lender 35.000 it is then split in 2 leaving me with 35.000.I intend to pay of all my remaining debts and am left with approx 17.000 . will I lose all my benifits and have to live on the remaining or can i put it into saving untill I retire. any help or advise what to do with the remaining please. Or will I have to live on it until it runs out before claiming again.
many thanks

Sharon, please click the button to start a new thread and post your question as a new topic so that people who might be able to help can see it.

The rules for the various benefits differ, but in general if you have savings of more than 15,000 you are expected to live on them rather than on the taxpayer. However, you MAY be able to reduce your share below this figure by paying off debt, and once your savings dip below that 15,000 figure you should receive at least some benefit.

Others on this board know the rules far better than I do.

blue_monkey_2

OP, on another slant here, if you have any sort of debt or have missed any payments you will find it very hard to rent a house unless you have a large amount of money to put on the table or can find a landlord that will be happy to take you. They also told us that we need to be bringing home 3 times the rent - and this was when I called about a viewing.

You will also note on many of the ads now for letting agents 'No Housing Benefit' because the landlord cannot get cover for his tenant doing a 'midnight flit' if you are in receipt of benefits. If you have a secure home then you really need to be sure that you can get somewhere to rent first before you leave as you might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

You can spend the money but they may ask for receipts to show where the money has gone - you can understand why though else it would be open to all sorts of fraud - and this is why they ask for your NI number.

Sorry, hope this helps though.

blue_monkey_2

Shazier, you will not lose your DLA as it is not means tested but will lose any other means tested benefit until you have £6000 or less left.

Oh and also, I do not think that your friend is allowed to sub-let a room to you in her council house, do they know you are there? I think this is against the rules so I would be very careful. Does she charge you rent for this?

neas

how the hell did you get an interest only mortgage for 700 a month... man the bankers were really lapse. I cant see someone working 16 hours a week even earning that.

Voyager2002

blue_monkey wrote: »

OP, on another slant here, if you have any sort of debt or have missed any payments you will find it very hard to rent a house unless you have a large amount of money to put on the table or can find a landlord that will be happy to take you. They also told us that we need to be bringing home 3 times the rent - and this was when I called about a viewing.

You will also note on many of the ads now for letting agents 'No Housing Benefit' because the landlord cannot get cover for his tenant doing a 'midnight flit' if you are in receipt of benefits. If you have a secure home then you really need to be sure that you can get somewhere to rent first before you leave as you might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

You can spend the money but they may ask for receipts to show where the money has gone - you can understand why though else it would be open to all sorts of fraud - and this is why they ask for your NI number.

Sorry, hope this helps though.

I agree with every word.

I would also add that at the moment the housing market is depressed, so the price the OP would receive for her house is rather low. And many people who wish to buy houses are unable to get mortgages and so are renting, meaning that she would be competing with these people for a rented home.

terryw

This £25000 gift to your daughter is a trifle awkward. This might be considered deprivation of capital. Perhaps one of the experts could give an opinion here.

terryw

dmg24

terryw wrote: »

This £25000 gift to your daughter is a trifle awkward. This might be considered deprivation of capital. Perhaps one of the experts could give an opinion here.

terryw

This is my feeling also. The decision maker will need to know the sale price of the property, as well as the profits, and are likely to question such a large 'gifted deposit'.

If it was just a 5% gifted deposit, and the sale was not to your daughter, I don't think there would be a problem, as it is common practice to offer this incentive to buyers. But I would be amazed if they did not penalise you for your arrangement with your daughter.

shazier2000

blue_monkey wrote: »

Shazier, you will not lose your DLA as it is not means tested but will lose any other means tested benefit until you have £6000 or less left.

Oh and also, I do not think that your friend is allowed to sub-let a room to you in her council house, do they know you are there? I think this is against the rules so I would be very careful. Does she charge you rent for this?

thank you for advise, yes the council have given written consent for me to lodge there, I had to get this before i could claim h/b. this is all above board, im not out to fiddle anyone.