Can I claim Housing Benefit once my house is sold?

robwend

rdpro wrote: »

further down the page that Terry posted a link to:

The burden of proving that a claimant no longer has a resource rests with the claimant, because it is for them to establish title to benefit. Evidence of the disposal of capital would include

• a trust deed
• a deed of gift

So it counts as legitimate disposal, no?

i called my local council about this as have the same problem, they said a deed of trust for my children is fine, it HAS to be in there name no acsess to it untill they come of age, be it 18/21

shazier2000

silvercar wrote: »

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



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

HI, yes the solicitors are fully aware that the 25.000 was given as a gift so she could afford to buy the property.

barnaby-bear

wurzel1972 wrote: »

Hi, I am really hoping someone can help me with this one... I will give some background info first.
I am currently a single parent with 3 kids under 16, work 16 hours pw and claim WTC and CTC. I bought a house in 2006 on an interest only mortgage which is around £700 a month. I had about £15000 to put down as a deposit. With my low income I am struggling to pay this every month. I am thinking of selling my house and renting for the foreseeable future as I think I may be entitled to HB? Does anyone know if I have to use the deposit that initially went into the house to pay the rent before I can get HB? Thanks for any help in advance.

If you can claim HB (or now HLA) probably can get help with mortgage:
http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-4176.cfm

yummymummy1975

Have been following this thread with interest, as I'm also about to sell a house while on benefits.

So from what I've seen so far...........if money is put into trust for the kids and no-one can touch it till they are adults, then that's a legitimate way to dispose of some equity????

Also, re paying off debts........does this have to be official debts from organizations? Could someone, say, repay a member of their family for money loaned a few years ago? Like the deposit money for a house? What proof would be required that they did actually loan the money in the first place?

Also, re the query on getting HB for a mortgage.................. you can get assistance with mortgage payments via the Income Support dept, but as the OP isn't receiving that benefit then she wouldn't be entitled.

terryw

robwend wrote: »

i called my local council about this as have the same problem, they said a deed of trust for my children is fine, it HAS to be in there name no acsess to it untill they come of age, be it 18/21

The rules on deprivation of capital are in:

http://www.workandpensions.gov.uk/housingbenefit/manuals/hbgm/parts/ptbp_01c.asp#bp_1700

Please refer to these IN FULL rather than the very selective five or six lines quoted. Please also read post 20 from Real 1314.

I would be very very wary of acting on information given in a phone call to the council. This is a complex area and if you are determined to act upon this you really need this in writing.

terryw

christabell

Interest is paid by the DWP if
1. The mortgage was taken out before 1995, I think it is a 9 week wait
2. Only after 39 weeks if after 1995

Can you not change to a Repayment mortgage?

real1314

yummymummy1975 wrote: »

Have been following this thread with interest, as I'm also about to sell a house while on benefits.

So from what I've seen so far...........if money is put into trust for the kids and no-one can touch it till they are adults, then that's a legitimate way to dispose of some equity????

Also, re paying off debts........does this have to be official debts from organizations? Could someone, say, repay a member of their family for money loaned a few years ago? Like the deposit money for a house? What proof would be required that they did actually loan the money in the first place?

Also, re the query on getting HB for a mortgage.................. you can get assistance with mortgage payments via the Income Support dept, but as the OP isn't receiving that benefit then she wouldn't be entitled.

Trust = No-no.

Quote from the DWP page linked to above:

P1.714 The following are further examples of when a person may have deprived themselves of capital

• a lump sum payment has been made to someone else, for example as a gift, or to repay a debt, but see Reason for disposing of capital asset later in this chapter
• substantial expenditure has been incurred on a non-essential item, for example on an expensive holiday
• title deeds of a property, which is not the claimant’s home or will soon cease to be so because, for example, they will be moving elsewhere, have been transferred to someone else
• money has been put into a trust which cannot be revoked
• money has been converted into another form which would fall to be disregarded, for example personal possessions
• capital has been reduced by extravagant living, for example gambling, or used to provide a much higher standard of living than the claimant usually maintained

Point 4 seems to cover it. Just because someone did "get away" with any particular route doesn't mean it's actually a valid thing to do.
The one example of a trust being ok is if, for example, a grandparent bequeathed a sum to a child in the form of a trust. So the parent has no capital and claims IS/HB/Whetever, but the child has £100k in a trust that can't be touched until the child is 21. That sort of trust would be disregarded (I think.)

yummymummy1975

christabell wrote: »

Interest is paid by the DWP if
1. The mortgage was taken out before 1995, I think it is a 9 week wait
2. Only after 39 weeks if after 1995

Can you not change to a Repayment mortgage?

Surely you meant Interest Only mortgage??? Changing to Repayment increases monthly outgoings and reduces gov't help. If someone is eligible for mortgage interest help, then the best route is to be Interest Only as that way you maximise the help you get. But unless they've changed the rules recently which I don't know about, people claiming WTC can't apply for it anyway.

windswept

I'd like to know where this magical place is where the LA/HA don't check to see what you've done with the proceeds of a house sale!:rolleyes:
My sister has been denied HB for the last 18 months as she can't account for £10k - they demanded receipts for everything and told her she should not have spent £70 on curtains when she could have put blankets up at the windows.
She sold her ex-council house for £40k but had to pay over £25k to everyone she'd borrowed from in the 3 years it took her to find and divorce her **** of a husband, who upped and left after 25 years.
She will finally get full HB in July - over 3 years since moving in to her council flat - she gets DLA and that is all she has to live on until her ex- husband retires and she gets some pension.

robwend

terryw wrote: »

The rules on deprivation of capital are in:

http://www.workandpensions.gov.uk/housingbenefit/manuals/hbgm/parts/ptbp_01c.asp#bp_1700

Please refer to these IN FULL rather than the very selective five or six lines quoted. Please also read post 20 from Real 1314.

I would be very very wary of acting on information given in a phone call to the council. This is a complex area and if you are determined to act upon this you really need this in writing.

terryw

this deprivation of capital is like if you blow it in x number of weeks, if you get say 20k and blow it in 2 months then yes they will prob kick up a stink, if however its over a year they wont.im putting some as a gift for kids as its for there education and the rest living off, as they council said to me its not up to them what i spent MY money on . its up to ME