Hi,

I need a 4 bed property suitable for DS's needs. The Grants officer has been out and we're looking at whether it's worth adapting the house I live in or moving to rented if a suitable house can be found. Currently I share ownership of the house with my ex, and the mortgage company. At the moment I need £100 a month to cover the interest payments (the equivelent of rent) which I get from IS. If I move to rented and sell this I'll have the equity to live off for a short while, but it won't last that long. I'm concerned that I'm then going to need a lot more money in the form of housing benefit to be able to survive. Is there anyway to invest the money I get from the house so that I get some money back over the long term, and then only need a smaller amount of help in the form of housing benefit? Is it possible to do this or will I have to spend all the equity before getting any help?

It just doesn't sit right that I'll be moving into a situation where I need more long term help financially and will cost tax payers more. I was hoping to get into a situation where I could meet my own living costs (rent/mortgage equivelent being only £100 a month), with a rented property I can't see me ever being able to earn enough to pay the rent with DS to look after.

I'm not bothered about keeping this house or moving, just getting into a situation where all the children are safe. But I was hoping to be independent financially off benefits. I'm not sure how housing benefit works with regards to any capital you have or investments in businesses as a source of income? Can you get housing benefit help if you have financial investments helping provide a source of income over the long term?

hi bec's have u checked out the benefit calculator? you can put in any savings and it will tell you what you can still get. You cannot see this link because you are not a member or are not logged in. Please register to forum by clicking here to see links and more useful information,we have introduced this feature to stop abuse of our system.
corinne

In regards to savings if you have savings of over £16,000 you usually cannot get housing benefit unless you over 60 and have pension credit.
What sort of equity are you talking about here as there maybe other options to look at?

(02-08-2010 10:12 AM)Daniel Wrote: You cannot see this link because you are not a member or are not logged in. Please register to forum by clicking here to see links and more useful information,we have introduced this feature to stop abuse of our system.In regards to savings if you have savings of over £16,000 you usually cannot get housing benefit unless you over 60 and have pension credit.
What sort of equity are you talking about here as there maybe other options to look at?

I think if the house would sell at what i expect I should get about £39k equity from it. I'd like to find a way to utilise it so that I don't need benefits to live, or at least reduce my dependence. If i'm lucky it might last 3 1/2 years funding rent etc, but then I'd end up wholly dependent on benefits to support us. Any idea's? I've got a least another 15 years supporting DS, probably longer realistically, although once the other two have left home we could move to a smaller/cheaper house.