Benefits assistance with paying rent on a temporary let as a homeowner wishing to sell.
- In terms of getting assistance to pay her rent Mrs D would be eligible to claim housing benefit/local housing allowance on the temporary let if she were able to show that she was taking reasonable steps to dispose of her own home. This basically means having her own house on the market and advertising with an estate agent and making contact with potential purchasers as and when. She was advised to include an advert or schedule for her own house with her application for housing benefit on the temporary accommodation.
- Being a homeowner should not affect her eligibility for Housing Benefit. Her capital in terms of her property would be disregarded for six months in terms of calculating her eligibility for Housing Benefit, again if she’s taking reasonable steps to dispose of her own house.
- If Mrs D needs to return to hospital from the rented accommodation, her Housing Benefit can still be paid for temporary absences of 13 weeks anyway and for up to 52 weeks for patients in hospital as long as she intends to return to the rented accommodation and doesn’t sub-let it (this is even if she has never actually stayed there, i.e. has moved her belongings in but has had to go into hospital before getting to stay overnight in the tenancy) In these circumstances Mrs D’s son would be advised to let revenues and benefits know of all Mrs D’s movements so that her claim for Housing Benefit is not interfered with and that there is no issue of Housing Benefit overpayment for her to deal with.
- Once Mrs D sells her own house the capital will be disregarded for a further six months in terms of her eligibility for benefit. This disregard can ‘run-on’ from the one above and for longer than this if deemed reasonable, so she’ll continue to get Income Support at the same rate and Housing Benefit if necessary. Once she turns 60 and starts getting Pension Credit her capital is ignored anyway for Housing Benefit purposes.
- Mrs D won’t however continue to receive Income Support Mortgage Interest Payments (ISMI) to repay her current mortgage once she’s moved into rented accommodation, she’d only still get this assistance if she could show that she had a real intention to return to her own house, clearly this is incompatible with showing that she is taking reasonable steps to dispose of her house.
- Mrs D should still be eligible for ISMI assistance with repaying a mortgage of up to £100,000 used to buy a new house more suited to her needs as a disabled person and can use the DLIS 170 letter she already has in her mortgage application. The ISMI assistance on a new owner-occupied home should begin once she has moved in and the MI 12 form has been processed, or up to 4 weeks before she moves in if she is waiting for any adaptations to be completed to make the house suitable for her needs.
A move into rented accommodation is therefore a real possibility for Mrs D if her son feels he can meet her monthly mortgage repayments himself without the ISMI assistance she is currently getting.
