I’ve heard carers along with disabled people gain mortgages when they both are solely on benefits.
Has anyone been down this road? If so what banks accept it. Best to find a mortgage broker/financial adviser?
Suppose it depends on circumstances, the shared ownership scheme is an option.
I have no idea what the situation is like round shared ownership these days but we went this route yrs ago. Was our only option at the time to live closer to my mam and brother, both whom I was caring for. Problem was the mortgage costs altered very little but the rent half increased dramatically. Then we went to renew our will one day and was told by solicitor, and this info was double checked at the time, that we could not automatically leave our owned half to our 2 girls. Housing association kept control. This may be different now though.
We bit the bullet and bought the other half, but we had to buy it at the value it was at that time, not when we took on the house ( which was 9 yrs earlier). Like they say…" you never know what is round the corner"… 11 payments on the new mortgage and hubby was DX with early Alzheimers just 51 yrs old. Our health insurance paid the mortgage off. Yet I would return every penny to have my hubby as he was. He is 59 now, in end stages of the illness ( not end of life, though we have almost lost him twice since xmas) and in a nursing home. He is like a fish out of water among all the elderly.
Each step above we had advice from an Independent financial advisor ( recommended by several friends). His services were free but by law he had to inform us of where in the process he made his money from and exactly how much. He was a massive help sorting hubbys pension out too, as all the rules were changing about the same time. It took any extra stress off my shoulders.
CAB should be able to advise you of reputable advisors if you do want to investigate this issue further.
Good luck
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Shared ownership on a mortgage ?
Deadly … if one is receiving Housing Benefit !
As R pointed out , rents rise … HB is currently frozen via the Housing Allowance.
And … interest rates will … eventually … rise.
The perfect storm … if one is on a fixed and / or low income ???
Going cap in hand to the Government to help cover the mortgage interest ?
Think again … if approved , it will be a loan !
Interesting to hear of your experience of shared ownership Rosemary, thanks for explaining how it worked in your case. I’ve always wondered if the rental part was open to HB if circumstances allowed, or the rental part was fixed for the term of the deal. I’m presuming that when you first took up your SO mortgage you were not reliant upon benefits as the main source of your income?
I wrongly presumed SO would be one option as an alternative for the scenario asked by the OP, as its touted as affordable, as I just couldn’t see how with limits on savings for claimants ( for 10% + deposit required ) plus the potential fragility of payments on the benefit system would be robust enough for a lender for mortgage purposes with the high costs of housing nowadays without the support of a third party organisation.
OP:- I know organisations such as Advance housing offer disabled people support for owning housing or did in years gone by.
LA’s are meant to offer affordable housing, and most is advertised local to my area as shared ownership, but it sounds as if that is an impossible scenario if one is reliant upon our benefits system, as we all know the fragility of regular payments long term, that would be an extraordinarily stressful situation.
Its certainly a thread to watch.
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LA’s are meant to offer affordable housing, and most is advertised local to my area as shared ownership, but it sounds as if that is an impossible scenario if one is reliant upon our benefits system, as we all know the fragility of regular payments long term, that would be an extraordinarily stressful situation. >
Links to two threads posted earlier will provide more insight into the perils of ever going down this route.
Feelin’ lucky punk ?
Not just now but … in 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 years down the line ?
Benefits to be unfrozen … increases in line with inflation / rents … not forgetting Council Tax ???
Always advisable to test any assumptions via a spreadsheet … just like a business enterprise.
Increase the rent / interest rate in year 3 for example … still achievable ???
I’m presuming that when you first took up your SO mortgage you were not reliant upon benefits as the main source of your income?
We were never on benefits for the original mortgage or the ‘new’ one we had undertaken. The 1st one had too many conditions attached to it at that time, and we were fortunate enough that hubbys workplace continued paying his wage when his tests were ongoing and until his DX was made. Even though we knew there was no chance of him returning to work, health and safety issues came in to play, the Head of his company, whom I never met just spoke to on phone, was amazing. They continued paying hubbys wages another 4 months after we should have started claiming benefits. This was enough time for the claim with insurers to be sorted.
Posting this has brought it all back to me. I had an easier time with insurers re claiming quite a sum of money to pay mortgage off, than I did with DWP claiming for a pittance.
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