Is my housing situation legal?

OCDRulesMe

Hi

I'm currently migrating from old style Income Related ESA (support group) to Universal Credit

I have to undergo a biographical telephone appointment. As well as proving my identity it also says;

We may also ask about:

housing costs and any rent agreements

This concerns me as my living arrangements aren't "official", so I don't have any rent agreement. When I first became ill I had to return home where I lived for 3 or 4 years. This wasn't ideal, so when the house across the road came up for sale, my parents suggested purchasing the house for me to live in so that we each got our own space back, yet they were still close at hand to assist me in my daily living

The majority of this house was purchased with their savings, whilst the remaining amount was raised by a remortgage on their own property. I agreed to pay them £250 a month to cover their new remortgage payments, for the remainder of the remortgage period (circa. 10 years)

Whether that is above board I don't know, I was too wrapped up in my problems at the time to give it any thought. However, there's a further layer of confusion... as they put the new house in my name. So in the eyes of the law I actually own this house outright. Sure, I have a moral obligation to pay their monthly remortgage costs, and I am more than happy to continue doing that - but on this actual house - the one I live in - it is paid for in full and owned outright by me

I must stress I have never received or claimed for housing benefit or anything like that, if that matters here

Have I done something wrong or broken any rules? I'm fearful of the answer to that question so I buried my head in the sand and hoped it would never become an issue. Now questions are going to be asked on my living situation and I'm afraid the truth of that situation may get me in trouble

For what it's worth none of these decisions were made to deliberately deceive, my parents thought they were helping me and didn't give it a second thought, I was too ill to give it any thought, and the conveyance solicitors never pointed out any problems in what we were doing... But I have a nagging feeling that we may have broken a rule somewhere along the way

Where I fear we fall foul, is that when I had a house purchased on my behalf, should my income related ESA have stopped, or should they have at least been notified? That's the question that fills me with dread. Its probably no excuse but I was a shell of a person when all this went down and couldn't oversee the decision making as I would now

Your time and advice is very much appreciated 🙏