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PIP & ESA - Buying home under Right to Buy Scheme

dewie123

Hi all. My mother in law has received an offer to buy her house under the Right to Buy Scheme. Myself and my husband (her son) are wanting to "gift" the money to her to do this via savings/part home owner loan, but we are wanting to know if this will affect her PIP and ESA. We know that her housing benefit will obviously stop, but unsure on anything else...or whether there is anything else that we need to be aware of that could cause issues with the benefits. Can anyone help?

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Comments

DaveTheWasp

I'm not 100% sure, but I would have thought that this would only affect means tested benefits. I assume that the PIP would be unaffected as this benefit relates solely to how the condition affects her daily living. I would have thought that the ESA would depend on whether she's receiving income-related ESA, which could be potentially be affected by savings/money received.

There are people here that know a lot more about ESA, and hopefully someone will be able to give you some more info soon.

poppy123456

HI,

PIP isn't affected because it's not means tested. If she's claiming income related ESA then it would be better if you paid for it directly rather than "gifting" it to your mother.

If she's claiming Contributions based ESA then savings are not taken into consideration.

dewie123

Hi both. Thanks so much for your responses.
Her ESA is income based, so if I transferred the funds direct to solicitor instead of to her own account, that could potentially work? The solicitor has advised that I would need to sign a form to confirm I am "gifting" the money. Unsure what the best thing is to do.

poppy123456

As long as the funds do not enter her bank account then yes it will be fine.

dewie123

Thanks so much for your help!! Enjoy the rest of your weekend

dewie123

Hi @poppy123456

Sorry to bother you.
Just been looking on the gov website and it states "You cannot get income-related ESA if you have savings or investments worth over £16,000"

Even if I pay the solicitor directly for the full cost of the house (34k) would still this be OK noting the above? I guess she would have an asset not investment but would this matter and cause issues with her income based ESA?

poppy123456

The home you live in is not classed as capital for any means tested benefits.

dewie123

Again, thanks @poppy123456!!!!

poppy123456

You're welcome

DeeRuss

Hi I’m interested in this question as my mum wants to buy me my council property but my solicitor says the money has to go into my account because of money laundering so there’s a paper trail. I’m on ESA contribution based so I’m very concerned it will adversely affect my income. How did you get on dewie123 please?

calcotti

DeeRuss said: I’m on ESA contribution based so I’m very concerned it will adversely affect my income.

Contribution based benefits are not affected by capital so it makes no difference.

Previous poster was on income based ESA.

DeeRuss

Sorry I meant income based esa and my solicitor says my mum has to transfer the money for house into my account then I have to transfer it into solicitors account. She’s already signed all the relevant paperwork Re buying house for me and the money she’s using came from the sale of her house which she sold through the same solicitor. Thank you for your feedback. Kind regards Dee

calcotti

I think that provided the money comes into your account and goes out on the same day it will be fine.

I think when I was in a position to help one of my children the solicitor insisted the money must come straight from me. Different solicitors appear to do it differently.

DeeRuss

Thank you so much for your input. It’s a bit of a minefield isn’t it?! 😊

kts64

Hi I'm also interested in the above question , I'm in the same situation, my 2 daughter's who live with me , want to buy my council house on the right to buy scheme , I'm on income related support group & my daughter just have migrated over to Universal credit & should get the transition top up but waiting for a home visit for id check , the house is in the middle of exchanging but I'm still council until we exchange , I get I will lose housing benefit when this happens & will have to contact housing benefit when this happens , but what will I lose on my benefits as like I said I have just moved over to Universal credit from ESA support group & waiting for a home visit I'd check , but what will happen to my benefit due to my daughter's in middle of buying my council house , I'm on high rate pip both mobility & daily living & was on high rate ESA too , I get I will lose housing benefit but what happened about my council tax , as one daughter claims UC while off sick from work down to mental health , & in therapy, & got 25% off & I was getting a discount on council tax due to my disability & illness , will I lose that with daughter buying my house on right to buy scheme

Sorry I have alot of questions in here , hope someone has the answers 🙏

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1032011#Comment_1032011

Hi,

Council tax reduction is managed at a local level by your local council. That's not something we can advise on from a national forum unfortunately. You would have to contact your council directly to ask them how the reduction will be affected.

kts64

What about all the other things I've mentioned

Kimi87

Sometimes posters are only able or willing to help with part of a post and the response reflects that.

Most of us don't work for Scope and voluntarily help people in our own time while managing our own health problems.

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1032046#Comment_1032046

Sorry, I missed the other questions. With so many changes happening at the same time, I'm not sure we can accurately advise on that either.

Firstly we would need to know whether your migration will be completed before your daughter buys the property and you stop paying rent.

For now, you should get the basic UC rate for single person over 25, plus LCWRA which adds up to around £830 a month. As your daughters live with you, I assume you don't get SDP with the ESA? So there is unlikely to be any Transitional Protection needed to top up in this case.

As you won't be paying rent costs, you won't get Housing Element from UC.

PIP stays exactly the same regardless of the property move and UC migration.

Kimi87

UC + LCWRA for over 25's is now £400 + £423 🙂

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