Mortgage on universal credit unfair than rent

MarkIngleton
MarkIngleton Online Community Member Posts: 33 Contributor
edited October 2021 in Benefits and income
I have been  told I have to much savings  I said  this is for house repairs if I need them . As  a home  owner if my house  is sud standard  the council  can take it off me  but universal  credit  said it's still savings . if you rent your land lord has by law as to keep you safe and warm  . Not the case if you own your  house .Should we as house owners  have a allowance  for repairs separate  to savings as we have mortgage to pay  . and repairs 

Comments

  • janer1967
    janer1967 Online Community Member Posts: 21,922 Championing
    Hi there 

    Unfortunately that is the case f8r home owners 

    You don't get any housing element if you own your own house either as opposed to help if you rent 

    I lost my home when I became disabled and unable to work and pay a mortgage as a single parent 
  • MarkIngleton
    MarkIngleton Online Community Member Posts: 33 Contributor
    But there is a big difference the landlord makes money  from the person it's his  responsibility by law  we don't make money we came not move you can make  a complaint to the housing officer he can make them do  the repairs if not court  .the council takes  my property repair it them rents it back  to me even if I have paid  the mortgage  off
  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,874 Championing
    That sounds complicated  my son brought his council house but they still have to do their own repairs if he wanted to sell it he would have to sell it back to the council  unless he had paid the mortgage off then he owns the house and its his to sell to whoever he wants 


  • MarkIngleton
    MarkIngleton Online Community Member Posts: 33 Contributor
    It sounds like
     percentage  so part rent and you pay each month  and then  you pay a percentage off as well if you want so they can own 20% and the rest by the land owner the more they pay the more they own 
  • MarkIngleton
    MarkIngleton Online Community Member Posts: 33 Contributor
    Woodbine it's easy the land lord makes money it's up to the person  to complain they rent have more legal rights and can get help to put it right we don't  have rights we have no land lord if my boiler stops working I have no hot water or heating  land lord by law has a duty of care  . to fix it you can complain  to the council  or to the company how rents it  first .IF we don't have the money  we have No way off fixing.  
  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,874 Championing
    My brother owns  his council house out right now so he has to do his own repairs now aswel 
  • MarkM88
    MarkM88 Online Community Member Posts: 3,119 Connected
    MarkIngleton said:
    Woodbine it's easy the land lord makes money it's up to the person  to complain they rent have more legal rights and can get help to put it right we don't  have rights we have no land lord if my boiler stops working I have no hot water or heating  land lord by law has a duty of care  . to fix it you can complain  to the council  or to the company how rents it  first .IF we don't have the money  we have No way off fixing.  
    That’s the whole point of ownership though, it’s your responsibility I’m afraid. 
  • MarkIngleton
    MarkIngleton Online Community Member Posts: 33 Contributor
    I totally agree but if you have some one else taken that responsibility away don't they have a responsibility two .
  • MarkM88
    MarkM88 Online Community Member Posts: 3,119 Connected
    I don’t really know what your getting at. Whatever agreement is in place and because you bought your home, surely you knew what you were getting yourself into? 
  • MarkIngleton
    MarkIngleton Online Community Member Posts: 33 Contributor
    No one knows  whats r ound the corner my point is should  we be allowed  serpert  amount  for repairs  and not counted  as savings
    And should this be counted as income. As savings  are
  • MarkM88
    MarkM88 Online Community Member Posts: 3,119 Connected
    Unfortunately. It will be classed as savings. 
  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Online Community Member Posts: 5,226 Championing
    As you own a house, you have a large amount of capital tied up in it that renters don't have.  You're also always 'banking' the money spent on a mortgage each month into it, increasing that capital. 

    Renters lose the money the moment it's paid.  They don't have anything more than their savings account.

    If the worst should happen, you can sell your house to get some money back.  This is why a mortgage doesn't get paid by benefits like rent does.

    I can see your point, and understand where you're coming from, but there are pro's and con's to both rent and mortgage.  I don't think either is being treated unfairly by having the same savings limits.

    (I don't actually agree with the savings limits themselves, but that's for another thread!)
  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,874 Championing
    @woodbine it's my understanding that if you have savings over 6000 you can't get help from universal credit if I am wrong then I apologise and please correct me 
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,469 Championing

    Hi @lisathomas50. From Turn2Us regarding savings and Universal Credit:

    Any capital/ savings you have under £6,000 is ignored.

    Any capital/ savings you have between £6,000 and £16,000 is treated as if it gives you a monthly income of £4.35 for each £250, or part of £250, regardless of whether it does or not. So if you have £6,300 in a savings account, £6,000 of it will be ignored and the other £300 will be treated as giving you a monthly income of £8.70.

    If you have capital/ savings over £16,000 as a single claimant or as a couple you will not be entitled to Universal Credit. Some capital can be ignored when working out if you are entitled to Universal Credit.

    If you are a member of a couple but have to make a claim as a single person, your partner's capital/ savings will still be taken into account.
  • MarkIngleton
    MarkIngleton Online Community Member Posts: 33 Contributor
    That's a laugh I got 1 .25 last year interest for the whole  year 
  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,874 Championing
    Thank you for the explanation it has been very help full and put in a way that is easy to understand 
  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Online Community Member Posts: 5,226 Championing
    MarkIngleton said:
    That's a laugh I got 1 .25 last year interest for the whole  year 
    £1.25 on £20k!?  Savings rates are bad since Covid, but they're not that bad.  :o  

    Worth looking around for a better rate if that wasn't an exaggeration.  Even at 0.5% you'd get £100 a year.
  • calcotti
    calcotti Online Community Member Posts: 10,000 Championing
    MarkIngleton said:
    That's a laugh I got 1 .25 last year interest for the whole  year 
    The deduction for savings is not meant to reflect interest available on them, there is an expectation that a claimant erodes the capital.

    The ridiculous bit is that the limits have been unchanged for many years (along several other aspects of benefits).
  • Slonvinton
    Slonvinton Online Community Member Posts: 106 Empowering

    Yeah home owners are really screwed if there is a repair needed that will cost over 16K.

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