Universal credit and House Equity

andyt60
andyt60 Online Community Member Posts: 3 Listener
in Universal Credit (UC)
Hi, my house needs some urgent repairs, such as new fence, flat roof repair, new flooring, plastering etc, if i draw down the equity i have in my house will this affect my universal credit payments ? I am no longer able to do this work myself due to Myasthenia gravis

Comments

  • calcotti
    calcotti Online Community Member Posts: 10,001 Championing
    edited October 2022
    Any equity you draw down will, in general, be treated as capital until it is spent. Any capital over £6,000 will reduce your UC. Capital over £16,000 will end your entitlement to UC.

    However there is a 6 month disregard for capital acquired to carry out essential repairs
    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1085956/admh2.pdf
    paragraph H2123

    However you would need to declare the capital, if over £6000, and provide details of the work proposed and a Decision Maker would need to decide whether or not the disregard applies.
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,464 Championing
    Welcome to the community @andyt60 :) Thank you for joining us!

    I hope that calcotti's comment has helped to clear that up for you. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask. 

    I hope that your house repairs don't take too long to be completed! Are you coping okay in the meantime?
  • andyt60
    andyt60 Online Community Member Posts: 3 Listener
    yes it was good advice thank you, i still have to decide wether to sell up and downsize or stay and do up the house, i live in a 3 bed house with a study, it is run down and needs a lot of money spent on it, i am mortgage free and there is no service charge or ground rent, i own the house freehold. But if i move it will be leasehold, and a flat, cannot find anywhere even similar to what i want, feel pressured to move as i dont know how my condition will worsen. At present i am not meant to go upstairs due to mini blackouts, but i have suffered none of these since i came out of hospital three months ago. When my dad goes i will inherit a large sum of money, if i draw down small lumps to just do the work i should be below £6000 per year, i am 62 and cannot draw on my pensions yet
  • L_Volunteer
    L_Volunteer Community Volunteer Adviser, Scope Member Posts: 7,922 Championing
    Glad you think it was good advice @andyt60. What are your thoughts about selling up and downsizing or staying and doing up the house at the moment?

    It sounds like a really difficult decision to make and one that mainly involves weighing up the pros and cons and seeing which wins. 

    If part of this decision is around blackouts and medical advice, do you feel comfortable reaching out to your medical team? Hopefully, they can support you further with this. 

    We are here for you and listening to you if you would like to talk to us through your decision process. Please don't hesitate to let us know if we can do anything to help  :)

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