To think being able to use housing benefits as a mortgage is unfair?

Can I just say, Landlords can't win on MN. Either they are using HB to pay their mortgages or they are evil pariahs who refuse to take tenants on HB. Which is preferred?

@mcdouglas yes Landlord‘s most definitely can and do use housing benefit that the tenants claim to pay their mortgage is with that’s how the ponzi scheme works.

to be honest somebody reminded me yesterday that Boris promised 40 hospitals that still haven’t popped up yet so perhaps this is a case of will believe it when we see it.

If you claim housing benefit to pay rent to a landlord can he use that money to pay the mortgage?
If so I find that a bit unfair on the people that have worked for years on end to pay their mortgage. But they are probably healthier and happier than the lazy landlord that is paying a mortgage off housing benefit.

I’m self employed with a son who has ASD and I get UC. At the moment I am struggling from one week to the next, and I imagine everyone in my situation has the same struggle. I haven’t read the details but since there is an element of housing costs in UC to pay rent won’t that stop if you are paying a mortgage? It seems like a ridiculous idea and as has been previously stated it’s just an attempt to appease the low earners who have suffered most under the Tories.

I love how this government works , first it did the damage it did with brexit by putting people against EU citizens and now it’s putting people against the most vulnerable in society . People need to open their eyes

The house can only be solved by approving affordable housing to be built and rent controls while protecting tenants against eviction with no reason . Without rent control there is no way to solve this crisis .

Distraction politics to create diversion amongst us.

People still need to be able to afford to pay the mortgage. As we know mortgage payments can be lower than rent.

This is about telling banks their affordability criteria can change and perhaps lend to riskier clientelle. We know where that leads

I don't think it will come to fruition. Its a headline to divert attention away from Boris Johnson. As with many of his announcements it may come to nothing because he hasn't done the work before announcing it. As far as I am aware the housing associations have not even been approached by the government. Its a rehashed plan that has failed twice already by previous PMs and subsequently dropped

@blahloney do you really think people on UC are living the high life and just not bothering? You can work 30 hours a week and still get UC Credit, funkily enough the government thinks it’s sensible for people to have some savings. I suggest you get your facts and learn about the world straight before you start responding to posts.

Housing benefit already gets used to pay mortgages... the mortgages of the private landlords.

I am not sure how the current system works with mortgages. I don't claim HB. I do know several people on ESA who own their homes though.

I could never understand why housing benefit wasn’t given to people with a mortgage. I was made redundant many years ago and claimed job seekers for several months. I wasn’t entitled to HB as I have a mortgage. But the mortgage still needed paying. If I’d been renting I’d have got my rent covered for that period. It was a really stressful situation. Also my mortgage is less than renting another house the same as mine so it would actually be cheaper to give housing benefit to me for a mortgage than if I was renting.

I don’t necessarily agree with people buying a house whilst on housing benefit. Although if rent is more expensive than mortgages then it could save the government a fortune. But the loan on the house would need to be secured to the government!! ????

My daughter has a disability and is unable to work. Our family got together to buy her a small flat in an inexpensive area.
She's been on various benefits and disability allowances and is now on UC. If she had to give up her home and live on the proceeds until she ran out of money her capital certainly wouldn't last very long and she would have to be rehoused by the council in the end.
At the moment she doesn't need to claim housing benefit fortunately, nor is she using scarce social housing.

It’s a totally ridiculous scheme to serve two main purposes. First, to cover up the incompetence and corruption of Johnson and this government. Second, to try to cover the disaster that has been the Help to Buy scheme.

For those who haven't seen yesterday's announcement and keep saying this is nonsense etc - news.sky.com/video/share-12630804

Again - maybe check out yesterday's news before commenting any further?!

Yes they can. Please look at the news! There was an announcement yesterday. It's not in place yet but very soon they can

People can get some money to pay the interest. That's it. You can't purchase a house on housing benefit. Just helping people out in a crisis!

It makes no sense - you CANNOT get HB if you have a mortgage so unless he changes the rules so they can still claim it? if you have a mortgage you may be able to get a repayable credit but it may not be for the whole payment & if you insure yourself against loosing your job they will simply take that off your benefit. Also claiming UC with HB part is hardly a stable income as DWP can reduce it if your salary is paid within a month (aka long month) or for many random reasons. Interest rates are rising how will people on benefits pay that? & if you own a house or mortgage it is counted as part of your savings & decrease (cancels) your ability to claim. (Anything above £5000 leads to a sliding scale of claim) He has not promised that they will replace like for like or in the same area . & tot top it all Cameron tried this several years ago & it didn't work because unless the Housing Society was originally a council house when the would be purchaser originally rented it. Simply because these are private organisations & when approached by Cameron crowd the Housing Associations said "fine but you have to pay for the debts this entails." (they are social housing & not owned by the government) Only a few ex council houses were sold. There are other issues too
Oh - who is going to give them a mortgage? a loss leading government department??

This will only serve people who already have a Mortgage. And not for long.

It’s a stop gap for those who have a Mortgage so that they don’t become homeless as well as jobless. It is unlikely to cover Mortgage payments, but it will ‘keep the wolf from the door’ for a while.

No one should have to face being homeless.

If you have a mortgage and find yourself jobless for whatever reason, you can get a loan (via a government outsourced company) which pays the interest for you. They then put a charge on the house which stays in place until you have either repaid the loan or the house is sold. This means there is no reason for anyone in that situation to become homeless. Many years ago the interest payments were paid by the government and did not have to be repaid.

@Lastqueenofscotland2
@AnotherEmma is still correct though, HB is used to pay landlords mortgages.

This is absolutely the case.

That's from January though, before the latest announcement so not sure it's relevant.

We stopped getting housing benefit last year after I earned too much one month (I was working at a covid vaccination clinic as well as my normal nursing job).
Could reapply for universal credit, but would lose 5 weeks tax credits in the process and would only be a few hundred a month better off, which given our circumstances should change this year, is not worth jumping through their hoops.

There's no way that extra few hundred would mean the difference between not being able to get a mortgage now and suddenly qualifying for one. Absolutely no way. This 'policy' is never going to help more than a handful of people.

Next year we will (hopefully) have a £60k joint income and a 5% deposit. We'd like the buy the house we currently rent, but I can't see any of the new ideas being of any help to us. I also suspect we would not pass affordability testing for a 95% mortgage at the interest rates we are going to be seeing.

Diamondsareforever123 · Today 18:20

This policy is codswallop. How are people on UC going to be able to buy their social housing properties? They simply won't be able to afford it! Don't be sucked into this divisive propaganda by this horrific government. We need more social housing - it's not rocket science.

Exactly. Boris gets people fighting each other because it reduces the flack on him. The people who are struggling ALL need support. He doesn't.