Sad for my friends £125k lottery win.

[Sogfree]

£125k win on the postcode lottery.

Single mum to 3 children (all primary age). Works as a TA, so receiving benefits to top up her income.

She would like to use her winnings for a deposit on a house. But due to the benefits rules not being allowed to pay a mortgage, she can't buy a property.

So she's going to spaff the entire lot as quick as she can, and the government will continue to pay rent to a multi property owner and make them richer.

The only asset she'll get to keep is a newer car - not anything fancy as she knows she won't be able to afford the insurance/fuel once the winnings run out.

Her one chance of breaking free of a life on benefits and she's got to throw it away. It feels wrong.

You both sound half baked

Not unrealistic. My brother bought one for 100k two years ago.

Why can't she use this money to, you know, live? pay her rent, food, clothes, like people do. Stop claiming benefits for a while, she won't need them because SHE HAS MONEY.

Where?

OP's friend cares for her DM, so she can't just up and move to somewhere cheaper.

Your friend is enjoying "free" housing paid for by tax payers.
It's free to her but everyone's taxes goes up for every government expenditure. No landlord gets "rich" by renting out a property to a council tenant.
Money is an indication of economic value. The LL is paid money because she's providing something of economic value. Mumsnet is being paid by advertisers cos they provide people's attention to advertiser's goods and services.
This mentality of wanting "free" stuff is preventing you and your friend from seeing how to multiply the win and provide a stable future from increasing her economic value. It's a mindset issue.

No she can’t ! You can’t own a property you don’t live in and receive benefits plus the rent would be viewed as income. Why do people insist on commenting on things they know nothing about?

No one has said at any point where the OPs friend lives

Hold on. People were talking about her buying a property to live in. Hope that helps

It's a mindset issue. Government is seen as the provider. It kills ambition, enterprise and analystical thinking.

No, but there have been suggestions she buys a house somewhere where £125k would be most of the cost, if not all of it.
She is tied to the area she is in because she cares for her DM. £125k could go far... or it might not even get her a shed.

According to someone on here it could buy a shared ownership flat in London.

Your knowledge base seems to have suddenly increased in comparison to your faux-naive OP.

What a surprise.

I have a lot of money so I'll waste it rather than losing benefits...

I had someone die and leave me money which meant we had too much in savings to claim UC. I've seen people on benefits just not declare money that they've frittered away and it feels unfair that they've had lavish events and holidays because of dishonesty.

That would annoy me too. I am on benefits, and know what I have to declare etc. Knowing people just hide money really pisses me. It is fraud.

£87,500
Share 25% / Full price £350,000 / Min deposit £4,375
Estimated monthly cost
£1,437

Monthly cost
Share 25% / Min deposit £4,375
Rent£494
Service charge£468
Mortgage£475
Estimated monthly cost£1,437
Calculated using a representative rate of 4.78%

Love to know how she's going to afford this (or even get a mortgage) on a TA wage of £1,300 minus 20% for term time only and minus another 20% for the school only paying them for 30 hours a week because they're only paid for direct contact time. Oh, and the contract is likely to only be for 38 weeks of the year, ending on 22nd/23rd July, meaning the school doesn't have to pay her at all in August.

How extraordinarily snobby of you

Someone put a flat up a few pages ago and the asking price was 165k or thereabouts

She'd be earning less in those areas - and most people with children need somewhere to put them at night to sleep, so I picked the cheapest 1 bedroom flat in outer london.

Op this is ridiculous of course she can do more with the money. I hope she doesn’t blow it just so she can still get her benefits because right now she probably better of than most people working full time with 2 incomes. I hope you can persuade her not to spend it. Her benefit will have to stop anyway so why not be sensible about it.

Why the hell did she play the lottery if she wanted to stay on benefits. She will have to tell the benefits office she has this money, otherwise she is committing fraud. She could part buy/rent a house as others have suggested, then invest in her future by doing some sort of job training to better herself. God knows why you feel sorry for her, the whole story is very weird to me

It actually is a mindset. DH family think like this. They are “looked after” & don’t / can’t think beyond their limited means. Anything else makes them uncomfortable.
DH eldest sister is very successful & wealthy, and they have nothing good to say about her. But still expect her to pay for everything!
DH is not able to think creatively about money or work. There is never a solution to financial problems, as he thinks “small”.
Not that I’m saying we’d be millionaires if he started a thinking “big” but look at SIL…

@neverdropyourmooncupShe wouldn’t need the mortgage bit at all - which immediately brings it down to just under 1000 a month - even lower if she paid £110.000 down - and will still then get a high percentage of rent and service charge covered off on UC if her income is low and she keeps around £10,000 after buying costs and maybe paying any debt off or a bit of new furniture etc . That’s how it works, if you have the 25% outright , you then just have rent and service charge and that is allowable for benefits - income dependent of course

The fact that she feels entitled to remain on benefits when she has won £125k is boggling. No wonder this country is up the shit. She has enough to pay her way now, not fiddle things to keep the money and claim benefits. Is it only wrong when wealthy people do that?

Looked after. That's one way of describing being poor. We don't all behave like that on benefits. I don't expect anyone to pay for me

(and if there are any comments made about me being on benefits - I'm disabled). It's not a mindset. Don't lump people on benefits all together. It's completely unfair and absolutely judgemental