Universal credit support?

[moanafan]

Hi all!
Going through a separation and unsure of how things work..

Buying partner out of our mortgage using savings, mortgage is £1300pcm. My take home wage is £2200pcm.

Selling up won’t really be worth it - market is stale here, house has kept value but only paid off a couple of years of the mortgage. Would like to keep it, downsizing or renting would still cost around the same.

Would I qualify for some sort of support via Universal Credit as a single parent? One child, nursery age. I don’t think I can stretch the £900 left once mortgage is paid to cover all the bills, food etc. Petrol for commuting to work is normally 150-200 a month. Nursery fees 200. Just doesn’t leave much at all!
Worried about how I would cope!! Are there’s systems in place to support, or do you have to be under a certain wage to qualify?
Any advice on this would be great, I don’t know what to search to find out if I qualify for any help.

You can do a calculation for free on the turn2us website. You will need information about your income and your childcare costs. Make sure you put in all your details as they would be if you had already bought your partner out

Thankyou! Thats really helpful, I did look at calculation websites but never know which ones are legit or not and it’s quite a bit of personal information to put it!

I think it will be close, as the housing element won’t count (it only does for renting, not mortgages) but you may be entitled to something because of the nursery fees. Have you worked out your CMS entitlement (if any?)

@LittleRedRidingHoodythankyou. It seems like a weird system for mortgage not to count, but renting does. I haven’t yet worked out CMS exactly but it won’t be much, possibly £150-200. That might cover food bills if I’m mighty careful.
it all feels v daunting, I have never claimed for anything in my life and don’t want to, but don’t want to loose the house either! Going back to renting to then claim it off the government seems backwards.

I think you're going to struggle if youre spending 60% of your earnings on your mortgage

I take home similar to you and claim for 2 dc and get £400 or so. No childcare costs. Mortgage rather than rent. I think you’d get more due to nursery costs.

@LovelysummerdaysThankyou that’s reassuring! @LittleRedRidingHoodyI know that’s my worry. It doesn’t leave much room (if any!) for things to go wrong. Renting in the area is the same if not more though!

The reason mortgage payments are not supported is that you have an asset of significant value that you could liquidate to provide funds to live on. Renters do not.

Also you can get a loan from UC to help with the interest part of your mortgage payment. Obviously this needs repaid at some point ( not entirely sure when or how) but it might give you a bit of extra breathing room whilst you still have childcare costs.

@VanCleefArpelsyes that’s true. However given the housing crisis we face selling up for many would potentially end in homelessness, therefore needing emergency accommodation and then help with housing costs that way.. seems like a vicious circle really! Lots of people with mortgages also won’t end up with much if they do sell - we would only walk away with about 10k if that after all costs, removals have been paid. Split between two.. not great!

You have to be already claiming UC to get this very limited help.

@moanafan selling a house and becoming homeless would be a vanishingly rare occurrence: by definition someone who can pay £1500 for a mortgage can afford that in rent and whilst I acknowledge the rental market is super competitive at the moment I’m not sure it’s quite at the stage where someone with that budget could not find anywhere to live

And in addition to @VanCleefArpels why should the state pay for your mortgage so you ultimately own the asset!

id quite like someone to pay for mine

make sure your ex is paying cms and ask him to also share the nursery fees - you should get some tax credits for that or uc support as well

Thanks everyone. @VanCleefArpelsi can afford a certain budget for rent yes, but rentals in our area come and go in pretty much a day. My point is, I am going to struggle with my mortgage and rental prices are pretty much the same…But if i was renting, i could claim UC to support with that rent? So my worry is that I am going to struggle paying the mortgage and there is no support with that. Which I do understand. As @millymollymoomoopointed out, why should others pay off a mortgage for someone, that’s not right. However, maybe the system should be altered to try and encourage people to keep their mortgages rather than being forced to sell and rent - perhaps a system that helps with the interest only so this keeps things more fair?

Good to know there may be some support in place. I have always worked, never claimed ANYTHING. I don’t want to be in this situation and don’t want to have to ask for help, but this is where I am. Thanks for all the suggestions!