Universal Credit

[bambara]

Please let me know if this is not the right board to post on.

I have lived abroad with my husband and three children for 13 years. We have paid our voluntary NI contributions in this time. Sadly my husband has left me and the kids, and lost his job. We have to return to the UK, he will stay abroad. I am looking at Universal Credit / Benefits until I can establish myself in a job (hard with three kids). Ive never claimed any benefit before and am a bit lost. We are lucky enough to own a house with tenants that cover our mortgage. I cannot financiallly afford to return to my own home, my mortgage is higher than i can afford, so was looking to rent. Ive checked the Turn2Us calculator, if i live in my own home i am entitedl to enough benefits to cover my mortgage, but if i rent and state that I own my own home and am not living it, i get just 200 a month. This doesn't make sense to me. I would love to return to my own home, is this an error? Is there a way around this?

I can't afford to live in my house, or afford to live on 200. For those suggesting I sell, we are unable to legally for another 2 years. We are literally stuck with the house.

Thank you very much for your help. Im so worried

So you can sell your house you just don’t want to lose money but basically you need to make some tough decisions which may include paying a mortgage penalty.

Tied into paying to get out of mortgage is a case of weighing up costs.
You can sell. It will just cost you £££ in charges.
What figures are you talking about ?
Eg 300k mortgage 300k equity? 5% charge to exit mortgage?
You have to plot different scenarios.
You cannot rely on uc while you have an asset and getting income from rent.

Universal credit do not pay anything towards your mortgage. When you have claimed Uc for 3 months you may be able to claim support for mortgage interest but this is a charge on your home like a loan to help you through a difficult time and needs to be paid back when the house is sold.
Firstly you need to check whether you are actually eligible for UC at all. You would need to pass the habitual residency test, show you intend to settle in the Uk, looking for work etc. You may not be able to claim immediately.
Secondly consider the longer term - will your ex not want his share of the equity in the property or do you alone own the house?
If you come back and rent another property you will not be eligible for any UC if the equity in that property is more than 16k. A house you live in is disregarded but you can't own a house you don't live in and then claim help with rent.
You are best to live in the house you own and look for a job asap. maybe ask your lender for a mortgage break or interest only or as I say take help from the SMI loan.
As you have kids and a mortgage the first £637 ( I think) of your earnings would be disregarded before earnings start to reduce your monthly UC amount. If all kids were born before April 2017 then you would get 3 x child elements on yor claim.
If you sell the house and receive more than 16k from the sale of the house you would no longer be eligible to claim UC.

You can move back into your house and claim universal credit, they offer loans to cover your mortgage payments until you find work.

Possibly 200K - no house abroad

So essentially my only hope is to sell the house, buy a small one (which i will be unable to where i am from) so move away from my entire family... after losing my husband and all my friends, and then try to look for a job (having not worked for 13 years) whilst looking after three chilren. Yep, I know lots of people do it, its just incredibly hard that this time a year ago it felt like i had it all and now i am losing everything

I'm not sure universal credit will help you. When we moved back (we lived in Australia for nearly 5 years) we couldn't claim as we needed to live here for a minimum of 6 months even though we moved aboard 5 years previously. Also my parents left me a house that I co-owned with my sister's and as my share was above £16,000 it wiped out any universal credit claim.

I found a Facebook page called 'Universal credit survival' really helped me understand the benefit system. I was lucky to find a job pretty quick as my child was 3 years and you are expected to work if they are, even though you're a single parent.

Also, look at 'Tenancy Matters' Facebook page to understand how hard it is to end a tenancy. It's can be really difficult and costly to get your house back.

I guess if you cannot afford to buy a smaller house in the area close to your family you could consider shared ownership where you buy part of the house with the equity from the sale and rent the other part - you would be able to claim UC help with rent part.
To be honest the looking for work part needs to be an absolute priority. You may not even be able to claim UC at all without looking for a job. Could you not stay with family for a while and live off the rent to give yourself a bit of a chance to get settled/ look for work/ build up a bit of savings ? It sounds like your kids are older so at least no worries about childcare and not being able to work full time.

I think the fact you have been abroad will actually mean you are not entitled. How do they know you won't reunite with husband and go back? When applying you have to say if you have been out of the country more than 3 weeks in the last 2 years.

Sell house

You are lucky to have potential 200k to your name

200k in bank

Spend 50k renting for couple years say 2k a month) to give you chance to get on feet to get a job and 50k on expenses (2k a month)

Review in 2 years you may still have 100k for a deposit And by then a job of some kind

Will your DH let you keep the full 200k equity?

Do you have family you can live with initially?

How old are your kids?

You can start work straight away in the care sector.

Will you have family support for babysitting?

The best scenario would be to get a job asap and live in your UK home. How much is the monthly mortgage?

He wont
I cant live with family
Kids are 11 (twins) and 13
I cant rely on anyone else for friends,

Im ok to not have UC etc for a few months, its the ongoing... I have been abroad but paying NI contributions the whole time - and doing self assesment tax returns

11 and 13 they can feasibly be at home after school by themselves for a couple of hours.

You can pick work up in care immediately.

How much is your mortgage a month?

Yeh kids can be home alone after school
Come back to your house
Get a job any job

2100 pounds - plus off the grid gas bill of 350 a month which is a real killer

Wouldn't the money you get from renting be classed as income anyway? It could be tricky with UC.

You're probably better off moving back into your house and asking for a payment holiday if it's possible so you can find a job. A job will probably be better than navigating UC as a home owner.

THANK YOU X

You may have to sell if you can’t cover the mortgage, that is a big mortgage payment for a single income.

You are in for a tough couple of years. But you can get through it. You need a job asap. What was your previous job?

It was marketing, 13 years ago, I actually left because my anxiety around presentations was crippling. I was dosed up to the nines with anti anxiety medications /valium etc. I left and fell pregnant and straight away moved to Africa. - living the dream - until i wasnt. Ive recently done a masters in writing and tried freelancing as a writer but im lucky to earn a couple of hundred quid a week.

It sucks but ultimately it's not up to the British tax payer to keep you in the life you've been accustomed to.

Do you have family you could temporarily move in with while you sort out housing and a job?

You need to plan before you return back to the UK.

Your situation is complicated and you will not be able to access benefits straight away.

You will not get help with rent if you own a house which is let out.

What is your future timeline for the move?

Im 50. I was a british taxpayer since i was 16 years old - that's 20 years payments plus iI've contributed voluntary NI insurance for years. Ive never claimed benefits, im not trying to scam the system, Im simply looking for assistance until i can get on my feet.

Probably April

You need to give your tenant notice or can she be a lodger?

You need to start applying for jobs now. Any job.

If you can prove your intention to settle back in the UK permanently from April and can prove you have been looking for jobs this will help with claiming benefits as soon as you arrive.

You will find it hard to secure a private rental with no job or guarantor.

I know people who have returned after living abroad for a number of years and they aren't entitled to benefits. I don't think that fact you've paid NI will make any difference to a claim for UC. The NI payments will go towards you qualifying for a state pension. Think about how you will live if you aren't entitled to benefits. Have you got savings..