Universal Credit questions

[pinchy1978]

I'm in the process of separating from my partner. We have a mortgage with equity and 2 children 4/7. We are currently looking at various options to split the house (percentages still to be negotiated). Once separated my partner would be entitled to various tax credits as she has a low income and will be the main carer. However we are concerned how UC will affect these once it is rolled out in our area. 1 scenario we are looking at is I buy her out and she rents for a period of time. With this in mind I have 2 questions.

1. If she applies for tax credits prior to the UC deadline (Oct 2018 I think) with the buy out capital in the bank will she be protected on any auto migration to UC. Info seems to state she would still get the same but is not clear how long for and what might cause it to stop.
2. If she was to remain as part owner on the hose but then rent somewhere would she still be able to claim. In this scenario her capital would remain tied up in the house for an indefinite period. At an agreed date I would then buy her out and she would then look to buy her own house.

The main issue here is that she will struggle to obtain a mortgage at present to either buy me out or to buy her own home with the buy out capital. The renting option allows her time to improve her work prospects, increase her hours when kids are older and then rely less on benefits to increase affordability for a mortgage.

Any guidance is much appreciated.

You can't claim housing benefit to rent another house if you own half of another unless the house is on the market and waiting to be sold. She would be able to claim tax credits though as capital/ savings isn't taken into account. A new claim for Universal credit would be declined if she had over 16k of savings unless she was migrated across and therefore had transitional protection.

Sorry I probably misunderstood your questions - are you asking solely in relation to claiming UC or other benefits. The rolling out of UC in some areas is being postponed I think so may not affect her yet. All capital/ savings would need to be declared for UC wheras under tax credits it isn't really taken into account unless interest on savings exceeds £300 a year.

No, there would be no claim for housing benefit for the rental property.

In scenario 1 she claims TCs as single parent and has in excess of 16000 due to buy out. UC is rolled out and she is auto migrated. Would her benefits be protected and for how long.