Any hope of getting a mortgage on Universal Credit?

[HouseNoMore]

After scrimping and saving for years, living with family and working myself into the ground working full time and being a single mum to 3 very young kids, just as I'm finally putting an offer on my first house I get hit by the UC migration letter

My lender has said that they don't accept UC, and I'm struggling to find another who will lend anywhere close to the same amount my last AIP was

Is there any hope? The irony that if I can't get a house I'll end up renting which will come out of UC's pocket anyway

It’s about £250 difference so it’s not life changing.

EVERYONE gets tax relief on pension contribs - THEN they get are potentially taxed on receiving said pension when they take it and it takes them above the personal allowance.

OP

Im on Universal Credit - it pays my mortgage (you can spend your UC on whatever the hell you want). I used a mortgage broker and we had a letter (or two) stating that I wasn’t working due to being disabled and thus I’m covered under the Equality Act.

Many people express strong views of people on UC having assets but the reality is it’s allowed, encouraged and helps with the horrific housing crisis we are experiencing.

Good luck

Probably not. But it's a short sighted policy and will cost the government more in the long term like everything else this lot have done so far.

I get my UC into my bank account and then mortgage payment comes from that account. It’s different to how it works with renting but DWP are well aware and supportive of it. You can also get an interest part loan thing too - I’ve not looked into it but I think you need to be on UC for several months before you do that

Nationwide might be worth a try. I wasn't on UC when I got my mortgage but they did ask if I got any when I did my aip, they also took into account my son's dla.

Was just thinking that as well. Caught whichever way you look at the situation.

My broker used a company called Principality and sorted mine. They would accept 100% of UC income.
Good luck OP.

She will get lower benefits if she has a mortgage. It will save the taxpayer money. She also works and may well only get pennies in benefits. Many people on benefits are carers or disabled who are not able to work, or can only work limited hours. Should they not be able to buy a house either?

Anyone whop works gets tax relief on pension contributions, even poor people!!!

We have a mortgage and are on UC. You just get a higher work allowance. Although they seem to be pestering about accepting that loan when we can manage fine without it. 🤷

I assume to op is talking re the affordability check for the mortgage, not getting the mortgage paid. Some nasty benefit bashing on here. As said up thread you would be best with a broker, they will know know which lenders include uc and wages

If you don’t believe your application can proceed after being issued with an agreement in principle then you need to contact a whole of mortgage broker L&C will be able to suggest suitable lenders. I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion though without the lender advising your application won’t be accepted. Just make sure you can afford the mortgage. Mortgage company won’t know about the change from tax credits to UC as I assume you agreement in principle was based on tax credit evidence.

How awful, a single mum working hard to save, looking after her 3 young kids, sacrificing by living with family. Probably working in a low paying job and has UC to top up the wage to something that probably still doesn't resemble any kind of comfortable life.

Trying to better their situation for her and the kids, having some stability of being able to own their own home rather than be at risk of a landlord increasing their rent/evicting them.

Sounds like someone I'd be quite happy for my taxes to support.

Tax credits were just that, a credit on tax towards childcare costs.

Op I hope a broker can help find you one,.that feels v unfair

It’s insane that I earn £40k at mid-20s and couldn’t look to buy a house right now…but people on benefits can. Like what’s the point in working?

Same. Far rather my taxes went to op than lined the pockets of some greasy Tory donor

Plus op is a tax payer, in case people had forgotten..she was just getting a discount on amount of tax she paid to reflect her costs of working

Wtf. Op is working.

It depends where you live in the country as well. Op may live somewhere where housing is cheaper.

Please remember that people are on benefits for all sorts of reasons, and payments vary greatly depending on circumstances. For a start the OP does work. A single person not working on benefits is highly unlikely to be able to buy a house as they would get very little on benefits. Someone who works part time and cares for their disabled children that's a bit more likely but their ability to work is severely affected by their children's needs, not because they don't want to work. Also house prices vary greatly over the UK, buying a house on benefits in London would be near impossible, in some areas of Wales much more likely.

@halloweenn quite a horrible comment - if you are on 40k in mid 20s where is all your money going? Where about a do you live?

A lot of people are left the houses they live in and thus don’t have cash deposits that impact UC.

Many people on UC work. Many in full time work but low incomes.

Plenty of working people get benefits. Dh and I work full time and get child benefit, and 20% tax free childcare which is basically a benefit. A significant proportion of the working population are on a low enough income despite working bloody hard, that they receive income based benefits. That's what we should be angry about, not people on benefits wanting the stability of owning their own homes. There are some nasty people on this thread.

Op you need to speak to a whole of market lender. Also consider speaking to citizens advice, as depending on how you've acquired your deposit and how far along the process of buying you are, will impact how UC looks at your savings. Also the cutover from tax credits to UC has different rules as others have said.

Good luck op.

OP - have you told them about the migration letter? How long does migration take?

In my experience, UC barely pays the bills. I don't know how you can have saved so much on TC OP, unless you weren't declaring that you were living with parents.

Savings of over £6k are clawed back and you don't get anything with savings over £16k

I understand that if you already live in a house that you are paying mortgage on and then have to claim benefits due to a change in circumstances, then the interest portion of the mortgage may be covered up to a certain level, but that the capital sum is never funded.

The real issue here is that EMPLOYERS aren't paying their staff enough to live on and are getting their costs subsidised by the government. That's a disgrace.

The other issue is people who are in authority houses paying below market rates whilst earning 6 figure sums because they had their housing set up for life several years ago and now don’t want to leave it

I think I would be wondering why you can't even put anything aside to try to buy one with that wage.