our house

[Spent2much]

Re: our house

Hi Spent2much,
I might be stating the obvious, but what if your husband just worked the 2 busier days and you did the two quiet days, so he'd be on 16 hours?

Any potential for renting your house out at a good rent for a couple of years while you stay in the caravan, till you get back on track?

Elsa x

Good morning Elsa, i don't know if they would allow hubby to work 2 days and me the other 2 days as it then still works out that we are both working 4 days between us . My son has offered to take over the business and give hubby 2 days work as my son has a business also and he dosn't mind about the the other 2 days ,but not sure if the benefits office will look kindly on this either .

The house is in bad repair , the back door is not secure enough to rent to anyone , there is damage from when we got burgled in 2010 and we haven't been able to afford to replace the door , the windows upstairs are wood double glazed and need replacing and there is a leak somewhere in the kitchen which we can't find.

When we bought the house the guy who had it before us must have had his priority on his flaming swimming pool , he installed an above ground pool with decking around it which is really gorgeous , but we can't use it as its too expensive to heat up , if he had spent more time on the house that would have been money better spent. We emptied the pool and covered it as we didn't want it turning into a pond lol.

[PlanB]

Re: our house

The house is in bad repair , the back door is not secure enough to rent to anyone , there is damage from when we got burgled in 2010 and we haven't been able to afford to replace the door , the windows upstairs are wood double glazed and need replacing and there is a leak somewhere in the kitchen which we can't find.

.

It'll be tenants occupying the house not orchids ! I'm sure your windows are fine. Adjust the rent to suit the condition of the property. Offer to fix the back door within one month of them moving in and use the first month's rent and deposit to to pay the mortgage and any other DIY jobs needed

Tenants pay all the utilities so they will have to pay the cost of heating the swimming pool not you

[Spent2much]

Re: our house

The stress is effecting hubby , yesterday he got a migraine , the visual disturbance type where part of the vision goes , i hate those they make me feel really depressed , but it is the stress causing this .

[PriorityOne]

Re: our house

Not quite, the government reduced the waiting time from 39 weeks to 13 weeks in 2009 after the credit crunch.

.... and so they bloody well should!! 39 weeks was a ridiculous amount of time!!

Is there any reason why you couldn't work two days at the market and your husband work the other two days which would keep you each under the 16 hour rule? I don't know anything about benefits but I presume you're assessed seperately

Great idea from PlanB and Elsa here.... there are ways of getting around things and if you are both under the 16 hour rule on paper, it's something you should really look into.

Good morning Elsa, i don't know if they would allow hubby to work 2 days and me the other 2 days as it then still works out that we are both working 4 days between us.

It's not about what they'll "allow" as such; it's what the law allows. Find out. You can always phone with an anonymous query if that side of things bothers you.... but I'd get several opinions if I were you. I've had a variety of cack advice from DWP numpties during my time claiming from different staff who didn't have a clue what they were on about.

[PlanB]

Re: our house

The stress is effecting hubby , yesterday he got a migraine , the visual disturbance type where part of the vision goes , i hate those they make me feel really depressed , but it is the stress causing this .

Every problem has a solution it's just a question of finding the one that suits you. Knowledge is power. If you do the research into all this then you'll feel back in control, because stress is really about feeling out of control. Maybe start with getting some estate agents to value your house for both selling and renting.

You and your husband sound like a great team so you'll get through this together

[Spent2much]

Re: our house

.... and so they bloody well should!! 39 weeks was a ridiculous amount of time!!



Great idea from PlanB and Elsa here.... there are ways of getting around things and if you are both under the 16 hour rule on paper, it's something you should really look into.



It's not about what they'll "allow" as such; it's what the law allows. Find out. You can always phone with an anonymous query if that side of things bothers you.... but I'd get several opinions if I were you. I've had a variety of cack advice from DWP numpties during my time claiming from different staff who didn't have a clue what they were on about.

will look into this thank you Priority One .

[PriorityOne]

Re: our house

The 16 hr rule is very often misunderstood, you get the impression that you can work up to 16 hrs a week and keep your JSA untouched but this is not the case. If you work less than 16 hrs a week you are still regarded as unemployed and required to sign on and look for work BUT only the first £5 of your earnings () are disregarded. If you earn the same or more than your JSA entitlement then you don't get paid anything but your claim is still open and you keep signing on, etc. If you earn less you'll get the difference. These earnings could also affect other benefits you may get like CTB or SMI. Quite a few people have been caught up on this 16 hr rule and have ended up IUCd and having to pay back overpayments, etc.

When I was signing on I had the opportunity to get a job for 2 hrs a day, 5 days a week, I asked both CAB and JC+ and that was the answer so I decided against it.

They don't make it easy for people, do they?....

That still leaves the option to rent the property out though rather than sell it. For many people, rents are unaffordably high, so if you're able to adjust the rent charged on the basis that work needs doing.... you may find that it solves that problem, as has already been suggested.

[PlanB]

Re: our house

anonymous query[/COLOR] if that side of things bothers you.... but I'd get several opinions if I were you. I've had a variety of cack advice from DWP numpties during my time claiming from different staff who didn't have a clue what they were on about.

Exactly. Most local authorities have a benefits calculator on their website where you can play around with the figures anonymously entering various options for hours worked, income received, capital allowances (if you sell your home at a profit) etc before you decide how to fill in the form before making any HB claim. I expect there's one for Income Support and other DWP benefits somewhere too.

* help! I've messed up P1's quote and don't know how to put it back to normal

[PlanB]

Re: our house

Ah ha !

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_s...FfMdtAodzHYAag

This calculator and the information it provides is from a charity biased in favour of claimants getting all the benefits they deserve

[mgfboy]

Re: our house

Do you have any equity in the house?

[PriorityOne]

Re: our house

We are thinking of either selling the house evn though it won't make us anything , it will probably pay off the charge and thats it.

Not much equity Mgfboy....

[PlanB]

Re: our house

Here's another thought You've got 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms. Your son has just got married so has presumably left home. Why not fill your empty nest with a lodger or two. You and Hubby get to stay put while the money rolls in from your spare capacity You can earn up to £4,250 p.a. without paying tax on the Government's Rent-a-Room Scheme

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTax...ome/DG_4017804

I had three lodgers at one time and it was fun as well as lucrative, and they provided free babysitting too I'm still in touch with some of them by email from all over the world (are you near a city with foreign language students on short stays for example?). This rental income may impact on your benefit entitlement but I bet you'll make more with house guests then you will get from JSA.

I don't know which part of the country you're living in but it seems a pretty area from the photos you've posted elsewhere, so how about running a B & B then you don't get guests for too long if you're keen on privacy

You really do have lots of options before you throw in the towel and sell up

[Spent2much]

Re: our house

Hi all, thank you some good suggestions from you and i do appreciate it.

Hand on heart i don't want to lose the house , my son is going to ask one of his mates if he wants to rent the front bedroom so this is looking positive .

We are not doing anything as yet not jumping into anything i mean so we will see how things go , I have a freind and we have just been talking about a new business idea which we are putting into action on Tuesday hopefully it will boost our income .

I am not one to sit around though i like to get things moving so will keep everyone updated .

[Spent2much]

Re: our house

After a lot of discussion and adding up we have finally come to a decision .

We are letting the house go , we have found a private landlord who knows all about our situation with the business and he has houses for rent for £90 a week , we have gone onto the turn2us and on the amount of wages we bring in we will be entitled to £50 a week off the rent . We would even be able to manage if we had to let the business go , so for peace of mind and our health as we both had a migraine over the weekend we feel this is the right way forward for us .

We also have some peace of mind in the fact we know i get an inheritence from my parents when they leave the house to me and my two brothers , so whatever happens we know we can rebuild our lives from scratch and still work for a better future .

As for the shortfall of the sale of the house and the other debt attached to the house we will cross that bridge when we come to it , but for now we feel easier and know we for now we can manage quite comfortably in a smaller cheaper house .

Anyone who has any information of anything after house repossession please post it as the more we know the better armed we are when we have to cross that bridge .

But for now we feel relaxed and the stress is leaving us slowly, we just went to the supermarket and bought a good shop which we haven't done in months, but on the bright side i got weighed at my mum's this morning and since last August i have lost 3 stone, now am sitting here with a much deserved cuppa

[vint1954]

Re: our house

Give it a few days then recap on your descission.

If there is a shortfall on the Mortgage, the Mortgage company will still chase for payment. Mortgage debts do not become statute barred for 12 years.