Accomodation and Benefits

Old Dec 3rd 2017, 12:47 pm
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Default Accomodation and Benefits

Hi,

In 3 months I will start my wife's first spouse visa application. I'm trying to get ready to fulfill the accommodation requirement and would like some advice.

My son and I are currently living with my parents in the UK while my wife and daughter are in Vietnam. We are all UK citizens except my wife. I'm advised that my parents house would be a risky accommodation choice for visa purposes as it may be overcrowded.

I am planning to rent a property. This is the loose plan:

1) Rent a 3 bedroom place around 1 month before I apply for the visa.
2) Apply for housing benefit as if I am a single parent with one child.
3) When my wife and daughter come over, I get her a national insurance number and inform the council of the change in occupancy and make it clear I do not want any increase in housing benefit based on my wife's presence, only my daughter's.

Is this the correct way to go about it?
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 4:40 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

How are you claiming housing benefit when, according to your earlier posts, you are using over 30K in savings to bring your wife to the UK?

You may get Housing Benefit if:

you pay rent
you’re on a low income or claiming benefits
your savings are below a certain level - usually £16,000
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 5:23 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

Originally Posted by SanDiegogirl
How are you claiming housing benefit when, according to your earlier posts, you are using over 30K in savings to bring your wife to the UK?

You may get Housing Benefit if:

you pay rent
you’re on a low income or claiming benefits
your savings are below a certain level - usually £16,000
I'm not using savings, I'm going the income route. At the time of applying for the visa (late Feb) I'll have about 5k in savings.
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 5:32 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

Originally Posted by Saigon456
I'm not using savings, I'm going the income route. At the time of applying for the visa (late Feb) I'll have about 5k in savings.
But you have a property you've estimated as being worth £70k? Can't see how you'd be eligible for housing benefit if you own a property outright elsewhere you could just sell, but I'm sure SanDiegogirl will know for sure.
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 5:47 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

Originally Posted by Saigon456
I'm not using savings, I'm going the income route. At the time of applying for the visa (late Feb) I'll have about 5k in savings.
Sorry, I did not explain clearly..... in one of your posts you said you had over 30K in savings.

Even if you are going the income route - so you are earning 18,600 GBP or above, - with that income, plus any savings above 16,000 GBP I don't understand how you can claim housing benefit.
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 7:07 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

Originally Posted by SanDiegogirl
Sorry, I did not explain clearly..... in one of your posts you said you had over 30K in savings.

Even if you are going the income route - so you are earning 18,600 GBP or above, - with that income, plus any savings above 16,000 GBP I don't understand how you can claim housing benefit.
Well, my wife has 30k in savings but that is all being spent this month on the final down payment on the apartment that she legally owns alone. I'm not on the deed.

I personally will only have about 5k in savings at the time of application. She will have an asset worth 70k (all in VND), but those funds can't be moved to England as discussed in the other thread because the money has not come from taxable income.

I will be applying for housing benefit on my own. If the question is "Do you own property either in the UK or abroad?" then my answer will be no, as that is the truth. When I let the council know about my wife joining me, I will not be claiming any added housing benefit for her as she's not allowed to access public funds.

Is this all in order? Or does my wife need to sell the apartment and give all the money to charity for me to be eligible for housing benefit in the UK? We are going to find it very difficult to live independently if we don't get some help with the rent.
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 7:50 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

Originally Posted by Saigon456
Or does my wife need to sell the apartment and give all the money to charity for me to be eligible for housing benefit in the UK? We are going to find it very difficult to live independently if we don't get some help with the rent.
I'm confused.....if your wife has an apartment she could sell, why would she need to give that money to charity? Why not just use the proceeds to pay for your UK housing instead so that you're not relying on handouts and the taxpayers don't have to pick up the tab?
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 8:05 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

Originally Posted by christmasoompa
I'm confused.....if your wife has an apartment she could sell, why would she need to give that money to charity? Why not just use the proceeds to pay for your UK housing instead so that you're not relying on handouts and the taxpayers don't have to pick up the tab?
Because, as discussed previously, we cannot use the proceeds to pay for housing in he UK as there is no way to get the money over here.
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 8:12 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

Originally Posted by Saigon456
Because, as discussed previously, we cannot use the proceeds to pay for housing in he UK as there is no way to get the money over here.
Why not? I've missed that discussion. That seems ridiculous to me, that you can't use the proceeds of a property sale to support your family and are instead going to be relying on benefits paid for by others. Surely there's a way?
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 8:19 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

The easiest way to check your eligibility for housing benefit is to make an appointment with the relevant officer at your local Council, and explain your situation to them. As far as I'm aware, the assets and income of both members of a couple are included in the eligibility calculation, even if one member of the couple is under immigration control and the British citizen is claiming as a single. Different Councils probably have different rules though. Make sure that you record what you're told in the meeting and ask the Council officer to follow up with a letter.

Re tranferring the funds from the sale of the property, I think it was discussed that HSBC could help with that? I've also heard (only anecdotally) that Standard Chartered Vietnam offers fairly easy fx transfers, but I don't have personal experience of them.
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 8:23 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

Originally Posted by christmasoompa
Why not? I've missed that discussion. That seems ridiculous to me, that you can't use the proceeds of a property sale to support your family and are instead going to be relying on benefits paid for by others. Surely there's a way?
If you know of a way to get 2.2 billion VND of untaxed cash from Vietnam to England then I'm all ears.

For now, the situation is looking like we will have around 5k of accesible savings at the time of application and that is what we will declare for the purposes of benefits as I have no other choice but to turn to public funds to support my family.
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 8:32 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

Originally Posted by spouse of scouse
The easiest way to check your eligibility for housing benefit is to make an appointment with the relevant officer at your local Council, and explain your situation to them. As far as I'm aware, the assets and income of both members of a couple are included in the eligibility calculation, even if one member of the couple is under immigration control and the British citizen is claiming as a single. Different Councils probably have different rules though. Make sure that you record what you're told in the meeting and ask the Council officer to follow up with a letter.

Re tranferring the funds from the sale of the property, I think it was discussed that HSBC could help with that? I've also heard (only anecdotally) that Standard Chartered Vietnam offers fairly easy fx transfers, but I don't have personal experience of them.
OK I will approach the council about it. Thanks.

HSBC cannot help, we talked to them before I left and my wife cannot transfer money from Vietnam to England using a premiere account until she gets UK citizenship, which is 5 years away. They cited government laws regarding these restrictions so I would assume the same applies for all the banks.
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Old Dec 3rd 2017, 8:47 pm
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

Originally Posted by Saigon456
If you know of a way to get 2.2 billion VND of untaxed cash from Vietnam to England then I'm all ears.
I've never heard of anybody having to prove that the original salaries used to buy the property that the proceeds are from were taxed at source? But I'm sure I'll be corrected if that is the case, just seems odd to me.
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Old Dec 4th 2017, 12:08 am
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

The situation as explained by the OP is that the 30K they have in savings, is being used to purchase a new build apartment in Vietnam. It is due to be completed this month.

Hence, his first plan of immediately selling the property and using the money from that sale could not be done as he would not have owned it for 6 months.

However, that does not explain why he is going ahead with the purchase of this property and then claiming to have no assets and thus eligible for housing benefit in the UK.

While I appreciate the property is in his wife's name, the savings, as per his earlier posts, were joint.

I do not see why legitimate savings cannot be transferred from Vietnam once tax has been paid on the money.

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Old Dec 4th 2017, 7:25 am
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Default Re: Accomodation and Benefits

Originally Posted by SanDiegogirl
The situation as explained by the OP is that the 30K they have in savings, is being used to purchase a new build apartment in Vietnam. It is due to be completed this month.

Hence, his first plan of immediately selling the property and using the money from that sale could not be done as he would not have owned it for 6 months.

However, that does not explain why he is going ahead with the purchase of this property and then claiming to have no assets and thus eligible for housing benefit in the UK.

While I appreciate the property is in his wife's name, the savings, as per his earlier posts, were joint.

I do not see why legitimate savings cannot be transferred from Vietnam once tax has been paid on the money.

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Well, that's what HSBC said. She can show source of funds (her property sale) but She can't transfer the money using their premier service until she has UK citizenship.

I can't transfer the money with my bank accounts because they are not my savings (can't show source of funds and not taxed etc).
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