spouse of scouse

Hey, I'll take 'often' over never

mikelincs

Well, we've never had council tax included, I suspect the word should have been 'rarely'.

not2old

in Scotland yes, in middle England maybe in a rooming house, but I believe even today council tax is extra to the rent.

On the topic, the £18,600 gross living wage is tough for the average Jane or Joe or is it?

As for the couple mid 30's only one of them is working, on ~minimum wage, can you imagine on a gross of £250/wk after NIC & tax deduction, the net is only £226.82.

Their rent is £100/wk, council tax £25/wk. Sheffield council housing allowance/benefit with council tax relief amounts to £46.20/wk.

The couple are left with £148.02/wk for living expenses (£226.82/wk - £78.80/wk rent & council tax) It doesn't seem too difficult, or does it?

Either the spouse has to work, or the only person working needs to double up the work hours (two or more jobs) or find a better paying job

not2old

in Liverpool owning a condo, you'll be paying council tax + the management condo fees ongoing

If you rented a unit in a condo or an apartment/house in Liverpool, then rent is one payment, with council tax as an extra separate payment.

Nice (I mean nice) one bedroom flat in Liverpool about £500 - £700/mth, council tax ~£100/mth

Now, you may find a landlord that will offer you 'council tax included' - then you likely figure the rent will be £100/mth more than a rental that council tax was extra.

Maybe a holiday home rental for the short period?

spouse of scouse

Ta for the info, not2old. We haven't got a clue which way we should go - the first decision we have to make is whether to try and pull out of this off-plan flat purchase (no problems pulling out, it's whether we get our money back!) We've made a few 'progress payments' on it already, the trouble is, there's very little 'progress' on-site. Not at all happy about it

Colouk

Thanks for your response. When I have a spare few hours to read through that document, I will. In the mean time, if anyone could just share their knowledge with me as this forum intends, and let me know if to do the Singh route and move to France or Spain, for example, with my non-EU spouse for 6 months we need a spouse visa through the French/Spanish authorities, that would be much appreciated

formula

UK pensioners don't need to find money for housing as they are mortgage free.
If they have a low income then they don't pay any Council Tax.
They won't have children to keep.
Their travel costs are free.
Their prescriptions are free.
Their eyetests are free.
They receive a winter fuel allowance.
60s are the new 40s.
They don't pay NICs if they are still working.
They get special savings rates.
Ect

formula

AFAIK, most landlords don't include the council tax in the rent.

Even those on benefits have to contribute something towards their Council Tax; unless they are pensioners on benefits.

formula

When the person being sponsored has a job in the UK, their income can be used, but if they arrive in the UK without a job what guarantee is there how quickly they will find a job? If they have skills that are in demand in the UK and will quickly find a job, they can apply for a work visa and then use their income to meet the spouse visa. If they want to improve their chances of getting a job by furthering their education in the UK, as a student they can use their earnings towards a spouse visa too.

The savings route is just another of the many sponsor catagories.
18.6 (The minimum financial income requirement per year) X 2.5 (the length of the spouse visa) + 16k (the amount that is too hight to claim most income based benefits) = 62.5k.

There are many catagories to choose from to be able to sponsor someone.


The financial requirement was brought in so that the sponsor now pays for their choice to bring someone to the UK, to remove some of that burden from the UK taxpayers. We have seen posts on this site where someone has got a spouse visa, then went straight down the benefits office with their spouse virtually as soon as they got off the plane.

Tr1boy

I will

mikelincs

I'm not..

not2old

it seems that a pensioner(s) on low income below the 'guaranteed credit' can get council tax discount/relief, even if they have some savings

https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit

All daft in the UK system of benefits

Citizens Advice - Council Tax Reduction - how is it worked out


If you are entitled to Guaranteed Pension Credit, you should receive maximum Council Tax Reduction, which is 100% of the council tax payable, less any deductions for non-dependants.

If you are working or receive any other type of benefit, including Tax Credits, the amount of benefit you get will be based on all income and capital that is received by you and your partner. Your benefit will be worked out by comparing your total weekly income with your applicable amount. The applicable amount is the allowance set by the Government to take account of your individual or family's needs.

mikelincs

If both of a couple are on state pension, then they will get a council tax reduction, and, if renting, housing benefit, once the income goes over a specific level, then these benefits disappear. The level and amount of housing benefit and council tax benefit does, however, depend on the council after this government decided to allow councils to set the levels after they reduced payments to councils. For a single person council tax is reduced by 25%.
It will depend on the rent you are paying as to whether the benefit will mean that you get all your rent back or just a percentage, the councils have set rental levels for different sizes of families

rebeccajo

"Capital" is an asset such as savings. My understanding is anyone including pensioners with savings over 16000 cannot get housing benefit.

mikelincs

no you do not need a spouse visa from another country, you are exercising your treaty rights to live there, and take your spouse with you