Hiya I'm new and have a problem regarding housing benefit and property.

[magic19]

Hi all,

I recently split from my partner and i am in the house we rented, i have now taken over the house i applied for housing and council tax ben as i have a low income. i jointly own a home with my ex which he rents to a family and it only covers the mortgage no profit is made, and had to have it valued by the district valuation sevice......and it has been over value by alot which puts me close to the 16,000 limit is there a way i can dispute this? Im so worried that my payments will stop as i won't be able to afford to live.

Many Thanks

[enaid]

Re: Hiya I'm new and have a problem regarding housing benefit and property.

Hi magic and welcome,
Firstly the rental from the property even though you say no profit is made, only the interest part of the mortgage will be discounted the rest will be classed as income. If it is an interest only mortgage then that,s fine.
The equity on the house will be classed as capital and yes £16,000 is the limit, why do you think it has been over valued?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Hiya I'm new and have a problem regarding housing benefit and property.

'Close to £16k' means you still get some benefit although deductions will be made on both CTB and HB. Over £16k means you're not entitled to any benefits.

If the house is jointly owned, only half of the equity should be considered as capital.

[magic19]

Re: Hiya I'm new and have a problem regarding housing benefit and property.

The house was 135,000 in oct 2006 and they valued it at 160,000 its a semi and the man next door burgled me and was intimidating me etc....the police were involved and he was sentanced, which was the main reason i move, we cannot sell it for that much due to the fact the bloke next door burgled me. The house has not gone up 30,000 in 6 years, i don't even want it lol.

[PlanB]

Re: Hiya I'm new and have a problem regarding housing benefit and property.

Hi all,

I recently split from my partner and i am in the house we rented, i have now taken over the house i applied for housing and council tax ben as i have a low income. i jointly own a home with my ex which he rents to a family and it only covers the mortgage no profit is made, and had to have it valued by the district valuation sevice......and it has been over value by alot which puts me close to the 16,000 limit is there a way i can dispute this? Im so worried that my payments will stop as i won't be able to afford to live.

Yes you can dispute the valuation but you must do this by asking for a Revision of your HB claim with the Local Authority and not an appeal to the District Valuer who is employed by the Valuation Office Agency because they don't deal direct with the public.

You will need to gather your evidence. So get three pessimistic valuations from local estate agents (tell them why you want this) and check out the going rate for similar property sold in the area using a website like nethouseprice which basis its information on Land Registry actual sold prices and not over-inflated guesstimates. Just put in your postcode and see what sold in your street in the last 12 months. The District Valuer probably didn't go inside the property he would just have done a drive-by but the agents will need to know the condition so meet them there and point out all the bad bits like damp blah blah blah.

http://www.nethouseprices.com/index....d-House-Prices

You must do this within 28 days of getting a Decision letter. If you don't win your Review then you can take it to an Appeal. And if that fails you can take it to a Tribunal. Here's how to do it:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad..._and_appeals#0

There are websites which will tell you the crime statistics in an area and how many ASBOs have been given out. In view of what you've said about your neighbour's conduct it's posssible that evidence of anti social behaviour in the area could help you dispute the valuation. Every cloud has a silver lining :grin:

[magic19]

Re: Hiya I'm new and have a problem regarding housing benefit and property.

Thank you so much i will let you know how i get on once the letter actually arrives but it gives me some food for thought and a plan of action.

Again Thank you :tinysmile_grin_t: