Would we qualify for housing benefit?

Husband is a British citizen.
Son (2 yrs old) is a dual UK/US citizen.
Daughter is a US citizen..(his step child)
I am a US citizen.

Both my daughter an I have settlement visa's. However I own property in the USA. Myself and my oldest son (26 still in USA) inherited this property in 1993. It is in both our names, an neither one of us can sell the property without the others approval.

Under these circumstances would or could we qualify for housing benefit? I mean if in every other regard we qualified, would being 50% owner of this property stop us from getting housing help in the UK?

Currently right now the property is worth around $44,000 USD. I own 50%. However even if I wanted to sell it, I couldn't.

If anyone knows anything about this, could you please help.

As each council handles their own housing benefit applications you would need to contact your local council and make application through them and they would be able to tell you in specific regard to your situation if and what your husband may be eligible to.

The thing about housing benefit is that your husband would have to apply and include you & your child, however since you have 'no recourse to public funds' on your visas the amount of benefit that he might be eligible to would only be for 1 person and not for the entire family.

We actually have ILE. We were under the impression this was the same as ILR..means we were not restricted from public benefits.
Am I wrong on this assumption? (you know what they say about assumptions lol)

We actually have ILE. We were under the impression this was the same as ILR..means we were not restricted from public benefits.
Am I wrong on this assumption? (you know what they say about assumptions lol)

No, you're correct in your assumptions...however you didn't state that in your initial post (kinda important information)...but, it still remains that you would need to make application through your local council, provide them all the information and let them determine if you'd be eligible.

Sorry Weby, you are very correct..I should have included this information (ILE) in my question. Oversight on my part. 

Sorry Weby, you are very correct..I should have included this information (ILE) in my question. Oversight on my part. 

Not a problem, it is just good to make sure that you're giving all the necessary info, that way you make sure that you get the right information back.

Good luck to you hope that you can get something sorted with your local Council.

They would never know you owned property in the US unless you told them.

They would never know you owned property in the US unless you told them.

Benefit fraud... looks great on your record.

They would never know you owned property in the US unless you told them.

Benefit fraud... looks great on your record.

Oh yeah, you can kiss any hopes of Naturalisation goodbye.

Hello everyone,

Forgive me if I can find this information elsewhere on the site...this seemed an appropriate place for my question.  Actually, I have another after reading these posts! 

My husband is a British citizen and our son is dual US/UK.  I'm slightly confused as to my status here...we fall into the category of having applied for entry from outside of the UK and having been married/living outside of the UK for more than 4 years.  Does that mean I have ILE?  Below is quoted from the UKBA website.  My visa says 'KOL required' and 'No recourse to public funds'.  That doesn't sound like ILE to me.

We may be able to give you permission to live permanently in the UK as soon as you arrive, if:

■you and your partner married or formed a civil partnership at least four years ago;
■you have spent those four years living together outside the UK;
■you are both coming to the UK to settle here together; and
■you have sufficient knowledge of the English language and life in the UK. (You do not need to meet this last requirement if you are aged 65 or over.)

My second (and original) question is how we go about housing benefit.  My current understanding is that I am not eligible but my husband and son are.  I am the working partner while my husband cares for our son so it would technically be my income that would be considered when making our application.  We had some issue when my husband applied for jobseeker's allowance and they overpaid us until we were able to make them stop.  We've just sent them a cheque to repay the overage.  I just want to be clear that my husband/son ARE eligible and that we won't be doing anything naughty by applying for benefit. 

Of course, if I am mistaken about my ILE status or maybe should just get my KOL done and then I could have the ILR this would be a non-issue.

Thanks for your help!

Katie

You're right that you don't have ILE.  You would have needed to have taken the Life in the UK test first to get it, but if you go take the test and apply for ILR, you will be given it.

Housing benefit works much like jobseekers in that while they take your income into account, he can't get any extra because of you being there.  Of course, if you get your ILR, you will be a part of the equation as well and they would be able to take you guys into account when deciding what you can have.

You're right that you don't have ILE.  You would have needed to have taken the Life in the UK test first to get it, but if you go take the test and apply for ILR, you will be given it.

Housing benefit works much like jobseekers in that while they take your income into account, he can't get any extra because of you being there.  Of course, if you get your ILR, you will be a part of the equation as well and they would be able to take you guys into account when deciding what you can have.

Thanks for your response, Cadenza.  Wish I had known it was possible to take the KOL before arriving here!  Just to clarify, after I take the test, I still have to apply (and pay) for the ILR application, right?  What is the benefit of having been married for 4 years outside the UK?

I believe it is just me that can't be considered with regard to the benefit since our son is a UK citizen.

Cheers,
Katie

Just to clarify, after I take the test, I still have to apply (and pay) for the ILR application, right?  What is the benefit of having been married for 4 years outside the UK?

Yes, that's right.  I'd suggest doing this ASAP as the fees for ILR are scheduled to increase in April. 

The benefit of having been married for 4 years outside the UK is that you can get ILR as soon as you pass the KOL test, rather than having to wait until you've lived in here for two years. 

Just as an example, I came here only four years ago.  I think I paid two or three hundred for my initial visa and complained about it being exorbitant at that.  Now, only four years later, it is over $1000 for the same visa.  It is so worth getting the ILR and getting UKBA out of your life as soon as you are able to.  Personally, I can't wait for my citizenship--just saving a few pounds to pay for it.  It was a huge weight off my mind to know that I had permanent residency and didn't have to worry about it from there though.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for your replies earlier about housing benefit.  This isn't quite related to housing, specifically, but benefits still so I'm putting it here.  In applying for housing benefit (via my Brit husband), they said we needed to apply for tax credits.  We did, purposely excluding the section about working tax credits because we are not sure if we are OK to receive them.  I am the working partner and my husband stays home with our son.  Due to this situation, we aren't sure whether we can receive working tax credits without breaching my settlement visa terms.  So we tried to just apply for the child tax credit through my husband.  What happened is that they applied the child tax credit and deposited it directly into my husband's bank account but then sent cheques made out to me for working tax credit. 

We have not deposited them.  I've called the tax credit office who deferred my case to the next level.  I am still waiting to hear back.  There is a 30 day expiration date on the cheques, of which 2 weeks is already gone.

Will I be breaching the terms of my visa if I deposit the cheques?
Can they apply working tax credit through my husband even though he is not working?

I think I will start working on preparing for the KOL test so we won't need to worry about this stuff anymore.

Thanks for your help!
Katie