Hi Its a strange usual question i guess, but I own a home in Devon, has a big mortgage on it, and the markets totally slumped down there, too much supply, not enough mortgages going through, tried selling the house and no takers at all.... and work prospects are not brilliant that way either, and also my mother whose health isn't very good lives in Essex, so upon all that, I decided to rent out the house, was the ONLY solution, so I could move down to surrey, be near family and also more importantly work, as I just couldn't find permanent work and got into trouble with mortgage repayments once because of erratic work... Thing is I have now lived in surrey for nearly three years now, and my work has been erratic again... and now my landlady has asked us to move out, and so started looking to rent elsewhere, and have been shocked to find how rents have shot up! we have got until march 2014 till we have to move out... I just want to know, what if I cannot find anywhere for me and the wife and daughter to live in a price bracken we can afford and accommodation that suitable as my wife has mobility problems too plus need to stay in certain area due to work and daughters college to add to all this..... what if it comes to the point in march and we still cannot secure accommodation? can I ask the council to for help? would i be entitled to any help if I own a house elsewhere? as I have tried selling it, but cannot unless i take a hit and sell for less than the mortgage on it, we cannot just move back, one we have tenants in there whose fixed tenancy doesn't run out until august next year, secondly my daughters in college and three its work for me... I just feel like I am caught between a rock and a hard place right now.... Thanks in advance

Update... sick to our stomachs, we can’t believe this whole mess we are in now, we got to speak with the negotiator only this afternoon, after waiting for over 48 hours after numerous telephone calls and being told to go from one dept. to another, it was like no one knew who was dealing with our possession.... we got a few shocks told to us too along the way, first one was we learnt we had been taken to court in December 2010 for a possession but suspended possession order was made, that was when we got into arrears very first time, and because we missed an august payment this year, that how they went straight in and changed locks...BUT!, we had NO KNOWLEDGE of this court date, or that it even happened until we was told today on the telephone, can you believe this, it’s like I am making this up, but I am not, we never again received NO court paperwork back in Dec 2010, also we found out our mortgage had gone up due to base rates another £20 a month, yet ours in behind the base rates , we was told a letter had been sent out in May regarding that, again we never got it, and on top of this, whilst we was not at the house they had sent a mortgage field agent to the property, as we had not responded to their letter ( which we couldn’t because we was away from the property at the time all letters are still in house locked) our lovely horrible nosey neighbour who we had run in before had purposely gone out of her way to speak with the field agent and told them " oh they are away in London, and their tenants have just moved out few days ago" we are like what the blood hell! on the phone after hearing all this, how can so many letters not get to us, how could we even defend our self’s if we wasn’t even aware of anything, i.e. court hearing, suspended possession order, letters about mortgage gone up, and now a fecking nosey neighbour has even added into it with wrong information, it could not get any worse, we eventually spoke with the negotiator dept. today explained ALL of it again to him this person was arguing every point, saying it was our responsibility to keep them updated etc., which we argued we did, we gave forwarding details on the telephone back in late august and early July, and had even sent an email to email address given by the lenders telephone advisor, we have a copy of the email still, we also had spoken with Halifax a few other times too to do with different things, at not one point in any of those conversations did they mention we had a suspended possession order over my home, this really beggars belief, my wife has been in tears for last few days since finding this all out, we left it on the note with the negotiator what we wanted, which was the house back, and to pay extra on top to clear the areas off sooner and appealed to their better side and hoped they would agree, now we been told to wait whilst he puts all this forward to this board of people....... all this has been so stressful on me and my family, we cannot believe how just not getting some letters can cause all this, I am so surprised when I asked don’t any letters get recorded? and was told no, I’m am shocked such important letters are just put into normal post and with way royal mail have lost my mail so many times over the years it’s just plain wrong I just don’t know what’s our next move if they say no or come up with some demand i.e. pay off all areas in one go, as we can’t really afford that right now, maybe half but that’s all.... what can we do legally, any advice, anyone, I’m pretty desperate here , I’m so stressed!!

hello, how can we join in with this? what do we have to do? we used to have a mortgage with swift years back, in 2006 we sold up, but the charges they levied on us were HUGE, we tried to get a solicitor onto it, but he gave up on us, are we too late to do anything about it,

Hi Lea, Thanks for the reply so fast, it helps me greatly, I will get back to you after we have called them, where do I send this N244 form to, do you now how much it costs? also i forgot about this, i emailed them to make them aware of my contact details, this is the only evidence I do have dated in begining of september 2012 telling them about my new mobile number and forwarding address and email address, three ways to contact me,I never got an acknoweldgement though back by email... would this stand up in court? Regards'

your land lady cannot ask you to leave if she has not protected the deposit, she can only get you out through a court, but only after your tenancy has ended, but since you have 8 months left on your tenancy, you cant be asked to leave any sooner, if you accept your deposit back, she has more of a leg to stand on when your tenancy ends in getting you out, so if i was you, i would use the non protection of the deposit as a levaridge in getting her to do what you want and make the rooms right, or threaten to sue her for three times the depost plus your deposit back, plus sue for inconviniece, stress and affects to your health due to damp and cold, she if she speaks a different tune then, just for the record, she left it too late to go and protect your deposit now, she can protect it, but the law will still stand the same, ...., as for councils, some people on here are telling you to go to them, yes go to them, but they will only tell you they cant help until your are litrally being thrown out onto the streets just before baliffs arrive, so basically they will wait until your landlords gone to court to evict you , they want it to get to that stage before they accept you as a duty to house you.... it does not put your banding up automatically anymore, thing have changed a alot in regards to getting housed, due to a huge crisis of housing in the uk, I know all this because my daughters just been all through it with council, and I know all about the deposit side as had experiance of it too. fight back and good luck

long story but try to cut short, I had to move to London to secure work and be near sick mother in late august, I rang my lender, Halifax in early august asking for them to allow me to rent it out due to gaining work and being near sick mother and will be working away from now and be very busy with a sick relative too, I even gave them my new mobile number, as commuting would be horrendous and made more sense to rent it out, I was told to ring them back in 10 days once my request was put in for an answer ...they refused... I've been with friends living during week in London since and come back now and then to my house at weekends in first few weeks, but it was getting harder and harder to do this so sometimes I would not be back at house for 5- 6 weeks at a time..... Back in 20110 I got into arrears with my mortgage, but with mutual agreements with my lender I paid more on top through whole mortgage term, it never went to court. Now this august I missed a payment, first one ever since 2010, I had told them this on telephone, said I would pay it as soon as I could, I didn’t. anyway, I asked a friend this weekend to go to my house to collect mail as I had not been there for many weeks ( stupid I know, but it’s the way it is) when they went, they could not get in!!! keys would not fit locks, a neighbour spoke with friend who said someone was there other day and changed locks... so when I was told this I was scrating my heads for a while, I just could make head nor tale of it, what reasons... I nearly called police, but occurred to me to ring my bank, turns out all they could tell me only this as its a Saturday was, my homes been repossessed for one late missed payment, and I have to wait till Monday to speak with legal team part, as its not open at weekends... I’m in a complete panic here, I have ONLY missed one payment, due in August, and I’ve paid Septembers. Paid Octobers too.... how the hell, I know I should have got mail redirected, I know, so obviously I have letters about this, but I just have not had the chance to get to them to read as been working away and looking after sick mother too. I dont understand whats gone on, except they must of wrote to me, and because Ive not been around Ive not see the letters of threat of court actions, so I have not had any chance to contact them back and defend myself, and because of this they gone and got repo because I didnt even turn up at court. What can I do , I really need advice, what do I say to Halifax legal team first thing Monday Morning??? Help

I just read upon the directgove website, says " Who isn't eligible You can't usually get Housing Benefit if: you have savings of over £16,000, unless you are aged 60 or over and getting the 'guarantee credit' of Pension Credit you live in the home of a close relative you're a full-time student (unless you're disabled or have children) you're an asylum seeker or are sponsored to be in the UK sourcehttp://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018926 Think you cannot rent out to a close relative by reading this???

Omg, there is so many of these IUC threads appearing, what is going on here, are the powers to be trying to get money back from us poor souls because of the MP expenses? Get a solicitor is the best advice i can give, and also look after yourself too, stress is not good for you, good luck x

Hi, Sorry to hear of all your troubles, I have been in similar situ too, so know full well whats your going through now. But, PLEASE, dont go alone to your IUC, you need to take a solicitor, these interviews are used to try and trap you and they twist your words and ask question after question and you get very confused, this is what they bank on, remember everything you say is taped and can be used against you later on, a solicitor will be able to get disclosure before you go in, so best thing is to get one a.sa.p. Goodluck

Hi Luvmykids Sorry your going threw this right now, I have had to go through this also, and am still awaiting a decsion, its worring for you, I know too well, yes they can stop your entitlement if they believe they have strong! evidence you have commited fraud, but with what your saying, it doesnt sound like it?? which I am puzzled about too, but I have a solicitor, and she did say, they do act on the most minor of things, ie a bill in a name or credit check in that person name in your address, which we all know when we get credit checks, we have to give old address if your address is of less than 3 years, but trouble with dwp, they dont see it like that, they will hound you all the way, because they bank of people cracking up and admitting they are doing wrong, all you can do, is appeal at the moment, and thats when you will have your time to defend yourself, but i know that doesnt help you in the meantime with finances, sorry, I dont even know if my benifets will be stopped yet, if they do, I will have to move out of my home and live with family or friends, because I could not afford the rent myself, I am on esa now and im not to good with health problems. If you want any further advice, PM me, please take care of yourself in the meantime x

That is the gray area, from what I have read on leaflets from the dwp, there is no written word on 'nights visiting staying over' in any leaflets or application forms etc, its only says in this respect living togther as a couple/husband/wife or civil partner. So if you have a girlfriend/boyfriend who stays over and you do things that bf/gf do, ie meals out, days out or shopping as per norm, seems the dwp see this as cohabitating or evidence as possiable proberbility, so it seems it is an official idea from the dwp to warrent it enough to make them think you are doing fraud if you claim as a single person and can call you in for an interview, from my experiance and from what I have read on others who have been through this, its all very very confusing, and totally wrong when you get questioned about your private life. I wish someone with some dwp legal knowledge on here reading this could clarify this area.

this is such a gray area, because if you look at it like you have wrote, what your saying is, that you cannot have a private life ie boyfriend or if not a boyfriend, you cannot have relatives visting from abroad or futher afield for example ie 2 weeks staying with you, I have been reading allot on this latley, and from what I have read, if that person/s has their own address and pays rent or a mortgage and pay council tax and bills from their own address, but has a boyfriend or girlfriend who is on benefits and stays over allot in their home purely for convience (ie distance maybe), surely that doesnt mean they are living together does it? because if that is true and dwp say it is, surely thats against human rights because it creeping into a person private life, you cannot take a person private life away because they are in recipet of benefits, thats uterrly ridculious and wrong!

If its an interveiw under caution?, I had one of these IUC last week, mine was awful I was basically called a liar from the start, and was being asked many personal questions regarding the access to my ex and our son, all they are worried about is 'money' and it seems you was made an overpayment during those 3 months and now they want it back, get legal advise hunny before you ring them or go, dont go without a solicitor xx take care

thats not entirely true, I had an IUC last week, went in, My solicitor asked for disclosure, and I was told it was two things, both in my ex's name which he used my address but was taken from teh time he did live here, it just rolled over, one was credit check agency, which turns out does do checks on 'previous address's' if you have moved in last 3 years, so of course that would show up on a person credit reference check, you have to put that down any address's you have lived at if its under 3 years, the other was a miscommunication to do with a form filled out this year, the department didnt read the covering letter stating that i am to soley take the application on on the yearly update, my ex passed the application over from his name into mine, seems they didnt do this and I didnt know, I forgot to check they did it correctly. So no they dont have to have evidence to call you into a IUC,because mine was the most stupid of evidence, yet I got called in, I went and was treated as a liar from the start of of the tape running,I have never ever been talked to like this before, I had questions and questions thrown at me re my ex, even was asked why does he see my son?? what they trying to say, he shouldnt come to his son home to see him?? he should see his son on the street then?, my interviewer was a nasty piece of work, I had to call the interview off 20 mins in, I couldnt take any more, I am planning on making a statement with my solicitor next. I hope it goes well for you, but dont go alone, get legal help.