Can you get Universal Credit if you own your home?

Who can get Universal Credit as a homeowner

You can claim Universal Credit if you own your home, as long as you meet the normal rules. You must:

• live in the UK
• be 18 or over (there are some exceptions for 16 and 17 year olds)
• be under State Pension age
• have £16,000 or less in money, savings and investments

Universal Credit itself does not include money for your mortgage. Instead, homeowners can get 2 kinds of extra help.

Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)

SMI is a loan, not a grant. It helps with the interest on:

• the mortgage for the home you live in
• loans for certain repairs and improvements to your home

It usually covers the interest on up to £200,000 of your mortgage. DWP works it out using a standard interest rate, which is currently 3.66%. It is normally paid straight to your lender.

Example: your mortgage is £150,000. At 3.66%, SMI is worked out as £5,490 a year, which is £457.50 a month. If your mortgage were £200,000 or more, the most you could get would be £7,320 a year, or £610 a month.

SMI cannot help with:

• missed mortgage payments (arrears)
• insurance policies

There is no credit check.

The 3 month wait

You can usually get SMI after you have had Universal Credit for 3 months in a row. You may get it sooner if you moved to Universal Credit within a month of another benefit ending and have had these benefits for 3 months in total.

Paying the loan back

You repay SMI with interest when you sell your home or transfer ownership. The interest rate on the loan is currently 4.5%. You will not be forced to sell your home to repay it. If the sale does not raise enough after your mortgage is paid, the rest is written off. You can also make voluntary repayments of £100 or more at any time.

Help with service charges

If you own a leasehold home, Universal Credit may help with service charges after 9 months. These include shared facilities like rubbish collection or communal lifts, and window cleaning of upper floors.

You cannot get this help if you have income from a job or from self-employment, or from some statutory payments.

How to check and apply

To apply for SMI, add a message to your Universal Credit journal or call the Universal Credit helpline on 0800 328 5644. You fill in and sign an application form, then send it to your lender. Your lender fills in their part and sends it to the office that pays your benefit. You then get a loan offer, which you can accept or turn down. If you turn it down at first, you can still accept it later while you are eligible.

If you live in Northern Ireland

Homeowners on Universal Credit in Northern Ireland can also get SMI and help with leasehold service charges. Check the details on nidirect.

Related guides

• Can I get help paying my mortgage interest?
• What is the Universal Credit housing element?
• What is Universal Credit?
• How do savings affect Universal Credit?

Where this comes from

• Housing costs and Universal Credit: living in a property you own (GOV.UK)
• Support for Mortgage Interest: what you'll get (GOV.UK)
• Support for Mortgage Interest: eligibility (GOV.UK)
• Support for Mortgage Interest: repaying your loan (GOV.UK)
• Support for Mortgage Interest: how to apply (GOV.UK)
• Universal Credit: eligibility (GOV.UK)
• Universal Credit payments for housing (nidirect)