Owns house but sofa surfs… capital?

Hi

It is the the value of the Cl’s interest in the property (as opposed to the value of property itself) which is taken into account as capital. I think it is reg 111 of JSA regs.

Is he getting / did he get SMI?

It’s not clear from the paperwork, but I am asking him. That was the query in my head too.

In addition to the importance of taking into account the tenants I think with the current housing market situation it is worth asking a lot of questions about valuation evidence as a whole. With very low numbers of transactions how are they giving valuations for a quick sale? – seen as the relevant thing in R(SB)6/84. I reckon they might be just making them up or judging off a small number or transactions in properties which may have been on the market a long time and which may not be comparable to the property concerned. I would want a full explanation from the valuer of everything s/he has taken into account – including which transactions for which properties he has used as a guide, details of those properties, how long they were on the market before sale, the prices concerned and why s/he thought these were a useful indicator for valuing the client’s property. If a tribunal just has a valuers opinion they might be inclined to accept it on the simple grounds that he is expert etc. They might not be keen to look behind that but I think it could be well worth asking them to.

These valuations may be no more reliable an indicator than LIBOR!

There is supposed to be a DWP manual on how to value - referred to in DM Guide, but it does not appear to be in the public domain. Think I might try an FOI as it would be useful to see.

See attachment

Brilliant!! Many thanks.