Beneficial interest?

I have a client who is married but separated and claiming UC (and ns ESA) as a single person whilst still living in the ‘marital home’

The husband owned the property prior to their relationship/marriage, she is not on the mortgage or property deeds, and they have no children.

They are undergoing mediation to agree finances for divorce - my client is seeking almost half of the property value but this is disputed by the partner.

My client worked with her partner in entertainment and he paid her a wage minus ‘household expenses’ which he explicitly stated was not inclusive of rent/mortgage payments.

She has received support on/off for a number of years due to emotional abuse and controlling behaviour by the partner.

If she were to move out of the property, could she continue to get UC and if a financial settlement is agreed this money would only impact her income based benefits once paid to her? She intends to use this as a down payment on a shared ownership property

H1272 A person may seek an order for financial provision and property adjustment which occurs1
1. on the granting of a decree of
1.1 a divorce or dissolution of civil partnership or
1.2 nullity of marriage or civil partnership or
1.3 separation or
2. at any time after any of the events in 1..
1 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973

H1273 A person does not have a benefcial interest in any capital they are seeking unless and until, a
property adjustment order is made1
.
1 R(IS) 1/03

Yes…your quotes from ADM H:1 reflect the situation. When she has entered the shared property agreement she can claim housing costs from UC. The landlord portal was updated earlier this year to accommodate shared ownership property. This followed a period of inconsistent advice from UC agents regarding getting the housing costs for shared ownership. In our area Westward Housing do some good shared ownership schemes.
https://www.westwardhousing.org.uk/apply-for-shared-ownership/