Does owning a plot of land affect your claim for job seekers

willow2013

Hi all I was recently made unemployed, previously i bought a plot of land trough the credit union.. the land like most others is in negative equity at present.. I am now running out of any cash savings i had and will need to sign on soon... will owning a plot of land affect my claim? If i dont declare it what happens?
All advice & personal experience on this topic welcomed

mrsbyrne

If you are applying for Jobseekers Benefit and are entitled to it, then for the period the benefit lasts, your land will not be taken into account. However if your applying for, or only entitled to, Jobseekers Allowance then it will.
See below:
Capital and property not personally used

Capital includes property (not your home), savings and investments.
If you own property (excluding your home) or you have investments or any other form of capital, the value is assessed, using a standard formula (see below) whether or not you are getting an income from the property or investment. If property is rented you will not be assessed on the actual income from the letting. Any outstanding mortgage registered against the property is deducted from the market value to find the capital value.
The property and investments that may be assessed include savings in a bank account (or anywhere else), a house that you have let and stocks and shares. If you or your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant saves a portion of your social welfare payment each week, these savings as well as savings from most other sources will be taken into account as part of your means.
The formula for assessing the value of capital including property (but not your own home), savings and investments is as follows:
Capital Weekly means assessedFirst €20,000NilNext €10,000€1 per €1,000Next €10,000€2 per €1,000Balance (€40,000 +)€4 per €1,000
If you have a joint account with your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, legally the total amount in the account is owned by each of you. Therefore it can be assessed in full against each of you. However, if you are both getting means-tested payments it will be assessed on a shared basis or against only one of you.
For example If you have €55,000 savings:
The first €20,000 is assessed as nil, €20,000 to €30,000 is assessed as €10, €30,000 to €40,000 is assessed as €20, €40,000 and €55,000 is assessed as €60.
€10 + €20 + €60 = €90
Savings of €55,000 gives a means of €90 per week.

willow2013

Ok thank you for that Mrs Byrne but excuse my ignorance... whats the difference between J.A & J.B ? I will also point out my 17 yr old daughter lives with me

mp22

JB is not means tested.