- While you live in it, your home is ignored, whatever it is worth.1
- When you sell, the money is ignored for 6 months if you intend to use it to buy another home to live in, and DWP can extend that when it is reasonable.12
- If you are not buying another home, the money counts as savings straight away: over £16,000 stops UC.54 You must tell DWP about the sale either way.4
The rules, paragraph by paragraph
Schedule 10, paragraph 1: premises you occupy as your home are disregarded. Only one home counts as yours.1
Paragraph 13: an amount received within the past 6 months that you intend to use to buy a home is disregarded where it comes from the sale of your former home.1
Paragraph 6: a property you have left and are taking reasonable steps to sell is disregarded for 6 months from when those steps began. Paragraph 5 covers a home you left within the past 6 months after separating from a partner.1
Regulation 48(2): where Schedule 10 gives 6 months, DWP can extend it where it is reasonable. Its guide gives examples: you have tried but not found a suitable home, or the purchase has not completed or the seller pulled out.23
Worked example: selling to buy again
A single person aged 25 or over sells their home and has £55,000 left after the mortgage and fees. They rent for £650 a month while they look for a new home, and have £2,000 in the bank.
| Sale money (ignored for 6 months) | £55,000 |
| Other savings counted | £2,000 |
| Universal Credit a month while buying | £1,074.90 |
| Universal Credit a month if the sale money counted | £0.00 |
If they decide to rent long term instead, the sale money counts and the £57,000 total is over £16,000, so UC stops.5
Worked example: what is left after paying debts
Someone else clears their debts from the sale and is left with £14,500, with no plan to buy again. Paying off a debt is not deprivation of capital.7
| Capital counted | £14,500 |
| Tariff income | £147.90 a month |
| Universal Credit a month | £927.00 |
Common mistakes
Not reporting the sale because you are buying again. GOV.UK says you must tell DWP about funds from selling your home even if you intend to buy another.4
Letting the 6 months run out without asking. If the purchase is delayed, ask DWP to extend the period and keep evidence of your search or the delay.23
Thinking the 6 months applies to a second home. The proceeds rule is for the home you lived in; a property you never lived in counts as capital unless another rule applies.14
See what your savings do to UC with the savings calculator →
Universal Credit savings limit calculator 2026/27 UK (free)