Does house ownership affect JA

My friend asked me to post this on her behalf. She is applying for JA but has a mortgage on a house (which is negative equity). Will this 'asset' affect the likelihood of her claim being successful?

No Sam, the house your friend lives in as her residence is not included as means.

Of course, if she's gaining an income from her home, for example letting out a room, that income is included.

This from the Citizen's Information Centre may help. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/e...ans_test_for_jobseekers_allowance.html#l4570f

Darth.

Thanks for the link.

She has the house letted out and is renting a room elsewhere.

Any outstanding mortgage registered against the property is deducted from the market value to find the capital value.

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Since she is in negative equity can I take it from the above sentence that the capital value is effectively nil and thus this won't be counted against her?

Yes, that is the case - the rent she receives for the house is not assessed as income, it's the property which is considered the asset (which in this case has a nil/negative value).