Bought Aunties House

trackerboy_69

Hi all, i wonder if anyone can give me any advice. I provided the funds to buy my aunties house a few years ago, the house is still in my aunties name we had a deed of trust set up in case anything happened to her or she became ill and had to go into care they couldnt use the house as income. I was wondering could transfer the deeds of the house into my name and rent it to her with her claiming housing benefit she is an ol.d age pensioner. I hope someone can give me some advice thanks

silvercar

You could transfer it into your name. You would be liable for SDLT if it is worth over 175k.

She could claim housing benefit, the benefit agency would probably check your paperwork to check this was a real tenancy, not one created falsely to get benefit.

You would be liable for income tax on the rental income.

If she did go into care, she could be liable to pay care fees as it would be assumed that she had obtained market value for the property and had the money available to her.

When you come to sell the property you could have a CGT liability if its value increased.

PasturesNew

For claiming LHA (it's not housing benefit any more), any payment granted would be at the 1-bed/self-contained rate.

Questions might be raised though as to what she did with the money you paid, how long ago you bought it, whether it's just a wheeze to extract hard-working taxpayers' money.

Was it HER house already when you bought it? Or did you buy the council house she was living in?

Caz3121

there have been a few posts similar in the last few weeks

I don't think she can claim HB for a property she has owned in the previous 5 years (if her name is on the deed then this may be classed as her house)

If she changes the deeds there will be an assumption that she has received a large sum of money for it....you can't just give something away to be able to claim benefits

trackerboy_69

PasturesNew wrote: »

For claiming LHA (it's not housing benefit any more), any payment granted would be at the 1-bed/self-contained rate.

Questions might be raised though as to what she did with the money you paid, how long ago you bought it, whether it's just a wheeze to extract hard-working taxpayers' money.

Was it HER house already when you bought it? Or did you buy the council house she was living in?

I bought the house under the council right to buy a few years ago so she hasnt received any money from me as such. She has lived their rent free all this time, i remortgaged to raise the funds for this i was just wondering if it was possible to go about changing the name on the deeds and be her landlord without doing anything illegal.

trackerboy_69

Caz3121 wrote: »

there have been a few posts similar in the last few weeks

I don't think she can claim HB for a property she has owned in the previous 5 years (if her name is on the deed then this may be classed as her house)

If she changes the deeds there will be an assumption that she has received a large sum of money for it....you can't just give something away to be able to claim benefits

Thanks for the reply, i can see your point about her giving it away, although i actually own the house. I just wanted to know if their was away to go about it as she was on disability and housing benefit before i actually bought the house.

PasturesNew

I think (personal opinion) that it is unlikely any claim would stand up.

Your aunt was in a council house which you bought in her name under the council RTB. The house is still in her name.

Now you want to change it to your name so she can claim LHA.

They'll see straight through this one and hoist you up by the danglies. You bought it speculatively in order to benefit financially, mostly I suspect by obtaining the council discount, then any HPI on top of that.

If the house now goes into your name, they would investigate and deem it to be "not allowed".

So, to summarise:
1] You wanted to get your mitts on the Right to Buy Discount
2] You wanted to benefit from the future house price increases
3] You want me (the taxpayer) to pay you rent for your cosy setup.

Your application would be pinned on the staff noticeboard for merriment.

poppysarah

trackerboy_69 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, i can see your point about her giving it away, although i actually own the house. I just wanted to know if their was away to go about it as she was on disability and housing benefit before i actually bought the house.

You don't actually own the home.

You gave your aunt the money for it.

You now want the house - fair enough. Take the house, sell it and make your aunt homeless. That way she can probably get another council house and then you can do it all again.

trackerboy_69

PasturesNew wrote: »

I think (personal opinion) that it is unlikely any claim would stand up.

Your aunt was in a council house which you bought in her name under the council RTB. The house is still in her name.

Now you want to change it to your name so she can claim LHA.

They'll see straight through this one and hoist you up by the danglies. You bought it speculatively in order to benefit financially, mostly I suspect by obtaining the council discount, then any HPI on top of that.

If the house now goes into your name, they would investigate and deem it to be "not allowed".

So, to summarise:
1] You wanted to get your mitts on the Right to Buy Discount
2] You wanted to benefit from the future house price increases
3] You want me (the taxpayer) to pay you rent for your cosy setup.

Your application would be pinned on the staff noticeboard for merriment.

Yes i did buy it for the future for when my daughter is old enough to live in it. Got no intention of selling it on so not looking to profit this way.
As for you the taxpayer paying rent, my auntie was receiving benefits for this before the house was bought, so i have actually saved you money as she hasnt received HB for four years.

trackerboy_69

poppysarah wrote: »

You don't actually own the home.

You gave your aunt the money for it.

You now want the house - fair enough. Take the house, sell it and make your aunt homeless. That way she can probably get another council house and then you can do it all again.

Got no intention of selling it as i bought it for my daugter to live in in the future. Why would i make my aunt homeless?
I only asked the question on here to see if it was possible to change the deeds and rent it back to her if its not possible then so be it things wil just stay the way they are.

needahome_2

trackerboy_69 wrote: »

As for you the taxpayer paying rent, my auntie was receiving benefits for this before the house was bought, so i have actually saved you money as she hasnt received HB for four years.

no you havnt, you got around 50% of the house value from the tax payer, that is housing stock that needs to be replaced at some point by the tax payer.

out of interest, why are suddenly wanting to do this, when you have been happy for your aunt to live there rent free for the past few years.

anychance things are a bit tight at the moment, possibly from any other property transactions you have made, e.g. mewing,btl, lie to buy etc,etc