Aging mums house options

waveneygnome

Hope some of you can help give opinions/options.

My mum (just the other side of 60) owns her own 1930's 4 bed semi-detatched house. No mortgage (we paid it off three yrs ago for her; but has a small endowment due next yr for £10k).

She has lived on her own for over 20yrs, but the house is in need of some serious work (I live away, but try my best DIY when I see her for holidays etc). I think the house needs new gas boiler (?£4k), repair to broken lintel above patio doors (?£3k), strip & retile roof (?£8k), new kitchen (?3k), update bathroom (£1k), redecorate inside & out (?£2k) = £21k.

Option 1 - sell her house

Had estate agents round this morning and they valued house at £175k in current state; £195k if it was 'done-up'.

Been looking at bungalows and there are some on the market at £160k - £170k for 2 beds. But they seem really small compared to the space she has now.

I take the EA valaution with a pinch of salt........but the same EA also has the bungalows on their books, so its not so much the value on her house, but the cost to change I am looking at. i.e. the differential between her house & bungalows is very small and by the time fees are taken into account should equal out)


Would you spend the money and get the place done up, then sell?.......or sell in current state?

Option 2 - Spend money on her house and she stays put

Mum has little savings (£4k) which I would not want her to use. I think I have pursuaded my absent/thoughtless brother to cough up £10k and I could mange £11k.

My brother is concerned that she will be rattling around in this big(ish) 4 bed house in her old age and when stairs become an issue, trying to get her to move in say her 70's may be harder psycologically.

My sister (who earns more than both of us but never seems to have any money...nor can contribute anything....) thinks mum should stay put in the 'family' home.

Mum is very open and easy to talk to, but doesn't know what to do. I think she wants me to make the decision (and necessary arrangements) for her.

Are there any other options you guys can think of?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Ms_Chocaholic

Your mum may qualify for sheltered housing - would she be willing to put her name down and then sell up once she moves - depends on what the sheltered housing is in your area but it has the added benefit of companionship from fellow residents.

My neighbour has just had her boiler replaced by Warm Front free of charge, she is in a similar position to your mum, lives alone, large house.

CloudCuckooLand

Depends on how your Mum feels about the place/her future;

- does she have "indispensable" neighbours?
- is there an emotional attachment, or conversely bad memories?
- is she an active 60ish-yr-old, or 'old before her time'?

While I understand the stairs issue, if there is or could be a downstairs bathroom, a dining room can become the bedroom...

The differential doesn't look like enough. You either spend to make the gap bigger, which has eaten most of the gap, or leave it as it is, which leaves a small gap. And any new place will have future costs, so doing a move which leaves a nest egg makes the most sense.

Smaller, sheltered places may be cheaper?

She might be scared of making a decision. Somewhere different can be scary, especially on your own. Or, knowing that making the decision to stay could lead to a difficult financial position (and imposing on you and bro) might be preventing her from stating her preference.

Catti

And think carefully about putting more money into a house which 'belongs' to Mum and which might be needed to pay for the costs of long term care in the future. Make sure the money used is expressed clearly to be loans and repayable to you and your brother if and when the house is eventually sold!

jhe

i would say your mum has to make the decision, if persuaded to move she may resent it in time to come and remember the good points of the house and not the bad. having worked with mainly elderly people in their homes for 30 year i see people in large houses living in one or two rooms downstairs, while the rest deteriates. elderly people usually feel the cold and a large house is expensive to heat and maintain. many of these people have told me they wished they had moved to a smaller house/bungalow when they were still able to do so. has your mum looked round bungalows with you? sheltered housing is great for people who are not as fit as they once were or feel happier with a warden on call, but these type of places were i have worked are usually small flats or bedsits.

Fire_Fox

My first thought is that sixty is an awful long way from being elderly, my parents are in their mid-sixties and are travelling the world (literally) in their souped-up motorhome!

I'd do whatever needs to be done to make the place comfortable over winter - windows, patch up roof, boiler if it's unreliable, loft insulation - then wait for the endowment to come through. That's enough disruption for one person to cope with all at once anyway! Doing the kitchen and bathroom can be very stressful, depending on your mum's personality she may prefer to move out while the work is going on.

Longer term how would your mother feel about taking in lodgers for some company and extra income? These could be foreign language students or weekday business men and around £4K per year would be tax-free. If she would be interested in that it would be worth spending some more money next year to get the place up to scratch.

sw_jay

I've just been in exactly the same position.

In the end my mum sold her house to me and my sister, we paid for the repairs (about 15k) and then the rest was given to us early as our inheritance. My mum really wanted give it to us while she was still around to watch us enjoy it.

She's now able to live in the home that she's owned for 30 years rent/mortgage free for as long as she wants or is able to without any financial worries.

And I now have a very healthy deposit for my own home aswell as having a 50% share in this one.

Everyone wins

G_M

I had a conversation with my mum 15 years ago along the lines of ' easier to move now while you're well/fit, than later when you're more elderly'.
15 years on she's mid 80s, (relatively) fit and still enjoying living in the 4 bed, 2 storey ex-family home!

A lot depends on your mum, her health, and her preferences. Moving home is a big decision, often it's better to stay where one feels at home.

Financially, there doesn't seem much difference. I'd be inclined to do up the house, and have a nice, bigger better house (which can always be sold later) rather than move to a pokier one for really no cost saving. Unless her mobility really IS an issue.

But as Catti says "Make sure the money used is expressed clearly to be loans and repayable to you and your brother if and when the house is eventually sold!" otherwise if she ever needs to go into care the council will assess her capital as the value of th house!

Warm Front grants for boilers:
1. Householders aged 60 or over in receipt of one or more of the following benefits: Income Support, Council Tax Benefit, Housing Benefit, Job Seekers Allowance (income-based), Pension Credit, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

I'd advise getting at leastr 2 more EAs to value the house to compare, and getting several builders quotes for the work - £4k for a boiler? Seems a lot, more like a new central heating system. £8K for a roof? Depends on the property but builders are desparate for work at present so prices are competitive.

bryanb

Catti wrote: »

And think carefully about putting more money into a house which 'belongs' to Mum and which might be needed to pay for the costs of long term care in the future. Make sure the money used is expressed clearly to be loans and repayable to you and your brother if and when the house is eventually sold!

You must do more than "express" it as loans. The only thing a Local Authority will respect is a charge properly registered on the property.

jhe

i agree with firefox that sixties is not elderly.people in their nineties can live independently , but to plan ahead for possible age related health problems while still fit and well is a lot easier than having the upheavel if ill health were to set in. by moving through choice people can settle into a new home and socialise and integrate with new neighbours, elderly especially who have to move house because of being unable to cope in their long lived and much loved home can feel very isolated

EdInvestor

sw_jay wrote: »

... the rest was given to us early as our inheritance. She's now able to live in the home that she's owned for 30 years rent/mortgage free for as long as she wants or is able to without any financial worries.

And I now have a very healthy deposit for my own home aswell as having a 50% share in this one.

I fear you will be caught by the Gift With Reservation of Benefit Rules as Mum is not paying rent (and you are not being taxed on that rent). Also if she needs care the local authority is likely to regard the house as still hers under the Deprivation of Benefit rules.