Help needed - right to buy

parkyerbike

Hi, I wonder if you can offer me any advice on the following?

My Grandma was given the right to buy her council house at a discounted price.

As she nor her siblings were that interested in taking up the offer, I asked if I could give her the money and purchase the house, allowing her to live there until she didn't want to any more; not taking any rent but attending to all required repairs.

I did this so my sister would have a house to live in when she leaves home in the future.

As the house is still in my grandma's name, how do I ensure that the house will be in my name (legally).

I also understand that if my grandma ever needed to go into a home, the council have the right to sell the house to pay for sheltered accomodation, is this true and is there any way around this?

I have tried a number of sources but no one seems to be able to answer my questions.

Thanks in advance...

Regards

Emmzi

Has the purchase gone through yet?

Generally you can only buy jointly with her, not in your own name, and then only if you have lived in the house for 12 months yourself.

If you transfer to sole name before 5 years are up, a portion of the discount has to be repaid.

http://www.counciltenantsmortgages.co.uk/right-to-buy-changes.html

also notes...

"if you enter into an agreement to transfer your property to a third party in the future then this will trigger repayment of your discount. Discount repayment is triggered from the date that you ENTER into the agreement "

And here's the full blown info guide..

http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1151285

HTH

crossleydd42

If you go ahead with joint ownership, you will have to ensure that she signs some sort of agreement stating that, on her death, she relinquishes ownership of the house in your favour. A Will won't be any good, because she could change (or be persuaded to change) it at any time without your knowledge. See a solicitor on this one.

parkyerbike

Hi, thanks for the input.

Yes the sale has gone through but it was pre 2005.

I think the bit that worries me the most is "If you are elderly and own your home, its value may be taken into account in assessing whether you are eligible for financial help with the costs of residential care."

I would just like some way of protecting from this if at all possible.

Regards

seven-day-weekend

We did precisely this with my MIL and she gifted the property to my husband by legal deed of gift as soon as the tie-in period had expired.

Not long after this happened she had a major stroke and had to go into a nursing home. We explained to the Social Services that prior to this stroke she had been fit and healthy, she didn't know she was going to have a stroke and therefore hadn't deliberately gifted the house to my husband to deprive herself of assets to avoid care home fees. We also had receipts for the money we had paid to buy the property (Obviously it had to be bought in her name, but she gave us receipts every time we gave her money to pay the mortgage).

We didn't lose the property, the SS believed that she had not deliberately deprived herself of assets.

Every case is different though, and I don't think there is any way you can guarantee they won't take the house. If there is, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will be along to tell you.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

parkyerbike wrote:

Hi, thanks for the input.

Yes the sale has gone through but it was pre 2005.

I think the bit that worries me the most is "If you are elderly and own your home, its value may be taken into account in assessing whether you are eligible for financial help with the costs of residential care."

I would just like some way of protecting from this if at all possible.

Regards

Have a look at the Age Concern England website, it has lots of info on what local authorities consider to be deprivation of assets. Although you can ask your local authority how it interprets the ruling, that may change in future years. HTH

ctabuk

Firstly thank you to the person who used my website as a reference, I do indeed own CTAB - however, we would not assist anyone trying to buy their grand parents house. It is an abuse of Social Housing, we believe that when a person dies that the property should become available to people on the waiting list and not be bought purely for profit.

parkyerbike

Thankyou for all of your replies.

What I would say in response to ctabuk's comments - "It is an abuse of Social Housing, we believe that when a person dies that the property should become available to people on the waiting list and not be bought purely for profit."

I have done a lot of repairs that the Local Authority wouldn't do, such as new UPVC front door, new bathroom suite and new fences. I have redecorated the house for my grandma so the house is exactly how she wants it. Why would somebody consider doing all of these things for a potential dolote druggy to be moved in after my grandma has passed on?

Again, thanks for your responses.

Regards