Help!!!!

Martinslovechild

If there's any way at all that he can purchase the property, then he should do it. He'll effectively be paying £17K for something worth £56K. That's £40K of free cash for the cost of a Vauxhall Astra!!.

Many people take out a higher rate than 5.9% on an Astra, so why not go for the 5.9% offered on the house? I wish I had the opportunity to buy a house for a 70% discount!!

seven-day-weekend

munki wrote:

Hi Sparky001, Most mortgage companies require that you pay of your mortgage in full by the time you are 65 so if your dad is 63 that may not be an option.

A loan maybe the only other way or alternatively get your dad to go see a mortgage advisor to see if there are any other options for him.

Good luck to your dad anyway and hope he manages to find a solution!!

My MIL was able to get a RTB mortgage (from the council) for seven years at the age of 73.

seven-day-weekend

seven-day-weekend wrote:

My MIL was able to get a RTB mortgage (from the council) for seven years at the age of 73.

If you can't do this (rules may have changed since the early 90s) I would go for the bank loan.

lowis

regarding lending on council properties over the 4th floor - it depends on locaton of the property and also whether it is brick or concrete built - the banks I went to had a guide as to when over the 4th floor was acceptable to them as they go through their criteria with you whilst you are there.

despite being on the 11th floor i got positive responses from 4 major lenders (Nationwide, Halifax, HSBC and Abbey) and they had no problem with lending over the 4th floor as my flat is in a very central london location and brick built. the lenders that had a problem with it were Britannia, C&G and some of the smaller lenders.

good luck with your purchase.

Mrs_Optimist

Having read the response to my previous post it occurs to me that not evryone looks at the bigger picure. OK so the OP dad can 40k of "free" cash but he will also have other expenses that he would not normally have if he stayed a council tenant, ie buildings insurance, repairs to the property would be his responsibility and not the council, and if god forbid he has to go into a Care Home the "Free" cash would be swallowed up in paying for that care. What benefit will he have other than higher monthly outgoings (I could imagine a loan repayment would be more than the rent he currently pays the council) What if he lost his job because of ill health, was made redundant etc - his home could be reposessed, he appears to be living on his own so would not have another wage to fall back on. I am interested in this post because my parents also live in a local authority house, worth 150k which they can buy for 40k. After weighing up the pros and cons we as a family decided that it would be better for them not to buy since they will always be guaranteed a roof over their heads and the only time they could lay their hands on the "free" money was when they had popped their clogs(I mean where are they going to live to enable them to release the funds - if they buy another property the "free" money would be eaten up with the purchase price of the new one) If the OP dad was younger I could see the benefit, he may want to move etc but I can only see beyond the "free" cash and the possible pitfalls.

UK007BullDog

If the OP father were the owner of the property and in the future needed care he could use the equity in the property to pay for the care or even pay for an income if invested* carefully, without needing to move out of the property until he dies.

* Only an IFA who is qualified in lifetime mortgages can give advice on this.

UK007BullDog

lowis wrote:

regarding lending on council properties over the 4th floor - it depends on locaton of the property and also whether it is brick or concrete built - the banks I went to had a guide as to when over the 4th floor was acceptable to them as they go through their criteria with you whilst you are there.

despite being on the 11th floor i got positive responses from 4 major lenders (Nationwide, Halifax, HSBC and Abbey) and they had no problem with lending over the 4th floor as my flat is in a very central london location and brick built. the lenders that had a problem with it were Britannia, C&G and some of the smaller lenders.

good luck with your purchase.

You are right, however the lenders are constantly changing their criterias and it also depends on the area. One month they will do it the next they wont. Some lenders who might never do it will if presented to them as a good profitable risk

clutton_2

may i respectfully suggest that this forum provides a venue for ordinary folks to give their opinions - these surely are not the same as Professional Financial Advice ?

markmc999

It seems to me that the loan is probably the best choice - especially if he can over pay each month if he so wishes (even by a tenner!)