Buying a council house, advice needed

Giggles_Fairy

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum section, I dont usually stray from the ebay and craft bits!

My Grandad is 80 this year. He has lived in the smae council house for 40-50 years (maybe even more). It is in a nice area (although does overlook a dual carridgeway) and has 2 double rooms and a box room, with a garden at front and back. Due to his age he gets his rent and council tax etc paid for him.

Many many moons ago he was offered the option to purchase the property with a discount dependent on how long you had lived there (think this was around 20-30 years ago). However having 5 children over 10 years meant my Nanna said she did not want to be burdened with a mortgage but would rather use her money to enjoy themselves, something which proved to be a good choice as my Nanna died suddenly ages 63.

Fast forward to now and I have been thinking about the house. With it having been in the family for so many years and with so many memories of all my auntie/uncles/mums childhood plus mine and my cousins childhood in the house it would be a shame to loose the house if anything were to happen to my Grandad. Also if any situations were to change I would like to think my Grandad would not have to move to another house. He is very able bodied and looks 60 instead of nearly 80 so I cant see him going anywhere soon but thinking longterm I would hate for him to have to leave the property and move elsewhere as I think this would cause great distress for him.

I just wondered if anyone knew what the rules were with regard to purchasing council houses now? bearing in mind he has lived there for at least 40 years, with his rent being paid for him for approx last 15 years. Do you still get a discount price?

My Grandad himself does not have the money to purchase the house but with it being his 80th this year I thought it could be nice if all the family were able to put the money together to give him to buy it. Would this cause problems? As technically this isnt his money? Although it would be a gift.

Everyone on the threads I do visit are so knowledgable I thought it would be best to ask on here for advice, information and experiences before attempting to wade through the council to enquire!

Wee_Willy_Harris

Available discounts depend on the location of the property and range from a maximum of £16,000 up to a maximum of £38,000 in some areas of the South East.

Giggles_Fairy

thanks for replying wee will harris.

We are in the north west in greater manchester.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Giggles_Fairy wrote: »

thanks for replying wee will harris.

We are in the north west in greater manchester.

£26k is the maximum discount. But you need to look into the implications of this very carefully, including the financing.

Paul_the_Painter

The situation at the moment is that he has a "free" place to live. Not really free, it's just that taxpayers are paying for it. If the kitchen needs replacing, the council will do it, the council are responsible for the upkeep of the exterior of the property, also the heating system, electrics, insurance etc.

If the family buys it, who will pay for it if he needs any of those things done? The easy answer is - not the council.

It may be arguable that it is worth buying if he paid the rent himself, but as he doesn't it is not worth buying.

This especially applies as he is getting on a bit. Current practice is to do EVERYTHING possible to keep someone in their own home for as long as possible, so if he has trouble with stairs, the council won't be pushing him off to an old folks home, they will be putting in a stair lift.

If and when he does eventually need to go into a home, as he does not have any income, the council will pay for care, but they will place a charging order on his house to recover the costs after he dies.

Your lovely gift will be sold to pay his care home fees. You'll be doing well do get anything back, as he sounds like a bit of a fighter, and care home fees run to around £40,000 a year.

DO NOT BUY THE HOUSE

If on the other hand you were thinking of buying the house in the hope of making a decent profit on it, after he passes away. Well you can take the risk that he never needs to be in a care home, and also accept the burden of essentially becoming his landlord, you'll be fixing the toilet, replacing the kitchen, redecorating, sorting out the new roof, fixing the heating, getting the boiler serviced annually etc etc etc.

It's your call, but the downsides are huge, and to be honest I think the taxpayer deserves the house back when he passes on, as they have rented him a cheap property for decades, and free for the last 15 years or so.

He has just as much chance of staying in the property for as long as he likes whether council or privately owned. it may be better to be council, as if he has trouble getting up the stairs, they may be able to move him to a bungalow/flat that better suits him if he has mobility problems later on.

How about a really big blowout for his 80th? Book a large country house, and get ALL the family over, stay for a few days, give him something to remember. As you age memories become much more important than posessions.

Don't buy the house

Giggles_Fairy

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

£26k is the maximum discount. But you need to look into the implications of this very carefully, including the financing.

I think my family are under the impression the discount would be much greater than this, so thank you very much for this information. So if the house is worth £100, my Grandad would need to pay a minimum of 74K.

It is the financing that my Auntie has asked me to look into. As people have said that as it isnt 'his' (my grandads) money then the council will argue against him buying it, questioning where this money has come from and why they his rent has been being paid if this sum is at his disposal. I think they may have looked into it very briefly many years ago, which I think is where she get this info from.

Do you think the council would accept that my Grandad is given the 'gift' of the money to purchase the house?

Giggles_Fairy

Paul_the_Painter wrote: »

The situation at the moment is that he has a "free" place to live. Not really free, it's just that taxpayers are paying for it. If the kitchen needs replacing, the council will do it, the council are responsible for the upkeep of the exterior of the property, also the heating system, electrics, insurance etc.

If the family buys it, who will pay for it if he needs any of those things done? The easy answer is - not the council.

It may be arguable that it is worth buying if he paid the rent himself, but as he doesn't it is not worth buying.

This especially applies as he is getting on a bit. Current practice is to do EVERYTHING possible to keep someone in their own home for as long as possible, so if he has trouble with stairs, the council won't be pushing him off to an old folks home, they will be putting in a stair lift.

If and when he does eventually need to go into a home, as he does not have any income, the council will pay for care, but they will place a charging order on his house to recover the costs after he dies.

Your lovely gift will be sold to pay his care home fees. You'll be doing well do get anything back, as he sounds like a bit of a fighter, and care home fees run to around £40,000 a year.

DO NOT BUY THE HOUSE

If on the other hand you were thinking of buying the house in the hope of making a decent profit on it, after he passes away. Well you can take the risk that he never needs to be in a care home, and also accept the burden of essentially becoming his landlord, you'll be fixing the toilet, replacing the kitchen, redecorating, sorting out the new roof, fixing the heating, getting the boiler serviced annually etc etc etc.

It's your call, but the downsides are huge, and to be honest I think the taxpayer deserves the house back when he passes on, as they have rented him a cheap property for decades, and free for the last 15 years or so.

He has just as much chance of staying in the property for as long as he likes whether council or privately owned. it may be better to be council, as if he has trouble getting up the stairs, they may be able to move him to a bungalow/flat that better suits him if he has mobility problems later on.

How about a really big blowout for his 80th? Book a large country house, and get ALL the family over, stay for a few days, give him something to remember. As you age memories become much more important than posessions.

Don't buy the house

Wow I guess you have really strong views on this. You raise some very interesting points, and I will definately pass them onto my family.

The house itself is of a very high standard, my Grandad has done many manual jobs over the years and is still a dab hand at most jobs about the house. Although I know this is no quarentee with houses as something will just go boom without any notice! Im glad to hear the council would make every effort to keep him in his own home, I guess I was worried as they have already approached him about downsizing as they said they have families that have a greater need for the property. So I was worried they may see any sign of physical weakness as an excuse to get him out of the house. Most of the houses on the estate have been bought off the council over the years so his is one of a few that remain in the estate.

The idea is definately not to make a profit from the house but rather for the house to then be inherited by the family. Most likely either one of his children (2 currently rent) or one of the grandchildren would move into the house. As I said the feeling has just been that due to the fact thats is a lovely, well kept house in a nice area (which can be rare in greater manchester!) with so many wonderful memories it would be a shame for the house to be 'lost' (for want of a better word).

We have done to rent a house with all the family many times over the years, he often says how lucky his is to still have his 5 children and all his grandchildren living within a 5minutes drive of his house (ie still in the same area!). He doesnt want a big fuss for his birthday he said, just his family around him so we have already planned to have a meal/get together at the pub where he has his 21st birthday all those years ago so making enough memories is definately not a problem.


I guess the family was just wondering what the implications would be money wise. As obviously its not my Grandads money so they were thinking that many the council would not allow this, as Im sure people have tried to take advantage of this over the years.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Giggles_Fairy wrote: »

I think my family are under the impression the discount would be much greater than this, so thank you very much for this information. So if the house is worth £100, my Grandad would need to pay a minimum of 74K.

It is the financing that my Auntie has asked me to look into. As people have said that as it isnt 'his' (my grandads) money then the council will argue against him buying it, questioning where this money has come from and why they his rent has been being paid if this sum is at his disposal. I think they may have looked into it very briefly many years ago, which I think is where she get this info from.

Do you think the council would accept that my Grandad is given the 'gift' of the money to purchase the house?

Possibly. But this would have to be a cash gift. You would not be able to get a mortgage on a property owned by a third party. He would also be unable to continue to claim housing benefit/LHA on the property, so whoever "gives" him the cash, will see no income from it. A can appreciate how attractive a cheap family home must seem right now, but it does need careful consideration. If your family have that kind of cash at their disposal, it may be wiser to buy on the open market and rent commercially for an income.

Giggles_Fairy

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

Possibly. But this would have to be a cash gift. You would not be able to get a mortgage on a property owned by a third party. He would also be unable to continue to claim housing benefit/LHA on the property, so whoever "gives" him the cash, will see no income from it. A can appreciate how attractive a cheap family home must seem right now, but it does need careful consideration. If your family have that kind of cash at their disposal, it may be wiser to buy on the open market and rent commercially for an income.

Definately needs careful consideration as you say. They dont want any house other than this one, due to the sentimental value of it as much as the practical aspects of the house. I am 24 years old and I know they have been talking briefly about this for at least 5 years. As they have never researched the actual implications of buying the house they have never made a deifnate decision, rather the subject is broached every few months usually at family gatherings (which is what happened tonight!).

Thank you for your help.

Running_Horse

Giggles_Fairy wrote: »

Wow I guess you have really strong views on this. You raise some very interesting points, and I will definately pass them onto my family.

It is not a question of really strong views. It is really good advice to keep your grandad secure. Use the search function and you will see this question comes up at least once a month. The fact that the OP is usually blinded by a big discount doesn't change the fact that most elderly council tenants are better off as they are.

poppysarah

It's been your granddads home for all these years so leave well alone! If the family falls out and someone wants money back there'll be almighty rows. Especially if repairs need doing.

And if he needs care then he then has an asset to sell to pay towards that.