Care home costs if been living rent free?

DreamweaverB

Jowo wrote: »

What happens in 10 years time after the rent free period has ended?! Where does this chap go?

The rent-free period will be for as long as he wants/needs it, whether that will be 5, 10, 20 or more years. The plan is he can live there for the rest of his life.

Jowo wrote: »

it's about whether it has been done to improve a persons position to receive means tested benefits or social care services.

" they should not be regarded as depriving themself of it if they did it to

• reduce or pay off a debt they owe
– payments to reduce/pay off a debt, eg paying a credit card account or mortgage early

Good advice on contacting an Elder Charity, I will do that but the guidelines you quoted seem to categorically confirm that selling the house to pay off debts is perfectly acceptable. "Deprivation of assets" is the one thing I'm not worried about, he simply doesn't have any net assets, his debts equal the value of the house (if anything the market/house has gone down a little since his neghbour sold a few months back.)

Jowo wrote: »

You'd also need to understand your obligations as a landlord, such as complying with safety regulations (gas certificate), repairs and so on.

Now this is something I was not expecting. Will I be a landlord? There will be no payment whatsoever made to me regarding him living there and no tenancy agreement. This will be an elderly relative living in a property I own and I'll speak to a solicitor on how to deal with the possibility that I die before the relative.

Jowo_2

DreamweaverB wrote: »

Good advice on contacting an Elder Charity, I will do that but the guidelines you quoted seem to categorically confirm that selling the house to pay off debts is perfectly acceptable.

I didn't get a firm impression of this and that document may not be the definitive one for your situation.

DreamweaverB wrote: »

Now this is something I was not expecting. Will I be a landlord? There will be no payment whatsoever made to me regarding him living there and no tenancy agreement.

Perhaps you can post this query on the House buying forum or on the Landlordzone website to understand if he becomes your tenant, or not, and who is obliged to pay for repairs.

seven-day-weekend

AFAIK you will be a landlord and will have to comply with gas safety regulations etc.

Mojisola

As your relative has secured loans, then presumably he is at risk of losing his home anyway. If you didn't follow through with your plans, he would end up being entitled to help with housing costs. Under your plan, you would be saving the taxpayer a lot of money. Make sure your relative keeps all the paperwork - or get copies to keep yourself - to show the current situation and how the money from the house was used to pay the debts.

DreamweaverB

Jowo wrote: »

I didn't get a firm impression of this and that document may not be the definitive one for your situation.

I'll see if the local council can give me a definitive answer.

Jowo wrote: »

Perhaps you can post this query on the House buying forum or on the Landlordzone website to understand if he becomes your tenant, or not,

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

AFAIK you will be a landlord and will have to comply with gas safety regulations etc.

This isn't what I wanted to hear, I'll try one of the landlord-specific forums for some specialised advice.

Mojisola wrote: »

As your relative has secured loans, then presumably he is at risk of losing his home anyway.

Yes, I've been covering his mortgage for a while and one of the documents from CAB specifically noted that he would lose his home if I were to stop contributing.