Right to Buy council house - elderly tenant in hospital and carer/son lives with her

themull1

i think that you should be with your mother at this sad time, not trying to buy her house as she's dying.

Amara

My and my husband used to live with his parents in HA house , we asked to put our names as tenants, but HA refused. Mum died first and tenancy been transfered on dad's name. He died a year on and we applied for tenancy for ourselves. It took half of year, but finnally they agreed.

3Dogs

Amara wrote: »

My and my husband used to live with his parents in HA house , we asked to put our names as tenants, but HA refused. Mum died first and tenancy been transfered on dad's name. He died a year on and we applied for tenancy for ourselves. It took half of year, but finnally they agreed.

Many thanks for your reply Amara - it must have been an awfull time for you and your husband. May I ask, were you living in the house over this period, after you Dad died, while they sorted out the tenancy. My sister and I are very worried about what will happen to my brother as he gave up his way of life to look after our mother 5 years ago, and mother was very worried about it too. She would be deparately hurt to find that he was left with nowhere to live. The world of carers is now opening up to me, things I never considered before. Oddly, when Dad died, my husband and I did offer to move up North to live with and care for her, but my brother decided that he would do it

I would add that being here for my Mam is everything to me of course, I have left my husband down in East Anglia to come up North to be with her at this time. However, what happens to my brother is all part and parcel of the situation, themull1, though I thank you for your blunt and callous reply - all I can say to you is, I pity you really if that is your attitude

Many thanks !!!!!! for the advice regarding Power of Attorney, which I found very enlightening - I always thought that Power of Attorney was simply taking over someones financial affair, but it seems that there is more to it than that, which I will have to investigate further

BitterAndTwisted

Having Power of Attorney means that you have to be acting in the best interest of the person, not what you think they might have done with their own money if they could, so buying the house would be a definite no-no under the circs.

Look at it this way: when your mother passes and your brother no longer has any rights where the tenancy is concerned should the Local Authority seek to evict him, they will be the ones making him unintentionally homeless. Then they will be obligated to help him find accommodation. So, the actual outcome may not be as bleak as you fear. It could be that they might offer him a smaller property than he occupies at present. No Local Authority would want the sort of negative publicity which putting a 60-odd year-old former carer out on the streets would bring.

3Dogs

Many thanks BitterandTwisted for your advice - Mam and my brother live in a 3 bedroomed house, with chair-lift, so, if council were to rehome him, he would be more than satisfied with that, as long as it was ground floor accomodation/OAP bungalow as he himself is in poor health, which is why we are so worried about him too. He recently had stents fitted for heart trouble, is diabetic, has slipped disc, as well as angina himself

C_Mababejive

As i see it,mother would have to buy the house whilst she is the tenant.

She can be the only owner and it cannot be co owned as only she has the right to buy.

She would then have to leave it to son in her will.

Seems to me she needs to act quickly .

I'm not sure what would happen if she died before she fully acquired the house. Would it be a no sale? I suspect so as she wouldnt be alive to complete.

paddedjohn

if mother went into a care home the house if owned by her may have to be sold to pay for care, also if she did buy the house then died within 5yrs then some of the equity/profits would have to be payed beack to the council as the house would be transfered to her son

bitsandpieces

If your brother can afford a 3 bed place (even with RTB discount) surely he could afford a ground floor flat somewhere, probably with money left over? Is the RTB discount here enough to be worth all this stress and risk?

What you're thinking of doing with RTB could be very complicated, carry some real risks and be very stressful: I'd be reluctant to take this on even at a normal time. Also, you'd be very unwise to do this without appropriate advice and legal advice is likely to cost (which will eat some of the RTB discount even if things go smoothly - if they go badly it could really add up).

I'd suggest the following are worth trying:
- get advice on if your brother can make a case to inherit the tenancy. CAB, carers charities or housing charities should all be able to advise for free.
- get advice on what your brother's options are if he is evicted. The same organisations should be able to help. The health issues you mention might make him a higher priority for social housing (I don't know what the situation is in your area).

If your brother wants to buy and is in a position to do so, it may be better to look at other properties. No need to rush into this, though: even if he's evicted from the council flat, he could rent for a short period in order to give things time to calm down after what will have been a very stressful period.

You should also get advice about the situation regarding benefits. If your brother has a lot of cash he won't be eligible for means tested benefits. Of course, if he will be working that's not an issue. I'm not sure if having lots of savings could make it harder for your brother to get social housing, too.

Amara

3Dogs wrote: »

Many thanks for your reply Amara - it must have been an awfull time for you and your husband. May I ask, were you living in the house over this period, after you Dad died, while they sorted out the tenancy.
Thank you We were living still in the same house.We were paying rent, same amount although techically it wasn't rent,because rent but "payment for privilige of living here" .Silly, I know , but rent is for tenants onlyand we weren't tenants then. We tried to buy this house four years ago, but was simly too expensive. Days with huge discounts for right-to-buy buyers are trully over.

3Dogs

Many thanks for all your replies

Firstly, the home my mother is currently in is not a normal nursing home. It is almost an annexe of the hospital, funded by the Local Primary Trust, so no fees are payable

Secondly, my brother has some savings but would need the small amount of Mam's savings, together with some help from my sister and I to buy the house under RTB

I must admit that, the more I consider this, the more I feel that Right to Buy is not the way to go, but that is what asking questions on here is for. Perhaps my brother should just take his chances with the local council rehousing him, hoping that his age and his own health problems would go in his favour

Many thanks for all your help on this guys - you have been wonderful