Buying A Property Through A Family Member.

WoodruffsDad

My wife and I live in a "tied" bungalow which we shall have to vacate when we retire in a couple of years time. I am 69, she is 63.

We cannot buy a house outright and our total savings amount to only £25,000.

Would it be practical and legal for my daughter, who is 31 and mortgage-free, to buy a house with a deposit provided by me and my wife and where we will pay the mortgage until such time as we "shuffle off" then the house becomes my daughter's to keep for herself?

If not, can anyone suggest how, at our ages, we can best use the £25,000 to provide us with a modest home for our retirement?

Conrad

Yes in a word, subject to her meeting criteria.

She could opt for a buy to let lender - but beware there are some rules around letting to family members - lenders often recoil at the notion as they feel a family tie means getting the rent in can be compromised where sentiment and emmotion are part of the lanlord / tenant equation.

Now she could buy a place with a normal mortgage assuming she can commute to work from there and you just happen to move in. This kind of thing happens naturally all the time in the real world, for example someone buys a home and then meets a partner and they end up moving in.

McKneff

The trouble with this is that you would have to 'give' your daughter the £25K. (google 'deprivation of assets)

She would actually own the house, you wouldnt be paying the mortgage, she would be paying the mortgage, you would be paying rent to her.

In the fullness of time, you may need to claim means tested benefits/ care home, the list is endless.

WoodruffsDad

I don't mind "giving" my daughter the deposit and I don't mind that she would legally own the house. That was my plan all along.

I just want to have some choice in where I live after retirement, having been very profligate (four wives and exotic cars etc!) in my early life.

Or is there a better way which gives me some choice?

grey_gym_sock

'deprivation of assets' is unlikely to be problem, because you have little enough capital to start with. you do not have to contribute to care home fees if your capital is under £14,250 (i think - may vary in scotland etc). providing you and your wife have £12,500 each, you're under the limit already. so it would make no difference if you were treated as not having given away the money.