Question on buying a council house

octoberjoiner

Hi I have a question I hope someone can help me with. Please don't judge me if this is wrong then that's fine I just want to check information and see if it is okay to do or not.

My mum has health problems and gets benefits. Due to being a council tenant for ages, I have found out she would get a discount on the council house. I have saved up quite a bit of money and could afford the council house. It isn't making any money sitting in an account so I thought if I could buy the council house so I know she has a roof over her head, plus if in the future she needs the money for care home expenses anything like that, I could sell it to use it for that. I know a lot of people find it annoying that people can buy a council house but at the moment she gets housing benefit so she wouldn't need that any more. The only thing I want to know is, due to her health problems and disability she is on income support / disability benefit due to the fact she would now own a house would she lose this?

angelbob

this comes up a few times a week, Your mum is the tenant and can buy the council house, you can't.

BitterAndTwisted

She's the Local Authority tenant so she will have to be the person buying the house. If she's on Income Support then she and you should fully expect to be asked where she got the money from if it's a means-tested benefit.

Are you prepared to gift your mother this much money with no prospect of a return on it? If she does become a home-owner where will she get the funds for maintenance and repairs in the future if all she has coming in would be IS/DB? Perhaps, if she needs money for care-home expenses in the future it could be better to hold onto your funds and make a contribution once that's actually needed

Yorkie1

There is a lot to be said for having the security of a council tenancy.

Your mum does not have to worry about any maintenance - either arranging or paying for it. This is a significant issue, which is frequently overlooked by those anxious to get their hands on ownership of a council house.

Given that your mum is reliant on benefits, and also that she is the person who has to buy the house and not you, I would also research whether she would deprive herself of benefits if you gave her the funds to buy the house.

I think this is a poor idea even if you could make it work.

Fire_Fox

Welcome! Run an advanced search, as Angelbob says this comes up constantly. Your mother is the tenant, your mother has the discount, your mother can buy the house if she can raise the funds. You are not the tenant so cannot buy the house, only gift her the money which means you have no way of getting your money back and it could easily all be spent on her care if she needed it. As a homeowner your mother would still be entitled to certain means tested benefits - these are calculated on income, the home you live in is disregarded. If she were to buy the house and move out of it it would be seen as an asset and she would lose any means tested benefits.

octoberjoiner

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

She's the Local Authority tenant so she will have to be the person buying the house. If she's on Income Support then she and you should fully expect to be asked where she got the money from if it's a means-tested benefit.

Are you prepared to gift your mother this much money with no prospect of a return on it? If she does become a home-owner where will she get the funds for maintenance and repairs in the future if all she has coming in would be IS/DB? Perhaps, if she needs money for care-home expenses in the future it could be better to hold onto your funds and make a contribution once that's actually needed

Yeah that's fine i'd be happy to tell them I paid for it and where I got it from. Of course i'd be prepared to gift my mum this much money with no prospect of a return of it, she's my mum if it would help i'd do anything I'd be happy to pay the maintenance and repairs in the future. I understand what your saying about holding onto it but leaving it in a bank account it won't be getting hardly any interest anyway so putting in a house for her seemed the better option. if that makes sense sorry if it doesn't, I'm not so bright lol

octoberjoiner

Sorry if this annoys some people or again isn't the right thing to do but it's just a question. If I moved into the house with my mum could she then buy it and put it in joint names so we buy it together but with my money if that makes sense. To be honest I look after her a lot of the time anyway. Obviously I'd put down that it's hers if she needs to sell it in the future or needs the money for a care home.

BurnleyBob

No, joint names is a non starter.

Whether you lived with her or not, it would be in her name only because she's the tenant.

If you decide to purchase it for her you'd have to supply the cheque for the vendor's solicitor. Transferring the dough into her bank account for her to write the cheque would be disastrous 'cause it would be extremely likely she'd be whacked for deprivation of capital. A cheque from you wouldn't be as she would never have had the capital to deprive herself of.

If, and it's a big if, you were prepared to live with her permanently and she died before you, then there's a good chance that you would 'inherit' the home via tenancy succession rights after which you would become the tenant.

More info here: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/families_and_relationships/when_someone_dies/if_a_tenant_dies/succession_rights

The Assignment link there would be of most relevance to you. You'd have to consult a solicitor to learn of the ins and outs of that but her home would need to be your primary residence for a minimum of one year before that avenue can be pursued.

Fire_Fox

octoberjoiner wrote: »

Sorry if this annoys some people or again isn't the right thing to do but it's just a question. If I moved into the house with my mum could she then buy it and put it in joint names so we buy it together but with my money if that makes sense. To be honest I look after her a lot of the time anyway. Obviously I'd put down that it's hers if she needs to sell it in the future or needs the money for a care home.

Again run an advanced search, you are far from the first person to think of this and it has been explained at length why this is not possible.