Should I help buy my parent's council house?

SephirothX

I don't see why it's any different. If I lose my job then more than likely they'd be forced to sell the home unless the mortgage is paid off. I have no plans to get married without a Prenup because it's financial suicide these days regardless of whether it's the home your parents live in or your own.

On the other hand if it weren't transferred to my name I run the risk of them needing care in the future and me losing my share.

Maybe a joint ownership after 5 years would work out better? The council couldn't potentially take my half off me via "deprivation of assets" then surely? After 6 months it is down to them to prove it was done to deliberately avoid care home fees too, and as we're clearly not planning that I don't see how it could be proven. They can make assumptions and accuse people of lying, but you can't prove something that isn't true.

Mojisola

SephirothX wrote: »

I've read the council can look back as far as they want when it comes to "deprivation of assets". That expensive holiday I'm going on later this year could affect my benefits for care in 50 years time for example of the council wanted it to.

No, it couldn't.

SephirothX

Extremely unlikely yes, but it was meant to be an extreme example to get the point across that the council can indeed look back as far as they want when it comes to deprivation of assets. Luxurious living is one of the things that counts as deprivation. They wouldn't look back 50 years, but that's very different to "couldn't".

Mojisola

SephirothX wrote: »

They wouldn't look back 50 years, but that's very different to "couldn't".

Seriously, they couldn't. If they were daft enough to try, you could challenge it and no court would rule in the council's favour.

As long as you work within the realms of common sense, you won't get into problems with DOC.

It's really annoying that you can't ask the council in advance "If I do XXX, is that acceptable?". They will make a decision afterwards but not give you a judgment in advance.

SephirothX

Indeed, but the problem is determining where the line is for the realms of common sense. There's no set guideline on how far they will look back, the only line is 6 months before going into care where the duty is on you to prove it was not deliberate deprivation, whereas beyond 6 months it is down to them to prove it was.

Considering how healthy my parents are right now I couldn't imagine care homes being a factor for another 15 years at least, plus they will look after each other until one dies and that could be 20 years. As my dad is 3 years older than my mum and men tend to live a few years less than women on average I figure he will pass away first. In that case mum would probably need help paying the bills etc. or teaching how to go about it all as my dad has always ran that side of the house.

And this is all being debated knowing my parents never want to go into care homes. Of course that could change which is why it needs to be considered.

Mojisola

DOC doesn't only related to care home costs - it can be taken into account for any means tested benefits.

SephirothX

Council tax is the only one I can think of that could apply, but surely they'd not be entitled to council tax benefit by owning their own home anyway.

Mojisola

SephirothX wrote: »

Council tax is the only one I can think of that could apply, but surely they'd not be entitled to council tax benefit by owning their own home anyway.

My parents didn't pay CT for years and they owned their own house.

Don't forget they may need help around the house at some point.

It's worth spending some time going through the AgeUK website and getting familiar with the rules.

Yorkie1

SephirothX wrote: »

I don't see why it's any different. If I lose my job then more than likely they'd be forced to sell the home unless the mortgage is paid off. I have no plans to get married without a Prenup because it's financial suicide these days regardless of whether it's the home your parents live in or your own.

If you didn't go through with this scheme, they would be completely protected because they are secure tenants. That's the point I am trying to make and you are missing.

SephirothX

I guess so, I thought you were talking about going through with the mortgage but transferring the house to my name rather than not even going through with the mortgage.

Just had a chat with the parents based on information I've gathered here and via Google.

I honestly can't see any benefit of them buying the house at all and I've just told them that. Right now they are entitled to full housing benefit (if I move out), get all repairs done by the council for free and don't need the extra insurance that mortgages require.

They don't want to move out the house, sell it and rent somewhere as that would mean paying full rent, which I agree would be stupid. There's no incentive to sell and move into a bungalow for example. Go from 0 rent (forget me living there) to £400 per month in a worse place? lol. They'd not get housing benefit there due to either a large amount of money in the bank or deprivation of assets if they passed it on to me and then tried to claim housing benefit. So they would be living here until they die (stair lift would need to be installed at some point, cost there), or if they go into care which again they say they never want to do.

This all means I'd probably not see my share of the profit for another 20 years or more but it also means I would get all of the profit plus their half of the mortgage contributions since the house would only be sold after they die.

So at the end of the day it looks like a lose-lose situation for them and a risky potential longterm investment for me.

Despite that I can see why they'd want to do it, because the rent costs of me living here are similar to what a mortgage would cost, problem is I don't want to live here for years and years. Like my dad said, if it had been 10 years ago it would have been perfect. It wasn't an option then because the right to buy scheme was very different (way less discount).

Mojisola I'm confused how they got free council tax while owning their own home. How does that work?