My neibours son wants to buy his council house,is this legal?

gord115

My elderly neighbour who is very ill lives in a council house with his daughter. His daughter is his carer.

However his son, who hardly ever visits, says he will buy the house at the reduced rate offered by the council, and let his father live there.

In 17 years I have only seen the son visit maybe a dozen times(usually when he's stuck for a babysitter)

Can he buy the house in his dads name?

Is it legal? How will his daughter stand if he dies?

His dad thinks it's a great idea,but thinks that his son is the bees knees.

arcon5

Since he will be buying it, therefore the named mortgagee it's not like they can hide the fact from the council.

Not sure how it's any of your business though

sirmosh

I guess it can vary between councils but I'm always certain the dad would have to buy it in his name and therefore mortgage it in his name too.

tallyhoh

he can buy his fathers house, I mean he can pay for it but it will be in his fathers name.

It can cause many problems. If father has to go into a nursing home for instance the house may have to be sold to pay for his care. The son could stand to lose a lot of money.

Maintenance is another issue, if anything goes wrong, gas, electric, any major problems this will have to be paid for.

The son will not be able to get a mortgage as it wont be in his name so he will more than likely have to be a cash buyer.

If the house is still in fathers name when he passes away it will be classed as his estate & daughter may have a legitimate claim against it.

It is legal but littered with pitfalls.

Mr_Pitiful

A tenant can share their right to buy with family members, but those family members must have been living in the property as their only and principal home for 12 months prior to applying.

BitterAndTwisted

No, he won't be able to buy it in his Dad's name unless he gifts the cash to him for it. Then Dad will own it and not the son.

The only person who can buy a Council house is the person or persons on the tenancy agreement, so if the son isn't one of the tenants, and he's unlikely to be, then it's a non-starter.

There's nothing like the prospect of a nice bit of equity on the horizon to make the vultures start circling overhead.

arcon5

What if the son loaned the money to the dad to buy it then bought it from him in the future?

tallyhoh

arcon5 wrote: »

What if the son loaned the money to the dad to buy it then bought it from him in the future?

I understand if you sell it within 5 years (even to your son) you will have to repay some or all of the discount.

This means that if father has to go into care or passes away before the 5 years son may lose some or all of his investment.

I_have_spoken

The son may just want to ensure his sister has a house to live in. After the father dies, he could leave the property in his will to the daughter.

sleepless_saver

I_have_spoken wrote: »

The son may just want to ensure his sister has a house to live in. After the father dies, he could leave the property in his will to the daughter.

I don't know about rest of UK but certainly in Scotland she could succeed to the tenancy in the circumstances OP describes. So no need for anyone to buy a house for her.

In fact her right to stay there would be a lot more secure inheriting the tenancy than if the house were bought, for the reasons other posters have pointed out.

fawd1

arcon5 wrote: »

Since he will be buying it, therefore the named mortgagee it's not like they can hide the fact from the council.

Not sure how it's any of your business though

I didn't even bother reading the rest. this annoyed me enough. There are a HUGE HUGE amount of people looking for council homes. The fact that a council tenants son can buy their house at a discount and then make money on it makes me want to vomit, especially if they don;t live there.And it's my business because the tax me and OH have to pay mean that we can never buy whilst renting and you get to figure out the system whilst we pay for it