Brother Wants To Purchase Mum's Council House..........

Lord_Baltimore

I realise that most posters regard this as a bad financial idea which is fair enough so please don't jump down my throat for thinking out loud from a different angle!

If this house is not bought by the family, presumably it returns to the Council when the OP's mum passes away?

The house will hold a lot of memories and buying it is a way to secure them if emotions are that way inclined.

Bricks and mortar are so much more than just money.

Running_Horse

What a splendid idea. Turn the house into a museum of childhood memories for one particular family. So much better than allowing another family currently in housing need to build their own memories for the next few decades. Heaven forbid any council tenancy should ever be followed by another one that might spoil their memories.

candytwinkle

My mum and dad let my brother buy their council house for Circa £40,000 back in 1996 ish.
They continued to pay monthly payments to my brother for years, even after dad died! until the mortgage my brother took out to purchase the house was paid back!!
They did it all legally through a solicitor, they could live in the house until they died and then my brother would get the house. We couldn't stop it because it was what they wanted (he had talked them into it)
As mum and dad got older their needs changed, they lived in a three bedroomed house with a large garden but they really needed a one bed bungalow, the stairs became a massive problem, as did the up keep of the house. I lost count of the times they said they wish they could move to a bungalow and they had lived in the same house for 43 years.
My dad died 8 years ago and mum died on the 14th Jan this year. My sister and I took on the role of carer for them both when they needed it and my brother would show up once a fortnight for a cup of tea if he had time.
I feel sick to the stomach that he will now get so much money, from the sale of the house.
From experience I would advise your mum to let him pay the rent for her, if he wants to offer her security!

puppypants

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

I realise that most posters regard this as a bad financial idea which is fair enough so please don't jump down my throat for thinking out loud from a different angle!

If this house is not bought by the family, presumably it returns to the Council when the OP's mum passes away?

The house will hold a lot of memories and buying it is a way to secure them if emotions are that way inclined.

Bricks and mortar are so much more than just money.

Bricks and mortar are just that, bricks and mortar. Memories, you keep in your heart and in your mind, and you take those with you wherever you go! x

McKneff

candytwinkle wrote: »

My mum and dad let my brother buy their council house for Circa £40,000 back in 1996 ish.
They continued to pay monthly payments to my brother for years, even after dad died! until the mortgage my brother took out to purchase the house was paid back!!
They did it all legally through a solicitor, they could live in the house until they died and then my brother would get the house. We couldn't stop it because it was what they wanted (he had talked them into it)
As mum and dad got older their needs changed, they lived in a three bedroomed house with a large garden but they really needed a one bed bungalow, the stairs became a massive problem, as did the up keep of the house. I lost count of the times they said they wish they could move to a bungalow and they had lived in the same house for 43 years.
My dad died 8 years ago and mum died on the 14th Jan this year. My sister and I took on the role of carer for them both when they needed it and my brother would show up once a fortnight for a cup of tea if he had time.
I feel sick to the stomach that he will now get so much money, from the sale of the house.
From experience I would advise your mum to let him pay the rent for her, if he wants to offer her security!

He wont necessarily inherit.; the house belonged to your mother,. If she made a will, check it out. If she did not make a will, the estate including the house will be shared between her children. You need to check if she made a will. And then see a lawyer, most will give you half an hour free consultation.

Morglin

McKneff wrote: »

Imagine his face though if he gave mum the cash to buy the house. It would then belong to her totally . And hopefully not for a long time your mum leaves this earth with a will leaving everything to you or the local dogs home. That'd cap him.
:rotfl::rotfl:

Tell him to leave her alone, she has security for the rest of her life as she is.

If mum ever had to go into a care home, then the council would view it as her house, and as there would be no kin living in the house, over 60, they would sell it, to pay the care fees, all bar £23k approx.

If she needed sheltered, she would have to buy somewhere, as the council wouldn't help her, and as those homes are notoriously difficult to sell, and fetch no real value, brother could end up with very little, and mum would have a load of stress, getting help with it all.

Bad idea, all round.

Lin

zappahey

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

I realise that most posters regard this as a bad financial idea which is fair enough so please don't jump down my throat for thinking out loud from a different angle!

If this house is not bought by the family, presumably it returns to the Council when the OP's mum passes away?

The house will hold a lot of memories and buying it is a way to secure them if emotions are that way inclined.

Bricks and mortar are so much more than just money.

I'm not sure that, as a taxpayer, I'm keen on selling assets cheap to subsidise someone's sense of nostalgia.

Lord_Baltimore

Running_Horse wrote: »

What a splendid idea. Turn the house into a museum of childhood memories for one particular family. So much better than allowing another family currently in housing need to build their own memories for the next few decades. Heaven forbid any council tenancy should ever be followed by another one that might spoil their memories.

puppypants wrote: »

Bricks and mortar are just that, bricks and mortar. Memories, you keep in your heart and in your mind, and you take those with you wherever you go! x

zappahey wrote: »

I'm not sure that, as a taxpayer, I'm keen on selling assets cheap to subsidise someone's sense of nostalgia.

I expected indignant responses.

Look, it is not my decision that people can buy their Council homes. This decision was taken by our elected Government; whether we agree with it or not is another matter. I was merely pointing out for the benefit of the OP that there are issues other than finance that he might like to take into account.

I try to comment for the benefit of those asking questions without loading my comments in favour of my own personal bias.

I expected and welcome the flak of opposing opinion, comforted by the knowledge that the OP has had the benefit of an additional point of view.

Running_Horse

Indignant responses and flak. Bit sensitive aren't we? This is a message board. You suggested people buy council houses to preserve memories, and you got an opposing point of view that social housing should be there to provide homes for the next generation. I don't know what you are real like in real life, but I like to hear both sides of a story. It seems clear this particular elderly lady has nothing much to gain and an awful lot to lose by this scheme.

duchy

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

I realise that most posters regard this as a bad financial idea which is fair enough so please don't jump down my throat for thinking out loud from a different angle!

If this house is not bought by the family, presumably it returns to the Council when the OP's mum passes away?

The house will hold a lot of memories and buying it is a way to secure them if emotions are that way inclined.

Bricks and mortar are so much more than just money.

Indeed and if the occupants choose to buy the house to live in -that's fine but that isn't the scenario here. It isn't the tenants buying it's a man who wishes to treat social housing as his own personal overseas investment to the detriment of his mother's best interests if her housing needs change over time. I suspect if her son was *that* emotionally attached to the house he'd not have chosen to live at least 3000 miles away from it (and his mother and siblings).