Buying parents council house - right to buy

spartahawk

hi,

my single mother is now 65,

all her 4 children moved out years ago,

can i give my mother the money to buy the house,

then in a few years get her to give me the house back.

this is a financial decsision to ensure she gets the best care when she is older - and if any money is left - to pass on to my children ( grandkids) to give them a better start than what we had...


can i do this?

what is the best approach to take?:cool:

Mojisola

spartahawk wrote: »

hi,

my single mother is now 65,

all her 4 children moved out years ago,

can i give my mother the money to buy the house,

then in a few years get her to give me the house back.

this is a financial decsision to ensure she gets the best care when she is older - and if any money is left - to pass on to my children ( grandkids) to give them a better start than what we had...

So your mother has a secure tenancy with no worries about paying to maintain her home or deal with emergencies? And you want her to give it up?

spartahawk

if i was the "home owner" she would have a secure tenancy without the need to pay to maintain, and deal with emergencies.

I am her son, and only want the best for her-
so yes, i would want her to give this up if it means i can provide her the best care further down the line.
its a massive old 4 bed house without central heating.
i would sell this and get a modern smaller place with sufficient amenities to keep her warm and healthy.

so yes - i want her to give that up...

Pixie5740

Do you have enough money to give your mother to make a cash purchase of the property as obtaining a mortgage at the age of 65 would be tricky.

If your mother gave you the house a few years down the line that would be seen as deprevation of assets which could be a problem if your mother needs to pay for residential care later in life.

At the moment your mother has a secure tenancy so I don't see what she has to gain from this. If the property is too large/expensive for her to manage then maybe she could arrange a property exchange with the council to get something smaller. I'm sure there is a family out there who would love to get a 4 bedroom house.

Mojisola

spartahawk wrote: »

if i was the "home owner" she would have a secure tenancy without the need to pay to maintain, and deal with emergencies.

I am her son, and only want the best for her-
so yes, i would want her to give this up if it means i can provide her the best care further down the line.
its a massive old 4 bed house without central heating.
i would sell this and get a modern smaller place with sufficient amenities to keep her warm and healthy.

so yes - i want her to give that up...

There's no reason why she couldn't move now to a smaller council property, is there?

At only 65, she's relatively young.

You could give her the money to buy the house and she could meet a nice man and get married. Her house would now be his home too.

Once she owns the home, it's hers. She could decide that she doesn't want to give it back to you. She could leave it in her will to her favourite charity.

If she gave it back to you and then needed care, the council would judge that she had deliberately deprived herself of capital and would not provide funding for any care.

If she gave it back to you and your personal circumstances changed, she could end up homeless.

There really should be a sticky about this subject, listing the potential problems, because it comes up so often.

spartahawk

hi,

i can get hold of the money yes.

as mentioned - she would have secure tenancy if i bought the house.

my aim was to buy the house, relocate her to somewhere more manageable, and put the money made aside to give her the best care when she needs it.

without going too political and emotional, i do not trust the NHS to give her the best care.

thanks guys

jacques_chirac

Mojisola wrote: »

There's no reason why she couldn't move now to a smaller council property, is there?

You're right, and many authorities would even pay her to downsize.

Mojisola

spartahawk wrote: »

i can get hold of the money yes.

my aim was to buy the house, relocate her to somewhere more manageable, and put the money made aside to give her the best care when she needs it.

without going too political and emotional, i do not trust the NHS to give her the best care.

Leave her with her council tenancy - in a nice small property if that's what she wants.

Put the money aside now that you would spend buying the house. If she needs care, you can then just top-up what the council will pay and she will get good care without you having to pay it all.

spartahawk

Mojisola wrote: »

There's no reason why she couldn't move now to a smaller council property, is there?

At only 65, she's relatively young.

You could give her the money to buy the house and she could meet a nice man and get married. Her house would now be his home too.

Once she owns the home, it's hers. She could decide that she doesn't want to give it back to you. She could leave it in her will to her favourite charity.

If she gave it back to you and then needed care, the council would judge that she had deliberately deprived herself of capital and would not provide funding for any care.

If she gave it back to you and your personal circumstances changed, she could end up homeless.

There really should be a sticky about this subject, listing the potential problems, because it comes up so often.

i appreciate your help,

but my mother would want to give the house back to me - im her son, she wouldnt run off with a house! if she was to get married, she would be moving in with her husband- not vice versa

kind regards

Mojisola

spartahawk wrote: »

i can get hold of the money yes.

my aim was to buy the house, relocate her to somewhere more manageable, and put the money made aside to give her the best care when she needs it.

without going too political and emotional, i do not trust the NHS to give her the best care.

Leave her with her council tenancy - in a nice small property if that's what she wants.

Put the money aside now that you would spend buying the house. If she needs care, you can then just top-up what the council will pay and she will get good care without you having to pay for it all.

Pixie5740

spartahawk wrote: »

i appreciate your help,

but my mother would want to give the house back to me - im her son, she wouldnt run off with a house! if she was to get married, she would be moving in with her husband- not vice versa

kind regards

Famous last words.

How do you know that if your mother married she would move in with her husband and not the other way round?

Something else to consider, what if, God forbids, that your mother dies whilst she still owns the house? From your original post it sounds like you have 3 siblings who could inherit the house, or if she gets married then her husband could inherit dependin on whether or not a will has been drawn up.

I know you want the best for your mother but I'm not sure that you owning the house and downsizing her later on makes her any more secure than she already is.